PASADENA, Calif. — It took Colt McCoy four years to return to the Rose Bowl for a shot at a national title. It took five plays for him to go back to his old spot on the Rose Bowl sideline.
An injury to his throwing shoulder on Texas’ first drive turned the Longhorns’ BCS championship on Thursday night into no more than a wing and a prayer. Yet with a wing from a freshman quarterback who overcame a horrid first half and a stout defense that dominated the second, Texas had a prayer before finally falling to top-ranked Alabama 37-21.
“It’s real special for our entire team,” said Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram, one of two Crimson Tide tailbacks who topped 100 yards. “Since we lost to Utah (in last season’s Sugar Bowl), Coach (Nick) Saban asked us, ‘What do you want to be remembered as?’ Our mind-set was to go undefeated and win a national championship.”
Circumstances could not have been worse for the second-ranked Longhorns (13-1) if they got stuck in traffic and missed the kickoff. Without McCoy, many believed they may as well have.
The generally accepted pregame theme was McCoy, the winningest quarterback in college history, had to play like it for Texas to have a chance. Its running attack was uninspiring, and Alabama (14-0) hadn’t found a quarterback this season it couldn’t devour.
It chewed up McCoy five minutes into the game. On a simple quarterback keeper on first-and-10 from the Alabama 11, end Marcell Dareus stopped McCoy for no gain. He left the game and never returned.
“I didn’t really try to hit him that hard,” Dareus said. “I didn’t want to hurt him. It’s part of the game. Coach Saban says: ‘Don’t think. Just react.’ I reacted to what I saw.”
In McCoy’s place came redshirt freshman Garrett Gilbert. Granted, he was the nation’s top-rated quarterback two years ago out of Lake Travis High School, not far from the Texas campus. He had played admirably in mop-up duty this year.
However, throwing in the fourth quarter of a blowout over UTEP is a tad different than against the nation’s second-ranked defense. He had the right pedigree. The son of former Cal and NFL quarterback Gale Gilbert, Garrett threw for a state record 12,540 in his career at Lake Travis.
“Here’s a guy standing on the sideline, cold as can be,” Texas coach Mack Brown said. “It’s the national championship. ‘OK, son. You got it.’ I can’t even imagine it.”
Welcome to prime time, kid. And here’s introducing Alabama’s defense.
The first half was an unmitigated disaster. Gilbert was 1-for-10 for minus-4 yards and two interceptions. Due to two colossal mistakes by Alabama’s special teams — an intercepted fake punt and a bloop kickoff Texas recovered — Texas had two field goals for a 6-0 lead.
But with McCoy out, Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart ripped up his game plan. He started single-covering Texas’ receivers and put the linebackers so close to the line they could smell Gilbert’s fear.
Meanwhile, Alabama’s trump card was merely the Heisman Trophy winner. Ingram’s 2-yard TD early in the second quarter gave Alabama the lead for good, and his backup, freshman Trent Richardson, went 49 yards up the middle untouched to make it 14-6.
Then down 17-6, Brown put Texas deeper in a hole. With 23 seconds left in the half, instead of taking a knee at the Texas 28, Texas tried a shovel pass to sprinter Fozzy Whittaker. He bobbled it right into the hands of Dareus, who lumbered 28 yards for a touchdown and a 24-6 halftime lead.
“We called a little shovel pass which I’d never seen intercepted before,” Brown said. “I thought we’d run 10-15 yards and take a shot at the end zone.”
Gilbert, however, came of age in a hurry. With the running game going nowhere, Texas turned to its most reliable offensive weapon, All-America wide receiver Jordan Shipley.
A 44-yard TD pass to Shipley to make it 24-13 seemed to give Gilbert confidence in the third quarter. Gilbert found Shipley nine times in the second half for 117 yards.
When Shipley juked safety Robbie Green on a stop-and-go, Gilbert hit him for an easy 28-yard TD. His pass to Dan Buckner for the two-point conversion made it 24-21 with 6:15 left, and suddenly the impossible was possible.
With 3:14 left, Gilbert stood at his own 7, 93 yards from immortality. His place in the spotlight ended on his second play. Blitzing linebacker Eryk Anders clobbered him from the blind side and linebacker Courtney Upshaw recovered at the 3. Two plays later, Ingram scored from the 1 to ice it.
“I have confidence in our defensive players,” Saban said. “When you have playmakers, they make plays.”
John Henderson: 303-954-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com
Keys to the title
Crunch time: Alabama regained control when Eryk Anders came off the blind side untouched for a free shot at Garrett Gilbert with about three minutes left in the game. The fumble, followed three plays later by Mark Ingram’s touchdown, secured the win.
Coltless: When Alabama lineman Marcell Dareus knocked out Colt McCoy on the Longhorns’ first possession, it figured to be a long night for the Texas offense.
Tide turns: Alabama’s 24 points in the second quarter took the air out of the ‘Horns, especially when Dareus picked off a shovel pass and returned it 28 yards for the score, at left.
