Alabama wins

[spanx]

Take a look at what Mr. Clean said up there. That's what I'm talking about when I say "an asterisk".



The fact is, the tables weren't turned. Perhaps McElroy was better conditioned and less prone to injury, or perhaps 'Bama was just 'lucky'. Maybe even 'Bama would have been better prepared should their starting QB have come out of the game. Maybe Texas shouldn't have bet the farm on Colt McCoy, and maybe their receivers should have been prepared mentally to catch a ball from someone other than McCoy. How many dropped passes were there in the second quarter?

I just don't think anyone should put all the "ifs" on McCoy's absence.

Let's also not forget that 'Bama's star player (Ingram) did miss a lot of the game due to hamstring cramps. That didn't seem to affect 'Bama's game at all, so yeah. I'd say they were better prepared.

How many yards and points did alabama get in the 3rd quarter?Ingram was out most of the quarter wasn't he?

 

[Mr_Amazing]

Agreed. Ingram could have adjusted his diet, water intake, pregame warm-ups, or something to prevent that. He didn't, so he missed a lot of the game because of it. Props to 'Bama and Ingram's backup for not losing it mentally when the trainers were checking him out on the sidelines.



So, am I wrong in thinking that a player can diminish the risk of injury through conditioning? Maybe McCoy would not have been injured if he had spent a little more time in the weight room.

If toughness has nothing to do with injury, then what is "toughness"?



If you're saying that Texas had no shot at winning without McCoy, then you are diminishing Alabama's win. Furthermore, if injuries are part of the game, and everyone seems to agree that they are, then Texas should have been prepared for something like McCoy's injury. The fact is that they were not. If you want to say that Texas got beat because they weren't prepared for the necessary aspects of the game, I'm fine with that. What I'm uncomfortable with is saying that the absence of one player, when there are 10 others on the field and 11 others on the other side of the ball, caused their loss.

I never said Texas had no shot without McCoy. I said they would have had a better shot with him. Though there are 11 players on the field, the most important player was hurt. Considering that McCoy has been starting for 4 years, the offense was tailored around his ability. Look at the team as a car. Each part is needed, but some parts work better than others. McCoy is a 400 horsepower v8 hemi. The backup is 125 horses of 4-banger power. The car isn't going to run the same way with the 4 cylinder engine as it would the original. That doesn't mean the car can't win a race without the original engine, but it won't be as fast to do it.

I agree Texas should have been prepared and if they didn't prepare for it, that falls on the coaches. Assuming that an injury can be prevented by simply "spending more time in the weight room" is false logic, however. The human body can only withstand so much stress in certain areas and no amount of weight lifting or fitness will prevent an injury from occurring. If McCoy puts on enough muscle to give him a 28" arm circumference, then gets hit in the same location previously stated, it won't matter because you can't strengthen that area.

Here's a guy with enormous arms. Yet, as you can clearly see, there is an area that is physically impossible to strengthen on his upper arm just below the shoulder. Strength has nothing to do with toughness or the odds of getting injured. Some injuries are such that you cannot play with them. A running back or wide receiver likely can't play with an ACL tear. It doesn't mean they aren't tough, it simply means it is impossible to use their leg. In McCoy's case, he got a stinger in his throwing arm. The pain might have only lasted a minute or two, but the weakness associated with the injury prevents him from being able to lift his arm, bend his elbow, and grip anything. Those three things are critical to playing quarterback at any level.

The injury itself has no bearing on his toughness. That is my main disagreement.

 

[Mr. Clean]

How many yards and points did alabama get in the 3rd quarter?Ingram was out most of the quarter wasn't he?

Well it doesn't see that anyone wants to answer your question...I don't know how many yards Alabama gained during the 3rd Qtr, but points scored by Alabama...Zero, nil, nada.

But on that thought, that little freshman running back Richardson looked pretty good. Thunder and Lightning, I think Musburger referred to the pair.

 

[jadam318]

It is unlikely that anyone questions the benefits of conditioning. But you seem intent on inferring that McCoy was out out of condition and injury prone. Facts point to the contrary, yet you continue.

His injury, as fluky as it was, still was evidently debilating enough that his return to the game would not have proved beneficial to the team. It had nothing to do with McCoy's toughness mental or physical. His want to could not change his can do.

I never said McCoy wasn't tough or that he was out of shape. I'm saying he wasn't tough enough to stay in the game. Blame it on 'fluke', blame it on conditioning, blame it on whatever you want. I don't know anything about his conditioning. I was just suggesting that as a possibility. Look, I like Colt McCoy. I think he has a bright future playing football, and he plays the game hard.

Now, regardless of whether or not we agree on any of that, none of you can dispute that Texas was not prepared to deal with the absence of Colt McCoy. And we've already agreed that injuries are a part of the sport. That means that Texas, as a team, was not prepared for what transpired in this game.

I agree Texas should have been prepared and if they didn't prepare for it, that falls on the coaches. Assuming that an injury can be prevented by simply "spending more time in the weight room" is false logic, however. The human body can only withstand so much stress in certain areas and no amount of weight lifting or fitness will prevent an injury from occurring. If McCoy puts on enough muscle to give him a 28" arm circumference, then gets hit in the same location previously stated, it won't matter because you can't strengthen that area.

Just so we're clear, I know that spending more time in the weight room isn't the answer for every injury. I was just suggesting that it helps. And like I said earlier, that may have had nothing to do with McCoy's injury. I understand that. It's just a possibility.

The injury itself has no bearing on his toughness. That is my main disagreement.

That's why I asked earlier what y'all consider "toughness". I think maybe that's where we are all disagreeing. To me, someone who is tough (pertaining to football, anyway) is a player who can be physical, take hits, avoid injury, and stay in the game. And again, I'm not necessarily saying McCoy's not tough at all. I'm just saying that he wasn't tough enough to take that one hit. Maybe nobody is. Then again, maybe no other team in the nation is capable of administering so hard a hit.

Do you see what I'm saying?




Let me also throw this out here for all of us. None of this is intended as a personal attack on any of you or any player, team, coach, whatever we're talking about. The only thing I love as much as I love football is arguing football. Don't take my persistence with this as belligerence. I'm genuinely enjoying the discussion. It is impossible to portray voice inflection and other nonverbal communication via this outlet, so I just wanted to point this out before a die hard fan gets offended or something. This is just gentlemanly discussion on my part. (My voice isn't raised. )

Furthermore, I feel that both Texas and Alabama deserved to be in this game. They both had seasons they should be proud of, and we couldn't have asked for a more evenly matched title game. I really do wish McCoy wouldn't have been injured and we could have seen the exact offense that won them the Big 12 play against 'Bama for 4 quarters.

 

[jadam318]

How many yards and points did alabama get in the 3rd quarter? Ingram was out most of the quarter wasn't he?

Enough to win.

 

[perry]

The scoreboard is what will be remembered.

I'm happy that the Crimson Tide won. We had a picture of the Bear hanging on our wall when I grew up. I was raised to root for Alabama football because dad went to grad school there. Dad would like to know that the Crimson Tide has won again

 

[spanx]

Enough to win.

Yep there was enough to win.All 3 of them.I was trying to argue that Ingrams injury had an impact on Alabama as well as McCoy had on Texas.The two injuries cancelled each other out pretty much cause just from a yardage standpoint it was pretty even.Texas avg yds per game was 432.this game was 276.Alabama avg yds per game was 413.this game was 263.So it does have an impact when a key player gets injured no matter which team it is.

 

[FLTiger]

It is a shame that McCoy was knocked out of the game in such a freakish way. He's a heck of a competitor, and he certainly didn't deserve to watch most of the game from the sidelines.

While I am not an Alabama fan (my heart belongs to the "cow college" on the Plains), I'm glad they won. Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer, savor your victory, we'll get you next year.