The Alabama Crimson Tide rolled their way to another BCS National Championship victory Monday night, defeating the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 42-14.
The Tide broke the tie with the Irish for the most titles for a college football program, increasing its record total to nine. Three of those have come in the last four years, prompting many college football experts and fans to dub the current era in Crimson Tide football as a rare NCAA dynasty.
The Tide’s second championship game in as many years turned into a laugher once again, but only one team was having any fun, as Alabama imposed its physical will on the Irish, dominating both sides of the line of scrimmage all night long. At the end of the night, Alabama had racked up 265 yards of rushing offense and only allowed 32 from Notre Dame.
The Tide began to roll right out of the gate, as they took the ball on a 82-yard game-opening touchdown drive, capped by an Eddie Lacy 20-yard run. When Lacy scored again at the end of the half–this time on an 11-yard touchdown reception from A.J. McCarron–there was no looking back for the Tide, which had jumped out to a 28-0 lead at the break.
Notre Dame, which came into the game with one of the nation’s top defenses, simply didn’t have an answer for Bama’s two-headed ground attack, which saw both Lacy and freshman T.J. Yeldon eclipse 100 yards on the night. Lacy’s 140 yards and two total touchdowns earned him the game’s MVP award.
Last year’s MVP, McCarron, could have easily won the award again, as he too impressed against Notre Dame’s defense. McCarron was nearly perfect on the night, completing 20 of 28 throws for 264 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions.
The other star of the night was of course, Alabama head coach Nick Saban, who joined some elite company in the college football history books by winning his fourth career national title. He is now tied for second most all-time and is just two championships behind another Alabama legend, Bear Bryant.
And it was also another significant win for the SEC Conference, which has now won seven consecutive NCAA titles, further solidifying itself as the undisputed No. 1 conference in the land.
With a No. 1 ranking in the polls likely carrying over to next season and with many of its young roster returning, there’s no reason that Alabama can’t make it a three-peat. Can a non-SEC team rise up to stop the Tide? We’ll have to wait another year to find out, but in the meantime, bow to the king.