Rose, by another name-cbs

Dodd: The College Football Playoff's first title game is in Texas but it will have a Pasadena flavor when Ohio State and Oregon meet for the ultimate prize.

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They hope. The press has a new template, but it will be played out on the field NEXT season, and all the pundits polls and stories don't mean spit, especially with the playoff format...we just have to suffer through it, making the offseason that much more painful, until the reckoning!

Ohio State's Sugar Bowl win signals a power shift-sit

Ohio State Gave Us Expected Result: The Playoff is Awesome-athlon

The Buckeyes proved why the playoff was the right answer.

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For those who care, lotta links...

Dr. Saturday-yahoo

This Alabama team went as far as it could-sds

It was false hope, you see.
Everything on the surface seemed to favor the University of Alabama football team heading into the Sugar Bowl on Thursday night. The Crimson Tide was ranked No. 1, had just won the Southeastern Conference championship, and a team from the league had been in every national title game since 2005.
Only under the surface the reality was different. Call it having over-achieved or exceeded expectations, but this group had gone as far as it could – just no one quite knew it yet. Considering how far the Crimson Tide had come, and having pulled off three comeback wins, the warning signs were easy to gloss over because Alabama kept winning.
You know, things like the long completions and red-zone stops that masked all the yards the defense was yielding. The running game that didn’t rank among the league’s top five, and the pedestrian turnover margin.
It all came to light, though, during the 42-35 loss to Ohio State in the national playoff semifinal, which was anything but good game for the Crimson Tide.
Alabama hadn’t allowed a 100-yard rushing performance this season, yet running back Ezekial Elliott had a whopping 230 on 20 carries and two touchdowns to be named the game’s offensive MVP. It was outgained 537-407 and third downs were a disaster on both sides of the ball.
That’s all despite Alabama jumping out to a 21-6 lead midway through the second quarter, when it appeared to be on the verge of already pulling away. But Saban knew better, especially since Ohio State had significant advantages in all of the major statistical categories.
“We really weren’t stopping them,” he said. “We kind of had the momentum of the game because of the turnovers that we got and converted those into scores. But we weren’t really playing and executing the way we needed to even then.”
The result was 28 unanswered points beginning with Elliott the first Buckeye to reach the end zone on a 3-yard run and a terrific reception by Michael Thomas on a fake end-around with wide receiver Evan Spencer throwing the ball to where only his target could get it and a foot down in the end zone just before halftime.
A 47-yard touchdown pass when sophomore cornerback Eddie Jackson fell down on the first possession of the third quarter gave Ohio State the lead, followed by senior quarterback Blake Sims having an interception returned 41 yards for a touchdown by defensive end Steve Miller.
The band with the same name had a song called “My Dark Hour,” and it surely was for the Tide. It managed to counter Elliott’s 85-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, but was still a touchdown short when the clock ran out.
“We just couldn’t contain the edge at points,” said junior safety Landon Collins, who had 12 tackles despite repeatedly injuring his shoulder.
Before the season started Alabama’s three major areas of concern were quarterback, cornerback and left tackle – in addition to essentially having seven new starters on defense – and obviously two of those positions struggled against the Buckeyes.
After not playing a game since Dec. 6, Sims appeared to revert to some of the things that made fans wonder over the summer if he was Alabama’s best option behind center. He completed 22 of 36 passes for 237 yards and two touchdowns, but was intercepted three times in the second half including his Hail Mary attempt into the end zone.
He also wasn’t efficient running the two-minute offense at the end of the game, while some of offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin’s play-calling has to be questioned as well.
For example, sophomore Derrick Henry led the Alabama ground game with 97 yards and a touchdown, and 54 receiving yards on two catches, but had just 13 carries.
The best wide receiver in college football, Amari Cooper, wasn’t much of a factor down the stretch and the threat of the deep ball was non-existent.
“I was kind of anxious to see us take more shots down the field,” Saban said. “I don’t think we, maybe, did that enough early in the game, and they did a nice job.
“We did a little better job in the second half when we went no huddle, we played faster and did better, (but) I think there’s obviously a lot of things that we wish we would have done differently to attack their defense.”
Sims came in having completed an incredible 71.8 percent of his passes on third downs. Overall, Alabama converted just 2 of 13 opportunities, while Ohio State was 10 of 18.
“Ohio State’s a great defense,” Sims said. “They played with a lot of passion today.”
Perhaps this team just didn’t have anything left after surviving a brutal November, when it visited the toughest venue (LSU), topped the nation’s No. 1 team (MSU), and then won the biggest rivalry (Auburn). It’s probably not a coincidence that all three of those opponents lost this week as well, in addition to the only team that had managed to beat Alabama during the regular season, Ole Miss.
The SEC West peaked in October, Alabama did in November, but Ohio State is doing so now.
Yet one also can’t help but conclude that the gap with the other conferences has more than shrunk. Granted, the SEC West was 25-0 against non-league opponents before bombing in the bowls with five losses – but the individual standouts just weren’t there either.
The conference had only two consensus All-Americans on offense, and three on defense. It boasted just two big winners of postseason awards – Cooper with the Biletnikoff for best receiver and Auburn’s Reese Dismukes claiming the Rimington Trophy as best center. There was no big-name quarterback with a cannon arm, or defensive standout who could really scare the opposition.
So yes, it was an overdue down year for the league, but not quite deserving of Oho State linebacker Darron Lee, the Sugar Bowl defensive MVP, tweeting after the game: “RIP SEC.”
(If Oregon wins big on Jan. 12, does the Big Ten goes back to being considered overrated?)
Regardless, Alabama’s journey this season was still pretty remarkable, especially considering how the players pulled together. Consequently, this loss was certainly disappointing for Crimson Tide fans, but not especially heartbreaking.
“I’m very proud of what this team was able to accomplish and winning the SEC as well as winning 12 football games in a very tough conference,” Saban said.
“I think there’s a lot of winners on this team, and I don’t think you necessarily have to get a trophy to be a winner. And I do think that there’s a lot of guys on this team, two of them sitting right up here with me right now (Sims and Collins), and many, many more in that locker room, who have been winners all year and did a fantastic job for our team.”
They just won’t be national champions.

Except for the part about accepting all blame, he shouldn't and he wasn't the cause, he had some poignant comments, young man Alabama should be proud of!
[video]http://bcove.me/ric0ledw[/video]

Despite championship pedigree, Alabama showed it wasn’t ready-sds

10 Encouraging Quotes from Bear Bryant-sds

After the Alabama loss last night to Ohio State, we know Alabama fans need some encouragement, so here’s a few quotes from coach Bear Bryant:
1) It’s awfully important to win with humility. It’s also important to lose. I hate to lose worse than anyone, but if you never lose you won’t know how to act. If you lose with humility, then you can come back.
2) I think the most important thing of all for any team is a winning attitude. The coaches must have it. The players must have it. The student body must have it. If you have dedicated players who believe in themselves, you don’t need a lot of talent.
3) Losing doesn’t make me want to quit. It makes me want to fight that much harder.
4) I know what it takes to win. If I can sell them on what it takes to win, then we are not going to lose too many football games.
5) If you believe in yourself and have dedication and pride – and never quit – you’ll be a winner. The price of victory is high but so are the rewards.
6) I have tried to teach them to show class, to have pride, and to display character. I think football, winning games, takes care of itself if you do that.
7) I honestly believe that if you are willing to out-condition the opponent, have confidence in your ability, be more aggressive than your opponent and have a genuine desire for team victory, you will become the national champions. If you have all the above, you will acquire confidence and poise, and you will have those intangibles that win the close ones.
8) First there are those who are winners, and know they are winners. Then there are the losers who know they are losers. Then there are those who are not winners, but don’t know it. They’re the ones for me. They never quit trying. They’re the soul of our game.
9) If we’d beaten ‘em, I wouldn’t be going out.
10) If wanting to win is a fault, as some of my critics seem to insist, then I plead guilty. I like to win. I know no other way. It’s in my blood.
Want to read more Bear Bryant quotes? Check out the list of the Top 50 Bear Bryant Quotes.

Sugar Bowl: Tide's magic ran out against Ohio State-anistonstar

Yep. Thanks Walter.

bammerslammer retweeted Bryce Parker ‏@Bryce_Parker15 9h9 hours ago
“@TideRecruits101: One of my favorite teams of the Saban era

A sampling of the reaction from current and former Alabama football players.

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Next season, will be the season of the reckoning.

Alabama players react to Sugar Bowl loss, vow to make things right-al.com