Alabama vs LSU, The Worst BCS National Championship Game in History?

The Tide dominated LSU in every aspect of the game...offense, defense, and special teams. They held LSU to only 92 total yards of offense while racking up 384 of their own. It wasn't, however, just a matter of Alabama's defense dominating the game, but also LSU's offense played horrible. Jordan Jefferson fumbled several snaps and missed open wide receivers. The offensive line could not block and create passing lanes for him to find his receivers. 

Alabama's AJ McCarron played an outstanding game throwing the ball through tight windows to receivers covered by LSU DB's. In particular, he picked on Tyrann Mathieu, "The Honey Badger," and took advantage of his size by throwing the ball out of his reach to taller receivers. Though he did not have any touchdown passes, McCarron did complete 23 or 34 passes (67.6 CMP%) for 234 yards and a long of 26. 

The only bright spot in LSU's play was that its defense only gave the Tide one touchdown. Bama, once again, was forced to rely on its field goal unit, but this time Jeremy Shelley, the goat from the first game, set a BCS Title game record by making five field goals. In the regular season, if you recall, he missed four field goals allowing LSU to beat Bama in Tuscaloosa. In the game that mattered the most, Shelley was able to redeem himself.

Besides blocking one of Shelley's field goals, LSU's special teams were also overwhelmed by Bama. Marquis Maze got the Tide rolling in the first quarter with a 49 yard punt return leading to the first field goal of the game. Though Maze was injured on the play, Bama's punt return and coverage teams were still able to provide them with good field position all game. LSU's punt coverage also assisted the Tide by roughing the punt returner at the ten yard line after he called a fair catch. Instead of giving Alabama the ball at the 10, they gave it to them at the 25. LSU's punter actually kicked pretty well. However, their return game with Mathieu was completely shut down.

Coach Nick Saban also out-coached Coach Les Miles. His team was fully prepared for everything LSU's offense and defense tried to do. Miles tried to get the option game going, which was successful the first time around, but Alabama was ready for it and Miles seemed to refuse to go away from it even though it was clearly not working. It didn't seem as though Miles made half time adjustments. They came out and threw the ball down the field twice, which was different than the first half, but then went back to the same basic offense using option, WR screens, and running the HB on dives or off tackle. It was truly a very bland offense and was similar to the one they ran against the Tide in game one. Though Jefferson was clearly struggling, Miles kept him in and chose not to use Jarrett Lee. In my opinion, this was a mistake because Lee has started and played many games this season and may have been able to provide a spark.

Saban's offense, on the other hand, came out throwing the football down the field, something they did not do in the first match up. It seemed to catch LSU by surprise. The Tigers were stacking the box and playing man on the Bama's WR's. Saban purposely picked on Mathieu by using tall receivers to go over top of the 5'8" DB. Mathieu may have been a game changer in LSU's games against West Virginia Mountaineers, Arkansas Razorbacks, Oregon Ducks, and Georgia Bulldogs, however, he was not attacked the way Saban targeted him in this game. He usually covers slot receivers that are similar in height. In this game, Saban lined up tall receivers and tight ends in the slot, which Mathieu defend against high, jump balls.

Alabama's defense was definitely the highlight of the game, however, LSU's offense assisted them by playing terribly. The Tigers offense committed numerous penalties and missed many opportunities by Jefferson's inability to execute properly. He missed several wide open WR's, throwing the ball in the grass and nowhere near them on multiple occasions. His biggest mistake came when he attempted a shovel pass after his receiver had turned to block for him. The pass was picked off and led to points, and pretty much ended any hopes LSU had of coming back.

Had LSU played good and this was a good, defensive game, then I would have loved it. However, LSU played awful, and it wasn't merely due to Bama's dominance. They simply didn't execute, and it was the combo of bad offensive play by LSU and great defensive play by Bama. It was also a combo of poor LSU pass defense and McCarron executing to perfection which allowed Bama to drive down the field on almost every possession.

Simply put, I think LSU played awful! This game was disappointing. LSU could have possibly finished the greatest single season in college football with a win, but instead they came out flat, unprepared, and were embarrassed. It is the first time a team was completely shut out in the title game, and there is no excuse for that.

What do you think...Was this the worst BCS National Championship Game in History