Alabama Flexes Their Muscles Against LSU, Dominates National Championship
For those who want a playoff in college football, last night’s game was insanely frustrating. Or maybe it wasn’t.
After so many people thought it should be someone other than Alabama in the BCS Championship game, the Crimson Tide went out and showed people why they were the number one team in the country at one point this season. Using defense and an offense that really controlled the tempo of the game, and a little bit of help on special teams, the Crimson Tide took it to LSU basically in a home game for the Tigers, 21-0 with a missed extra point to bring home the Coaches Trophy.
I picked LSU in this game, but I will gladly eat my words. I have been an Alabama fan pretty much the whole season, and I was jumping on the LSU bandwagon for this game because I thought Jordan Jefferson would show up and be the difference maker for them, and he sure did.
Jefferson had a terrible game but it wasn’t really his fault, because it is honestly like facing an NFL defense. Nick Saban’s unit is full of veteran kids who were all All-Americans in high school, and if you give him that much time to prepare for an average quarterback by college football standards, he is going to eat him alive.
LSU only crossed midfield one time in this game, and they didn’t get much further than that. It was late in the fourth quarter before they even sniffed scoring range, and that drive ended with a turnover on downs on 4th and 18. Here is a short list of players I was impressed by in this game from Alabama:
QB A.J. McCarron (soph)
RB Trent Richardson (junior)
WR/KR Marquis Maze (senior)
RB Eddie Lacy (soph)
DE/OLB Courtney Upshaw (senior)
ILB Dont’a Hightower (junior)
DT Nick Gentry (senior)
CB Dre’ Kirkpatrick (junior)
S Mark Barron (senior)
CB DeQuan Menzie (senior)
Those are just the Alabama players, and there are probably more guys that I’m forgetting. Josh Chapman (SR DT) had a nice game clogging up the middle, because LSU was unable to get anything going offensively whatsoever.
I think after last night’s game, I think cornerback Dre’ Kirkpatrick has cemented himself as a top 10 prospect, Dont’a Hightower has established himself as a first round linebacker, Trent Richardson showed why he is the best running back to come along since Adrian Peterson, and linebacker Courtney Upshaw proved that he will be a force to be reckoned with at the NFL level.
I think Mark Barron is going to eventually wind up as the leader of someone’s secondary, a guy that you love to have on your team and a guy that other team’s hate to play.
I was also really impressed with the way Marquis Maze went out and showed his team how much that game meant to him. He went out after a nice punt return early in the game, and wouldn’t play the rest of the way. He showed his emotion on the sideline, and that’s the kind of emotion I like to see from players every now and again. It’s more than a game to some people, it’s a brotherhood, and all of that hard work culminates in one game that decides the season.
For LSU, you have to love what you see from their defensive line. They have not one, not two, but three guys that I think are top 15 talents in DE Barkevious Mingo, DE Sam Montgomery, and DT Michael Brockers. Those guys all should be impact players at the NFL level, and as of last word I had heard, they are all coming back to school which is a huge plus for the Tigers.
LSU also has a defensive back named Morris Claiborne–you may have heard of him. Claiborne pretty much shut down his side of the field, and even though the Alabama offense was able to get what they needed, they still struggled to get anything in the end zone.
Another guy I really like still is cornerback Tyrann Mathieu, the Heisman finalist they call the “Honey Badger.” Honey Badger had a tough time on Thursday night getting anything going, but that doesn’t take away from what he did this season. I compared him last night to a pumped up version of former Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams, who was a smaller player but could tackle really well, make plays on the ball, blitz, and return kicks or punts.
I didn’t see what I wanted out of wide receiver Rueben Randle, who is considering the draft, but I guess we will have to see.
I will have more individual player analysis coming from this game throughout the week.