Well, here we go, predictable as the dawn, because these Texans have an excuse for everything. Let’s set this straight now, like a tin of Mister Dog, and maybe, they’ll shut the fuck up…
* “Alabama’s not really champions! There’s an asterisk because Colt McCoy barely played!”
Well, Texas would know all about asterisks, I suppose. But these things happen. Alabama suspended Andre Smith for the Sugar Bowl last year on account of NCAA allegations that turned out to be nothing, and without an NFL top-6 pick protecting the blind side, the QB got killed early and often in the first quarter. Nobody is saying Utah’s win deserves an asterisk – quite the contrary, it’s the one quality win the BCS busters can hang their hats on.**
More to the point, a sports show back in DC aptly pointed out this fact: Colt McCoy does not drop back into protection. He runs around like a donk in the backfield, and as a result got sacked eight times against Nebraska. Knowing that your offense and your QB’s style put him at risk, wouldn’t you make an effort to have something better than an 18-year-old freshman as the first backup option? And if that’s all you had, wouldn’t you take the opportunity to get him more than 30 live reps before, oh, THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME?
Meanwhile, Greg McElroy played in a flak jacket to protect his cracked ribs (thus only 11 passes) and Rolando McClain took two IVs for hydration before the game and a third at halftime. You play the game as it unfolds, with the players on hand, for better or worse.
* “Alabama ran up the score!”
Alabama was leading 24-21 with 5 minutes to play. Then a wicked sack and turnover resulted in a quick TD. Then Texas obligingly gave the ball back again, deep in their own territory. With just under two minutes left, and Texas with a time out to burn.
Did Alabama throw the ball downfield? Nope. Did they pull out the Boise State bag of gimmicks? Nope. Did they go for the quick 3 to make sure a touchdown and a field goal wouldn’t be enough to beat them? Nope. They ran the ball up the middle, the simplest and most basic thing you can do to burn clock, with the backup running back. If Texas and their #1-ranked rushing defense couldn’t stop a freshman’s dive up the middle from turning into a touchdown run, I respectfully submit that it’s not Trent Richardson’s job to fall on the ball just so the Steers can go home with only a 10-point loss on their resume. Given that the “number one rushing defense in the country” let not one but two backs go over 100 yards
* “Well…well…Alabama’s a bunch of rednecks!“
Really? The state of Texas wants to go down this path?
Here’s a hint for the burnt orange – quit your whining, go back home to UT-Asterisk with the rest of the hayseed hippies, slosh your Shiner, think long and hard about what you did, and maybe next time, before giving your coach a championship raise, make sure he’s won the fucking championship.
** Utah over Pitt in 2004 was a joke. Pitt didn’t deserve to be anywhere near a BCS bowl with an 8-3 record in the Big Least, as it certainly was at the time. Boise State over Chokelahoma was – do I need to remind everyone again? – a ONE POINT win, in DOUBLE OVERTIME, against the BCS’s own personal FAILboat team. And whenever BCS busters come up, nobody ever talks about how Hawai’i basically got vivisected by Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. When people say “non-BCS teams deserve a chance!” what they mean is “We want Boise State to get full credit for playing a JV schedule!” And you know my solution: no automatic bids for conference champions. Problem solved.