The BCS National Championship game offered a classic college matchup of two storied programs, but it was a one sided affair as the Alabama Crimson Tide dominated the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 42-14 onMonday night in Miami.
Alabama showed its dominance early, getting out to a 35-0 lead in the third quarter before Notre Dame even got on the board. The Crimson Tide won its third national championship in four years and made it seven championships in a row for the South Eastern Conference.
"We've had a lot of really great football players who've worked really hard," Alabama head coach Nick Sabansaid to the Associated Press. "Because we've had a great team, we've been able to have a significant amount of success."
The No. 2 Crimson Tide will likely finish the year as the top team in the Associated Press poll, winning its ninth AP national title, setting a new record and breaking a tie with Notre Dame. Alabama coach Bear Bryant won five titles during his run with the Crimson Tide.
"I think it's pretty special what we accomplished," Saban said to ESPN.com.
The game turned out to be a blowout in the first quarter and ended up being the second-biggest rout of the BCS era since 1999. Running back Eddie Lacy was the offensive MVP, while quarterback A.J. McCarron threw four touchdowns and zero interceptions. Alabama will likely be just as string next season, with McCarron and many other players returning to school.
"These are the kind of games AJ lives for," offensive tackle D.J. Fluker said to ESPN.com. "We've got his back, and he's got ours. He's our leader, and we know if we give him the time he needs, there's going to be some teams hurting."
Lacy rushed for 140 yards and one touchdown on 20 carries, while fellow running back T.J. Yeldon rushed for 108 yards. Alabama got off to a quick start, scoring on a 20-yard Lacy run on their first drive. The Crimson Tide will finish the season 13-1 and extended a streak of 69 straight points against its title game opponents, which stretched back to 13 against Texas in 2010, followed by a stifling 21-0 victory over LSU in last year's title game.
The championship is Saban's fourth overall and makes him the only coach to win national titles at different schools after bringing home one for LSU in 2003. He also is the first coach with back-to-back BCS titles.
Alabama was able to run the ball effectively against Notre Dame and made Heisman runner up Manti Te'o look pedestrian, including on the opening touchdown drive when Lacy ran through him to score and finish the 82-yard drive. The Crimson Tide scored a touchdown on all five of its red-zone drives in the game, including with six minutes left in the first quarter when McCarron finished a 10-play, 61-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Michael Williams.
The second quarter saw similar movement from Alabama, who scored on a 1-yard touchdown run from Yeldon on the first play, which capped off another ling drive of 80 yards. Lacy added another touchdown with 31 seconds left on an 11-yard pass from McCarron to extend the lead to 28-0 and the rout was on.
Wideout Amari Cooper scored on a 19-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter to extend the lead to 35-0 before Notre Dame added a touchdown on a run by quarterback Everett Golson to cut it to 35-7. The scoreless streak for Alabama in the BCS title game lasted 108 minutes and 7 seconds, extending over three games.
McCarron was excellent all night for the Crimson Tide and received a heap of extra attention for his girlfriend Katherine Webb, a winner of Miss Alabama 2012 that was shown repeatedly in the stands during the game. The junior set a school record with his 49th career touchdown pass and completed 10 of 14 passes off play action, including two touchdowns. McCarron has now thrown 13 touchdowns and no interceptions off play action this season, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
"I'm truly blessed. I believe the man above always has a plan for you," McCarron said to ESPN.com. "He kind of lays down the grounds, and you can live it how you want [and] at the same time, make choices. It's great to do all this, but glorify in his name at the same time."
Notre Dame had a fantastic season that saw head coach Brian Kelly bring the school back to the top echelons of college football. Although the game ended in a blowout, the Irish will return a number of talented players, including Golson, who was a redshirt freshman this season. The Irish are 12-1 and will likely finish in the top three of the Associated Press poll that ends the year.
Golson went 21-of-36 for 270 yards, with a touchdown and an interception, while DaVaris Daniels led the team in receiving with six catches for 115 yards. The Crimson Tide held back Notre Dame's running backs, keeping Theo Riddick to just 37 yards on 10 carries and Cierre Wood to just two yards on four carries.
Alabama gave up only 302 total yards and gained 529 yards on offense themselves. The Crimson Tide averaged 5.9 yards per carry behind Lacy and Yeldon and had 265 yards on the ground. Alabama was able to convert on third down all game, going 8-for-13, while Notre Dame went just 2-for-8.
There was only one moment in the game when Alabama didn't appear to be in full control. Still, it didn't help Notre Dame. With seven minutes left in the fourth quarter, McCarron had a miscommunication with center Barrett Jones that resulted in a 5-yard delay of game penalty when the quarterback couldn't get a timeout off in time.
McCarron started yelling at Jones following the play, which prompted the center to shove the quarterback and the crowd to gasp a bit. Soon after, the two were fine, but apparently just got caught up in the heat of the moment.
"We're both perfectionists. He's an emotional guy. We had a snap count difference," Jones told ESPN on the field after the win. "I was right. But whatever, it doesn't matter. We love each other and gave each other big hugs. It's just how we are if you don't know us."
The last BCS championship game that was such a blowout came in 2005 when USC beat Oklahoma 55-19 in the Orange Bowl.