Crimson Tide Top 10 Sugar Bowls: Bonus, 2012 BCS National Championship

The Alabama Crimson Tide will be making its 17th appearance in the Sugar Bowl, the most of any team, when it squares off against the No. 9 Kansas State Wildcats inside Caesars Superdome on Dec. 31 (11 a.m. CT on ESPN).

BamaCentral is counting down the Top 10 Sugar Bowls for Alabama. Technically, the 2012 BCS National Championship Game wasn't a Sugar Bowl game, just located at the same site. So it's included here as a bonus addition:

#2 Alabama 21 (Final: 12-1, #1)
#1 LSU 0 (Final: 13-1, #2)

If the disappointment of not returning to a BCS bowl wasn’t enough motivation for the Crimson Tide, it got an overdose of tragedy during the months building up to the 2011 season.

Mere days after the annual A-Day scrimmage, and unveiling of Saban’s statue in front of Bryant-Denny Stadium for winning the 2009 national title, a series of horrific tornados struck the state on April 27, killing 53 people in Tuscaloosa alone including long-snapper Carson Tinker’s girlfriend Ashley Harrison, and more than 250 throughout the state.

Tinker barely survived with a concussion, broken wrist and an ankle injury. Then in May, reserve offensive lineman Aaron Douglas was found dead on a balcony the morning after attending a party in Jacksonville, which the Nassau County medical examiner's office would rule an accident. He was 21.

Despite all that, and a 9-6 overtime loss to LSU at Bryant-Denny Stadium on November 5th, Alabama managed to reach the BCS National Championship Game in New Orleans, where it dominated the rematch with a 21-0 victory against the Southeastern Conference-rival Tigers.

Led by defensive MVP Courtney Upshaw, who had seven tackles and a sack, Alabama finished with a 21-5 edge in first downs, 69-44 in plays, and 384-92 in total yards. LSU’s longest possession went just 23 yards and its biggest play was for 19. It went three-and-out six times, with an interception by linebacker C.J. Mosley on the second play of a possession, and converted just two third-down opportunities.

LSU crossed the 50-yard line only once, and then promptly went backwards and fumbled away the ball. In comparison, Alabama failed to cross midfield only twice, one of which resulted in a punt from the 46, as it chiseled away its 14th national title.

“I've never coached a team that was more determined, more dedicated to overcoming adversity than this group of guys,” Saban said after Alabama pulled off the first shutout in BCS history, never mind the title game. “I've never seen a more dominant performance than what they did in the national championship game against LSU.”

Meanwhile, with first-year starter A.J. McCarron passing a lot on first down he became the first sophomore quarterback to lead his team to victory in the BCS title game and was named the offensive MVP.

“We knew coming into the game somebody else had to step up, and coach just gave me an opportunity,” said McCarron, who completed 23 of 34 attempts and 234 yards and had no turnovers. “I don't think I did anything special.”

After making five field goals, with 4:36 remaining Alabama scored the one-and-only touchdown between the two teams in eight quarters and one overtime, when running back Trent Richardson recorded his 21st rushing touchdown of the season by bouncing outside on a 34-yard run.

“That was probably the most fun touchdown I’ve ever scored,” offensive lineman Barrett Jones said. “Two games of frustration of not finding the end zone, just to seal the deal, that was a great feeling.”

Excerpt from "100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die."

Alabama Recap

A staunch defensive effort, combined with a record-setting night from kicker Jeremy Shelley, propelled the University of Alabama football team to its 14th national championship with a 21-0 victory over LSU in the 2012 BCS National Championship Game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

The Crimson Tide’s defense held LSU to just 92 total yards and five first downs as Defensive Player of the Game Courtney Upshaw and Jerrell Harris each had seven tackles. As a unit, the defense had 11 tackles for loss, four sacks and an interception.

“I think it’s a great team win,” UA head coach Nick Saban said. “Our offense controlled the tempo of this game. We did a great job on special teams. It was just a great team win for every guy here, every fan that we have, every supporter of this program. This is great for Alabama.”

Fifteen of UA’s 21 points came from the leg of kicker Jeremy Shelley, who converted on a bowl-record five field goals from 23, 34, 41, 35 and a career-long 44 yards. The defense provided the offense with excellent field position all evening and quarterback AJ McCarron did a masterful job under center completing 23-of-34 passes for 234 yards to earn Offensive Player of the Game honors.

“We knew that he [McCarron] was going to have to play well because we knew that we were going to throw the ball,” Saban said of his quarterback. “He showed great leadership and poise in making good decisions.”

Sugar Bowl Summary

Alabama kickers Jeremy Shelley and Cade Foster received a lion’s share of blame for the regular-season defeat, although it seemed as if the critics weren’t paying attention.

The pair missed on four-of-six attempts, but none were anything close to chip-shots. Every time the Crimson Tide made its way anywhere near the LSU red zone, the Tiger defense threw them back. Bama was not only forced to kick field goals, they had to kick LONG field goals. The pair missed from 44, 50, 49 and 52 yards. It was grossly unfair to imply Bama’s biggest weakness was not having kickers.

Tide quarterback A.J. McCarron, who had his own difficulties trying to solve the Bayou Bengal defense in November, said confidently, “Well, guess what, not everything’s always going to be perfect. I’ve got the utmost faith in both our kickers. . . . They’ll get the job done.”

Much like Florida State in 1996 and LSU in 1960, teams that beat opponents (Florida and Ole Miss) in the regular season then were paired against the same foe in the Sugar Bowl, the Tigers came out without an edge they displayed the previous four months.

It may not have made any difference. From the start, the Bama defense was like a boa constrictor wrapped around the LSU offense, struggling to breathe under Jordan Jefferson. Jefferson was the quarterback ever since he replaced Jarrett Lee in the first Alabama game, largely because of his mobility as opposed to Lee, strictly a passer. That thinking played right into Nick Saban’s strategy, who “loaded the box” to stop the run – and dare Jefferson to pass.

“We wanted to make (Jefferson) a passer,” Tide linebacker Courtney Upshaw said afterward.

Excerpt by Sugar Bowl historian Marty Mulé.

What Sports Illustrated Said ...

Absolutely Alabama, by Austin Murphy

Tony McCarron was asleep in his dorm room at Station No. 11 in Mobile when his phone went off around midnight on Nov. 7. It wasn't an emergency. It was an epiphany. McCarron is a fireman; his eldest son, AJ, is the starting quarterback at Alabama. AJ was calling a little more than 24 hours after the Tide's 9-6 overtime loss to LSU. "I could tell he was shook-up," recalls Tony. While AJ's numbers in that game were decent—he completed 16 of 28 passes for 199 yards, with an interception—he was quick to don a hair shirt after the game, beating himself up for playing with excessive caution. The moment had called for a daredevil, and he'd channeled his inner actuary.

"He felt as if he'd let his teammates down," Tony recalls, "and he was torn up about it." AJ made this vow to his old man: "Daddy, I will never play another game where I allow the other team to dictate how I play. I was so worried about losing the game for my team, I didn't go out and win it."

True to his word, and to the surprise and delight of an Alabama fan base that had seldom, if ever, seen such a virtuoso performance by a quarterback in a national championship game, the redshirt sophomore flat out shredded LSU's defense in their BCS title match in New Orleans on Monday night. The only thing more remarkable than McCarron's line in 'Bama's methodical 21--0 dismantling of the top-ranked Tigers—he completed 23 of 34 passes for 234 yards—was the fact that, finally, after seven-plus quarters of play this season, one of these teams finally carried the football into that rectangle known as the end zone.

Alabama's 14th national championship, its second in three years, did more than remove the sting of that home loss to the Tigers on Nov. 5. The title was a balm and a gift to the thousands of residents of Alabama who lost property and loved ones in the tornadoes that ripped through the state on April 27. "This isn't a win just for us, but this is a win for Tuscaloosa and all of Alabama," said a teary Carson Tinker, the team's long snapper, who was with his girlfriend, Ashley Harrison, when she was swept up by a twister and thrown roughly 100 yards. Harrison died, her neck broken. "We've been through so much this year, and I'm at a loss for words to describe what I feel. Just happy."

Alabama Recap

Sugar Bowl Summary

What Sports Illustrated Said ...

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