Not Interested in Your Asterisks :-)

For anyone to say that had McCoy played, Texas would have certainly won the game, they CLEARLY weren't watching how the Texas OL couldn't handle Mt. Cody, the rest of the DL or Bama's secondary...or how the Texas WRs couldn't catch (and keep) a pass for most of the night. One man doesn't win a football game -- he's out there with 10 other men who also have jobs to do. And let's be clear: Texas only had to play 2 really tough defenses all season -- Oklahoma and Nebraska -- and they played like crap against both. The simple truth is that Alabama had one of the hardest-hitting, most versatile defenses in the country this season, and that's what won the game.

Moreover, let's not minimize what Gilbert accomplished last night. We're talking about a freshman QB with 26 college pass attempts under his belt going into that game completely cold, and out of the blue, his team throws it all in his lap and asks him to be kind enough to fill McCoy's shoes. Yes, he didn't look so hot in the first half, but YES, he got into a rhythm in the second and actually did his job, even though he was facing a defense notorious for winning the game of Pick-Your-Blitz.

The simple truth is that Bama plays ground-and-pound football -- it's not always pretty, and they're not perfect at it -- and YES, Bama made stupid mistakes (like not covering kickoffs and SWEET JEEBUS, *WHAT* was that fake punt call?!??!!??) -- but those boys did the jobs they were asked to do.

Did Texas? Eh, well....they ran hot and cold. Honestly, EVERYONE knows Bama isn't a passing team. EVERYONE knows Bama's offense is carried on the backs of its RBs (of which we have many stellar choices). EVERYONE knows that if Ingram or Richardson or Upchurch are on the field, we're gonna give the ball to them. Did Texas shut them down? Not consistently. I mean, as much as I love Julio Jones and love that he wears Crimson and White, we've squandered his college career simply because we haven't been good enough at QB to use him. Bama will tell you it's going to run the ball. Believe them when they do.

Did Texas capitalize on key defensive victories? Not like Bama. Texas didn't have its 6'3" 296 pound defensive lineman pick off a botched shovel pass, stiff-arm one opponent and pirouette around two more to run 37 yards into the endzone. Texas didn't sideline Ingram -- the backbone of the Alabama Offense -- with a clean, legal hit so it could further frustrate any offensive Bama had previously planned on running. Texas didn't have its 6'2" 226 pound linebacker blitz McElroy from the blindside to force a turnover on the 3 yard line with 3 minutes left in the game so that its Offense could run it in for a TD.

Much love to Marcell Dareus for channeling his inner Ingram/Arenas, and to Eryk Anders for blitzing like there's no tomorrow when it really matters. Much love to Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson for fighting for every inch of yardage -- even when you've got multiple Longhorns hanging off of you. Much love to our 5th year seniors who stuck it out and rode the highs and lows with the Crimson Nation to walk away at the end of their college careers with a Waterford crystal football tucked under their arms and a ginormous championship ring on their much-deserving hands.

These boys are special. They work as a team -- each man does the job he needs to do so his teammates can do theirs. These boys have given untold blood, sweat and tears and they worked hard for this. This group of boys made The University of Alabama proud and they deserve to wholeheartedly proclaim that they are the National Champions.

So now Alabama has to hear people argue that had Colt McCoy played the entire game, Texas would have beaten Alabama. But Alabama's heard the exact same argument before after winning the Rose Bowl for all the chips -- in 1926 when Alabama was the only team willing to play the (then) juggernaut of Washington, Bama shocked the nation by beating Washington after taking out All-American halfback/linebacker George "Wildcat" Wilson by knocking him unconscious. Washington Head Coach Enoch Bagshaw shook Alabama Head Coach Wallace Wade's hand after the Tide's victory, telling him that on any other day, Washington would've beaten Alabama...to which Coach Wade responded, "We didn't come to play no series!"

At the end of the day, the Crimson Nation isn't interested in your asterisks. A win is a win. The crystal football is going to the Bryant Museum, not the Mike Campbell-Bobby Moses, Jr., Football Trophy Room. That's what it really boils down to.