Both coaches probably flinched in the first half, thinking they needed to take some risks to have a chance. They had no way to know that nothing would happen in the second half until 13 minutes into the 3rd quarter. Alabama nearly went without a first down.
Looks like Texas remains second in the AP poll for making it competitive. Apparently McElroy played with some busted up ribs the entire game, so that must have hurt taking those sacks.
Haha, looks like Florida got a real gem in its recruiting class!
robsam
1703
How Texas didn’t get that kid is beyond me. I mean, really.
DT1
1704
Yeah, I agree. You have to play to win the game and that’s a high percentage play.
The fake punt by Saban in the first quarter however? Sheesh!
Tyjenks
1705
Now that was stupid. Catching the other team off guard or not, when you way the chances of success, I just do not think the risk - reward ratio is worth it, especially, when you have a talented team. However, if what Tim says is right, Saban may not have believed McElroy was 100% and that could have affected his performance.
McClain, McElroy, Muckelroy, McCoy, Mack Brown.
Brent Mustyberger and I were getting confused…
Should have been the GMAC Bowl.
Jim Leavitt may be fired today. Some random accusation of abuse so kind of like the Leach situation, except USF will be even more irrelevant than Texas Tech now.
Between him, Mangino, and the ever calm Stoops brothers, I’m surprised that there wasn’t at least one mid-90’s Kansas State Wildcat player murdered during practice.
AlanC
1709
I can’t believe that Mack Brown is getting so much flak for the shuffle pass at the end of the 2nd half. From cnnsi.com’s Joe Posnanski:
And suddenly, it all became clear. That timeout that seemed like a bit of goofy but harmless clock mismanagement was, in fact, insanity. That shovel pass that seemed like a pointless but safe play actually was catastrophic. Suddenly, Mack Brown and his coaches had gone from bumbling to pulling off one of the most dramatic coaching blunders in big time bowl history.
What a fucking idiot.
The call was great. If the play goes for a first down then it places them just shy of midfield. They call another TO and then try for a hail mary to end the half.
I love that Mack Brown’s being a lot more aggressive these days.
I feel horrible for Colt McCoy. What a way to end a fantastic career.
All the media knows how to do is second-guess coaching calls to find order within the chaos of sports, but they don’t even get that right a majority of the time.
Apparently we in TV-land missed a streaker that was out on the field to start the 3rd.
Rimbo
1713
The streaker was lame. You didn’t really “miss” anything. He wasn’t even properly naked, and laid down and let them escort him off the field rather than run for longer. LAAAAME.
Folks, here’s why people are second-guessing the shovel pass. First of all, the shovel pass, while a high-percentage play most of the time, is not a good idea against the kind of interior DL Alabama has. A good idea against Nebraska’s interior DL who can get caught behind the pass; not so good against Alabama’s, where you have guys who are basically waiting to stop just that kind of a play. Secondly, we were not likely to score from where we were in the time remaining in the half; at that point, we were probably better off taking a knee.
robsam – Yeah, I’ll tell you what, being in 2 of the past 5 MNC games and winning one of them does not suck. The one guy who’s hurting the most is Colt. Absolutely sucks for him. But seeing a bunch of Sophomores and Freshmen out there making some big-time plays makes me positively giddy for the future. We’re reloading at every position.
All that said, 'Bama beat us fair and square, and congratulations to 'em for a great season.
I never liked McCoy much (weird face…holy rollin’…playing for Texas) but I really felt bad for him last night.
What a strange injury. I thought it would be a separated shoulder for sure. The bone gets jammed into the socket and “separates” the collar bone. I have collar bone that is permanently popped up an inch or so do to some unfortunate skateboarding. Has there been an official diagnosis?
robsam
1717
While I agree that this is silly, Tim, don’t forget about “The Promise” plaque. ;)
Why is it silly? A little extravagant, but nobody ever accused SEC football of being too restrained.
And God bless it, for producing this hilarious Sporting News entry and of course LSUfreek’s Corrine Brown rip. Seeing it in person was indeed surreal though.
Hanacker, it won’t really set in until Saban leaves the school before they can erect the thing.
robsam
1720
Because a lot of what we do in the SEC is silly. Tennessee names streets (Peyton Pass, Philip Fulmer Way, Tee Martin Drive), Georgia has a memorial for dead mascots, (mascots!), Bama has these statues. It’s all just silly.
