Greatest season ever?
by Zoltar on Jan 8, 2010 4:57 AM CST
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What an amazing year fellas (and gals)! Undefeated national champions! That says it all... well not really. There are so many things that made this season great. It's to the point where I'm seriously thinking it could be the greatest season EVER in college football. So lets consider all the wonderful happenings in the 2009 Alabama football season.
Marquee Season Opener- For the second year Alabama opened the season in the Georgia Dome against the top team from the ACC. It was a highly anticipated match up of #5 Alabama against #7 Virginia Tech. Greg McElory had his coming out party in the second half as Alabama came from behind to win 34-24.
Truly "Classic" wins in rivalry games- What's better than an amazing, harrowing win against a hated rival that will be remembered for years to come? 36-0? Maybe. But this year both of our big rival games (Tennessee and Auburn) were instant classics-- classics up there with the best of them. Yet they were also very different games. In the UT game Alabama was in command (for the most part) for most of the day, but a string of unlikely events (Ingram's only fumble EVER and a successful onside kick for UT) and defensive collapses put UT in position to win with a field goal. As UT lines up for the winning try, the prospect and implications of losing to Lane Kiffin don on the Alabama Nation. But thankfully we had our "destiny" moment when Cody blocked his second field goal on the day. Tennessee fans will be taking that one to their graves and cursing the name Daniel Lincoln on the way. Then we have the Auburn game, where Auburn came out guns blazing and took a 14-0 lead. Alabama clawed and fought their way back into it, but the game came down to a legendary final drive which will haunt Auburn fans for years. 15 plays. 79 yards. 7+ minutes off the clock. And it provided a great senior moment for fan favorite Roy Upchurch who has been through so much adversity.
Heisman- It's a well-known fact that Alabama (along with Tennessee) had never had a player win the Heisman trophy... until Mark Ingram won it this year. The history and tradition of Alabama certainly stands on it's own, Heisman winners or not. Still, it was odd that such a storied program did not have a winner, and I think it's great that we finally got over that hump. Mark Ingram is a great human being and a terrific representative of the University. It's not only great because Alabama got it's first Heisman winner, but the way that Ingram won is special too. Many people have counted his speech among the greatest Heisman speeches ever given. I certainly teared up.
Other Accolades- 6 First team All Americans, more than any other team in history. Rolando McClain- Butkus award winner & Jack Lambert Trophy winner. Nick Saban- SEC Coach of the Year. Kirby Smart- Broyles Award. RB Trent Richardson, LB Nico Johnson and OL Barrett Jones were selected to the 2009 Freshman All-SEC Team.
SEC Championship- This game was huge in so many ways. To fully understand the significance of it, you have to go back to 2008. With a quarter left in the 2008 SEC Championship game, #1 Alabama had the lead. If we held on, we would earn a spot in our first BCS Championship game. The season had been like a dream for Alabama fans, players, and coaches. And that dream was snatched away by Tebow and the Gators, who went on to win their second BCS Championship in 3 years. Alabama was devastated and went on to get embarrassed in the Sugar Bowl. Whispers of a rematch began almost immediately. It was fuel for the fire that burned inside the Crimson Tide team during off season preparation. As the season played out, it became evident that the teams were indeed on a collision course. Only this time in the rematch, both teams entered undefeated. The rankings were flipped with Florida holding the #1 spot and Alabama being second. The hype for the game was insane. It was billed by some as the most anticipated regular season game in 30 years, a play-in for the national title. Headlining the game was Tebow, who some consider the greatest college player ever, backed up by a national champion defense that returned all its 2 deep roster (minus Dunlap). Furthermore, the game figured to have significant ramifications in the Heisman race. Outside of the BCS Championship, it simply does not get any bigger than that. And Alabama dominated Florida, earning a spot in our first BCS Championship game.
BCS Championship- Opponent: Texas, a powerhouse cfb team which Bama had never defeated (7 losses). Setting: The Rose Bowl, site of several important and historic Bama wins. Result: Alabama gets it's first win against Texas and our first BCS (championship or not) win. It's our first BCS Championship. Our first national championship since 1992. Saban becomes the only modern era coach to win to championships at different schools. Alabama brings home #13.
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To add to the imporance of winning this BCS Championship, I will quote outsidethelines
Now, in terms of future impact, I will say that we need this game, and I mean we need it in the absolute worst way possible. Of course every team appearing in a national championship game needs to win, obviously, but we need to win even more than most similarly situated teams need to win.
Why? Simple… we need to establish some tradition with Alabama football, because frankly we have almost none. I know that may be a controversial statement to many, but it’s true. I take great pride in my alma mater’s history of success on the gridiron — and for historical and analytical purposes, it is arguably unmatched — but for realistic purposes all of that is simply ancient history at this point. It is, by and large, irrelevant.
The future of college football in any extended term is decided by young prep football players and young, coming-of-age football coaches. It is those two groups that will eventually be the star players and star coaches of the future and it is they who will fight out the classic battles in years to come. And their behavior in terms of school selection is largely influenced by the tradition of success that a program establishes on the field, but for all intents and purposes, only recent success really counts. Take members of the 2011 recruiting class, for example, not a single one of which will have been born when Alabama last won a national championship. Hell, you go into some kid’s home talking about a national championship in 1992? You may as well be talking about 1492. I tell you, it’s funny — and by funny, I mean that it wants to make you go get an ice pick and shove it repeatedly into your temple — when you hear recruits these days talking about how they knew how schools like Auburn had a winning tradition, but that they had no idea that Alabama had ever really won much of anything. And the same largely goes for young, budding coaches as well, most of which were just players or lowly graduate assistants the last time Alabama was in this position. You think a rising 34-year old defense guru, destined to be one of the greatest coaches of his generation, gives a damn that Paul Bryant won six national championships at Alabama? I would suggest you re-think that supposition if you answered yes. Again, it’s all ancient history now.
For better or worse, we live in a world defined by what has been accomplished lately, and I’m afraid to say that by that measurement Alabama football hasn’t accomplished a great deal. That must change starting today. We need to win tonight, bring the national championship back to its rightful place in Tuscaloosa, wrap up the finishing touches on yet another incredible recruiting class, and then get to work on a dynasty that will reign for years and years. In short, we have a reached a point to where we can no longer afford to continue talking about past greatness, but instead we must achieve greatness now and in the future. Indeed, the time has come in more ways than one.
Furthermore, I have legitimate concerns about the mental state of the program, players, and coaches if we indeed lose tonight. It is hard enough to recover from a national championship if you win — simply because winning a national championship breeds massive amounts of complacency and hubris — but all of the ills associated with winning a game like this pale in comparison to all of the ills associated with losing a game of this magnitude. To literally climb to the peak of Everest, only to be kicked off the face of the mountain a mere one foot from the summit, is an emotionally devastating event, the effect of which will linger for months (and perhaps even years). If you go back the past ten years and look at what has happened to program’s after they lost a BCS Championship Game, it’s generally not pretty. If we lose tonight, we will have to fight like hell moving forward to ensure that we do not succumb to the same fate.
What you're seeing is team spirit. It's like the Holy Spirit, but more powerful.
-Hank Hill
Let me fix that for you...
Greatest Season EVAHver?!!!!
Done.
"High standards come from passion within...." --Coach Nick Saban
by NiceLittleSaturday on Jan 8, 2010 7:28 AM CST reply actions
That does sound right...
Should it be, “The Greatest Season up to Now” or “The Greatest Season Alabama’s had So Far”
It sounds like there will be no more great seasons for the Tide. If they introduce a playoff system, Alabama could go 17-0. Wouldn’t that be a greater season.
I know, just messin’ with ya.
Got that winning feelin'
No doubt.
Auburn fans are like slinkys... not really good for anything but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down a flight of stairs.
We might have one more coming
The Bryant Coach of the Year is awarded on the 14th. That’d be a really sweet way to cap it all off.
Shoo-in.
Beat Auburn? CHECK. 12-0 regular season? CHECK. Beat the #1 Gators for the SECCG? CHECK. Ingram wins the Heisman? CHECK. Tide defeats the Longhorns for the BCS Championship? CHECK!
Did anyone catch 33/40's post game show??
During the show after Nick and Mark and Darius were done with their interviews it flipped back to the 33/40 live news feed. While the commentators were talking, Bama fans were benind them celebrating. All of a sudden a guy holds up a T-shirt reading
“I Hate Auburn”… We just won the BCS Championship yet we still have time to potray our dislike of the West Georgia scumbags, AKA the founders of Operation Red Dog. Gotta love it.
Your temper brings dishonor to my happy mooshu palace.
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