Collegefootball

PASSING LEADERS Texas Gilbert...8-12, 82 yards, TD Alabama McElroy...2-5, 15 yards RUSHING LEADERS Texas Gilbert...3, 7 yards Alabama Richardson...8, 41 yards RECEIVING LEADERS Texas Shipley...5, 61 yards, TD Alabama Richardson...1, 8 yards Momentum: Freshman Gilbert looked as if he might conjure some of Vince Young's Rose Bowl magic when he tossed a 28-yard touchdown pass to Shipley and a two-point conversion pass to Dan Buckner with 6:15 left, and Texas held on defense.

PASSING LEADERS Texas Colt McCoy...2-2, 9 yards Alabama Greg McElroy ...1-2, 23 yards RUSHING LEADERS Texas Tre' Newton...5, 16 yards Alabama Mark Ingram...5, 44 yards RECEIVING LEADERS Texas Jordan Shipley...1, 5 yards Alabama Julio Jones...1, 23 yards Momentum: Texas fans went nuts when safety Blake Gideon intercepted a pass by Alabama punter P.J. Fitzgerald on the first possession.

PASSING LEADERS Texas Gilbert...6-18, 104 yards, TD Alabama McElroy...2-2, 9 yards RUSHING LEADERS Texas Newton...6, 8 yards Alabama Richardson...4, 2 yards RECEIVING LEADERS Texas Shipley...4, 56 yards, TD Alabama Ingram...1, 5 yards Momentum: Texas grabbed it in the final two minutes when quarterback Garrett Gilbert finally hit an open receiver, completing a 44-yard pass to All-American Jordan Shipley with 1:31 left in the quarter.

Deep in the heart of Texas, chins went to chests. Same thing in that portion of the Rose Bowl crowd of 94,906 who were there to root for Texas. The people in the burnt-orange shirts had just been singed in the worst way imaginable. Just 4 minutes 6 seconds had been played in this, college football's national championship game, better known as the BCS Bowl. Already, wild things had been happening. Alabama, coached by a fairly conservative man named Nick Saban, had tried a fake punt and pass on fourth down and 23 from its own 20-yard line.

PASSING LEADERS Texas Garrett Gilbert...0-6, 2 int. Alabama McElroy...1-2, 11 yards RUSHING LEADERS Texas D.J. Monroe...1, 28 yards Alabama T. Richardson...6, 57 yards, TD RECEIVING LEADERS Texas None...0 yards Alabama Richardson...1, 11 yards Momentum: It was Alabama from start to finish, with Mark Ingram scoring on a two-yard run two plays into the quarter and defensive lineman Marcell Dareus scoring on a 28-yard interception return with only a few seconds left.

Jordan Shipley sought out the future of Texas football, finding freshman quarterback Garrett Gilbert walking with his head down. The Longhorns' senior wide receiver would have none of that. "This is going to be great for you," Shipley said, cupping his hand behind Gilbert's neck to pull him closer to drive the words home. "I am going to enjoy watching you." This was not the type of performance that would normally merit such praise. Gilbert was too often the Alabama defense's best friend.

Sweet Colt Alabama? Don't start. Don't even start. The Crimson Lie? Don't you dare, not here, not now, not with a whole mess of Longhorns still sprawled across a wet Pasadena lawn, the eyes of Texas blackened and bloodshot. Tainted, this ain't. Alabama's 37-21 victory over Texas in the Bowl Championship Series title game at the Rose Bowl on Thursday night was fair and square, even if raised a little hair. Or, as tackle Drew Davis later shouted defiantly through a crowded locker room hallway, "C'mon, man!

Playing on an Alabama defense that boasts the nation's best linebacker in Rolando McClain, an All-American cornerback in Javier Arenas and a mountain of a nose tackle in Terrence Cody, it wasn't hard for a backup lineman like Marcell Dareus to go overlooked this season. On Thursday, however, he stood squarely in the spotlight, turning in the two of the biggest plays on a night of big plays to help the Crimson Tide to a 37-21 victory over Texas in the Bowl Championship Series title game at the Rose Bowl.

Eryk Anders wouldn't have been there for Alabama if his father wasn't around when he needed someone most. After the Crimson Tide linebacker didn't play during Alabama's Independence Bowl victory over Colorado in 2007, his father pleaded with him to stick with the program. Hours later, Gayle Anders died of an apparent heart attack. His father's words still resonating more than two years later, the senior made one of the biggest plays in Alabama's 37-21 victory over Texas on Thursday night at the Rose Bowl in the Bowl Championship Series title game.

It took Alabama's Mark Ingram nine carries and about a quarter and a half of Thursday's Bowl Championship Series title game at the Rose Bowl to run for more yards than the Texas defense had been giving up on average in a game. Texas had given up an average of 62.2 yards, best in the nation. Ingram had 90 yards by halftime on his way to a game-high 116 yards rushing with two touchdowns in 22 carries. His was a performance of a worthy Heisman Trophy winner, and it earned him recognition as the offensive player of the game.