Sugar Bowl Recap: The Crimson Tide Died Against Oklahoma Sooners

Bryant-Denny Stadium: Home of the Alabama Crimson Tide

A.J. McCarron threw three interceptions in his final game in an Alabama Crimson Tide uniform Thursday January 02, 2013, losing to the Oklahoma Sooners 45-31 in the Sugar Bowl.

All Alabama Crimson Tide fans are in a state of mourning, and they should be. The Tide fell, and they didn't go down fighting very well in the Sugar Bowl.

The Oklahoma Sooners Lay a Good Ole Whoopin' on Alabama Crimson Tide

The Oklahoma Sooners scored off of every turnover that A.J. McCarron threw on Thursday night at the Sugar Bowl. Most analysts give the Oklahoma Sooners credit for playing a near perfect game against the Alabama Crimson Tide. Anyone familiar with the Alabama Crimson Tide knows that coach Nick Saban demands perfection, and will ride players for little inconsistencies and minor mistakes. But now, the season is over, and there's only next football season to get better, unless you are an Auburn Tigers fan. Auburn fans have an opportunity to see their season end with another National Championship. The SEC is depending on Auburn to maintain their tradition in National Champions.

A.J. McCarron Ends Alabama Crimson Tide Career With Two Losses

Many Alabama fans around the water-cooler wonder why Alabama focused so much on their passing game, versus their running game. Some Crimson Tide fans think it was because it was because they wanted A.J. McCarron to go out with a bang. Well, "Bang!" the Tide died at the hands of the Oklahoma Sooners.

A.J. McCarron ends his 38 game career at Alabama with two losses. First to Auburn, then to Oklahoma, with a final W-L record of 36-2. Not bad, but not in a way that any Alabama player wants to end their college football career on.

So many Auburn fans point out that the Alabama Crimson Tide was supposed to be the obvious win over Oklahoma - and they were. But something happened. The Tide fell short, and fell harder than at the Iron Bowl in their last loss to Auburn.

Even Nick Saban admitted that Alabama did not play well on defense in the first half. Well, Duh!

Sugar Bowl Record Broken by Oklahoma Sooners

Quarterback Trevor Knight of the Oklahoma Sooners grabbed the spotlight with 32 completions out of 44 attempts - a Sugar Bowl record - with 348 yards across four touchdowns.

Image credit: Flickr Creative Commons; by James Willamor

Alabama Barely Beats LSU 21 - 17 in Final Two Minutes

Emotional Alabama Quarterback A.J. McCarron crying at LSU game

The #1 ranked college football team in the nation - the Alabama Crimson Tide - almost lost to #5 ranked LSU on Saturday night (11/03/12) in Death Valley. The game literally came down to the last 2 minutes. And anyone that has played football knows that football teams practice 2 minute drills ruthlessly for moments like this.

The score was LSU 17, AL 14, and the clock was under 2 minutes to play. Alabama's A.J. McCarron knew that this game was riding on his shoulders. Play after play, he remained cool as he threw the ball for 1st downs, eeking away the yards until Alabama was able to score their final touchdown. One misstep, and the game would have been in the hands of the LSU Tigers.

Many Alabama fans were nervously watching as their #1 team risked the chance of losing everything they worked so hard for this season. One fan even posted on Facebook, "No matter the outcome of the AL-LSU game, I hope one of these teams goes to the National Championship game." And now it most certainly looks like Alabama will retain the #1 spot in the rankings.

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This has been the closest game by far for the Alabama Crimson Tide in their regular season play.

A.J. McCarron could be seen in the final seconds on the bench crying, and that is understandable. This was a huge moment for Alabama football. He knew that he could've lost it all here at LSU, but yet remained victorious. After this game, there is no doubt that someone on Alabama's team will win the Heisman this year. There is no doubt about it, and right now it looks like A.J. McCarron has pretty good chances at winning the Heisman trophy.

Final score: Alabama 21 LSU 17

More Pictures of A.J. McCarron crying:

A.J. McCarron crying, embracing fellow Alabama teammate

A.J. McCarron gets a comforting hair fluff from Norwood; odd?

One final cry for A.J. McCarron before sealing the victory

After the game, A.J. McCarron gave plenty of praise to his teammates and coaches for all of the hard work that made a game like this possible. LSU was a big contender, and was the closest game for Alabama this football season.

2013 College Football AL beats LSU

On November 9, 2013, AL beats LSU 38 - 17.

2014 College Football AL beats LSU

In 2014, Alabama beats LSU 20 - 13 in overtime.