Alabama SI Cover Tournament: Dynasty vs. Bama Stops Penn State
This matchup is going to be a rough one for a lot of fans. It could have been for the championship.
Both covers are from national championship games.
Both covers are from goal-line situations.
But while one is of a running back plunging through, looking all but unstoppable, the other is of an epic stand. It's also offense vs. defense, Nick Saban vs. Bear Bryant and the Rose Bowl against the Sugar Bowl.
The Bear Bryant Regional of the Alabama SI Cover Tournament comes down to Dynasty vs. Bama Stops Penn State. It's a showdown between the 2009 and 1978 national titles.
BamaCentral is holding a 48-field single-elimination tournament to determine the best Alabama Sports Illustrated cover.
Vote on Twitter (@BamaCentral) or Facebook (@AlabamaonSI). The voting goes 24 hours for each matchup and the result added to the original post on BamaCentral.
Bear Bryant Regional Final
Game 43: Dynasty vs. Bama Stops Penn State
Dynasty
Story headline: Staying Power
Subhead: With an earnest coach, a wealth of returning talent, unparalleled recruiting and its chief rival in flux, national champion Alabama is just starting to roll
Excerpt (by Austin Murphy): For the second time in six years the stern-looking coach stood on a stage surrounded by overjoyed athletes, holding a crystal football over his head. As Nick Saban dutifully went down the list of dignitaries he needed to thank, the expression on his face could best be described as a kind of semigrimace. At the pinnacle of his sport after leading Alabama to its first national title in 17 years—a 37-21 victory over a wounded Texas team in the BCS championship game last Thursday night at the Rose Bowl—Saban reminded us that those best equipped to win championships are often the least equipped to celebrate them.
"I guarantee you," said a smiling Terry Saban, as she watched her spouse of 38 years, "he's already thinking about next week."
Did the couple have plans? "He said he'll give me two days," Terry said, "and then he has to meet with some of the players about going out for the [NFL] draft."
Two days? "Two days," she repeated. "And I'll take it."
Bama Stops Penn State
Story headline: The Rising of the Tide
Subhead: Alabama beat Penn State 14-7 in the Sugar Bowl to lay claim to the national title
Excerpt (by John Underwood): On the day before his Sugar Bowl showdown with Penn State, Bear Bryant breakfasted in the elegant refuge of his hotel suite high above New Orleans on a floppy-looking egg-and-bacon sandwich (brought up in a brown paper bag) and coffee in a Styrofoam cup. Between swallows the Bear was saying that if there was one thing you could be sure of about his Alabama defense it was that you couldn't be sure of his Alabama defense. It had been great at times and unsound at times, and that's "not recommended" when you play the No. 1 team in the nation, one that had not lost in 19 games.
Bear noted that the Tide defense had been hurt a lot. That it had been particularly slowed in the secondary by those injuries, and by, well, being slow in the secondary. And that it was about to go under the gun against a quarterback, Penn State's Chuck Fusina, whom Coach Joe Paterno called the best passer he ever had. The situation fairly cried out for a dedicated, if not wild-eyed, pass rush, and "rushing the passer is the thing we do worst," said Bryant.
As for the Alabama fans who were establishing themselves as No. 1 in whoops and hollers downstairs in the hotel and up and down Bourbon Street, Bryant said he wished they'd be quiet until after the game.
Well, Bear, you can come down now and join the merry group. And bring the defense with you. On second thought, have them bring you.
Result
Dynasty def. Bama Stops Penn State, 62.8-37.2 percent
