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Could Alabama Make It to Miami Without McCarron?

Alabama fans got a scare when AJ McCarron left the Missouri game temporarily with an injury. Could the Tide still make it to Miami without him?

Jamie Squire - Getty Images

I'm sure some of you prefer this question not even be asked, but after the scare in Columbia, I feel it's a valid question. The other reason I decided to ask it is that we give Texas fans A LOT of hell for the whole "Well, if Colt McCoy didn't get hurt" excuses after losing the Rose Bowl to Alabama. We've repeatedly answered their excuses with "Well, a football team is not just one player. Gotta have your back-ups prepared, etc."

By all accounts, Alabama is a beast of a machine. Our defense is once again ranked first in pretty much every significant statistical category. Our offense isn't putting up the video game numbers of some schools, but we're still averaging 40.5 points per game, which is good for 17th in FBS. If the unthinkable happened, could Blake Sims and/or Phillip Ely get the job done against the likes of LSU or whoever we would face in the SEC Championship Game? Would the other parts be able to compensate for the loss of that one essential piece in the machine? Could Alabama still make it to Miami without AJ McCarron?