'Bama Flexes its Muscles...Again

In a world where we've come to expect parity in just about every facet of sports today, given the strict rules on things such as scouting, payroll, free agency, and max contracts, Alabama and the Crimson Tide continue to defy all odds by dominating just about anyone in their sight. Last night they took the field to take on the surprise team of the college football season in undefeated Notre Dame. And in typical 'Bama fashion, they did more than let Notre Dame leave the field with their first loss, they humiliated and defiled them.

The Fighting Irish were simply the Irish on this night, as they couldn't get anything going offensively against the notoriously stout Tide defense, and their number one defense couldn't stop a nosebleed. Their vaunted front seven, led by Heisman runner-up Manti Te'o, looked like the innards of a pinball machine as they constantly bounced off the Alabama ballcarriers, most notably junior stud Eddie Lacy. The Trent Richardson lookalike took the ball 3 times on the game's opening drive, and capped it with a 20 yard scamper to put his squad up early 7-0. And from the moment Lacy crossed that goal line, anyone with a pulse could've sensed that Notre Dame was potentially in deep trouble. Suddenly, their ferocious defense looked like a shadow of themselves, and if their strength was going to become their weakness, the Irish were setting the table for a long night. And a long night it was.

Following a bogus penalty resulting in an extra 15 yards tacked on to a muffed punt return (which should've been Notre Dame football with a chance to tie the game in Bama territory), the Tide went down and scored with ease again. This drive featured another 41 yards from the bruising Lacy, and culminated in AJ McCarron finding Michael Williams in the endzone for a 3 yard strike on a play fake that saw ND bite hard. The game was now 14-0, Bama had every ounce of momentum, and the 3-time BCS winning head coach meticulously roaming their sideline. Notre Dame was up a creek without a paddle.

Alabama scored twice more in the 2nd quarter, a rushing score by freshman back TJ Yeldon, and a passing strike from McCarron to Lacy to blow the game open and go into halftime with a hearty 28-0 lead. Game. Blouses.

Needless to say, Bama never looked back and cruised to a 42-14 blowout victory, marking their 3rd championship in 4 years. The SEC and Alabama showed exactly what southeastern football is all about. They have an NFL-quality offensive line (McCarron was hardly even breathed on by an Irish defender), a power running system that has proven wildly successful, and a quarterback who can flick it and do so with accuracy, only throwing 3 interceptions all year long. And oh yeah, their defense. Did I mention their defense? They had the number one unit in all the land, allowing a mere 10 points per game and 240 yards per game. They allowed 28 points (6 coming off a returned FG block) versus Georgia in the SEC title game, but prior to that they had only allowed more than 17 once. And that was against boy wonder Johnny Manziel and the Aggies.

As Nick Saban and the Tide held up that crystal ball yet again last night, the question that should have come to everyone's mind is, "who's going to stop them?" Because that, friends, is the million dollar question. They have two stud running backs, one of whom is guaranteed to be there for the next two years, a quarterback with two titles under his belt, and a head coach who claims he has no "unfinished business" in the NFL and intends to stay with the dynasty that he is still building. Sure, they may face some difficulty in the always tough SEC, as Texas A&M, Georgia, Florida and LSU are shoo-in's to be competitive at the bear minimum, and compete for a national championship if the chips can fall slightly in their favor. But at the end of the day, is there really a team that can stop the Crimson Tide? They're experienced, savvy, and strong on both sides of the ball. There's a decent chance someone can knock off Bama for one regular season game, but that hasn't deterred them either of the past two seasons from achieving their ultimate goal. It seems inevitable that there will always be a one-loss team in the championship game with today's structure, and come 2014 when you have to knock off the Tide in a must-win game with the new 4 team playoff, that is sure to be an extra tall task.

So yes, the Tide are once again atop the college football mountain. And it seems that you might as well chalk them up for a return trip to Pasadena, and I'd be hard-pressed to advise you to pick against them.

Roll Tide, indeed.