AJ McCarron guides Alabama to another title

Alabama's AJ McCarron kissed The Coaches' Trophy after the BCS National Championship college football game against Notre Dame Monday, Jan. 7, 2013, in Miami. Alabama won 42-14. / AP Photo/David J. Phillip

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. It might have been the hardest hit Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron absorbed all night.

With the play clock down to zero and just a few minutes before the confetti started raining down, McCarron expressed displeasure with All-America center Barrett Jones after an essentially meaningless delay of game penalty. Jones gave him a good shove, and then the Crimson Tide went back to dispatching Notre Dame 42-14 Monday night to claim the program's second straight national title and third in four years.

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AJ McCarron

Both parties and coach Nick Saban dismissed the incident as no big deal.

"Well, that's just AJ," Saban said. "That's the kind relationship I have with him.'

Feisty, competitive and hardly lacking in confidence, McCarron was once again on target and well-protected in a BCS championship game.

The nation's leader in passing efficiency completed 20 of 28 passes for 264 yards and four touchdowns in a game that might have even been better than his MVP performance against LSU a year ago. He moved past John Parker Wilson to set the school record with 49 career passing touchdowns with a year to go since McCarron has already announced he'll return for his senior season instead of turning pro.

McCarron has had plenty of spats with Jones, the leader of an offensive line that kept his jersey virtually spotless in the finale: No sacks, not even an official quarterback hurry on the stat sheet. That stuff happens with motivated competitors in such close quarters.

Just not usually on national television.

"I shouldn't have pushed him," said Jones, who won the William V. Campbell Trophy as college football's top scholar-athlete. "It's just not a big deal. The play clock was running down. We were delayed. We just wanted to run some clock and we ended up not having much time at the line and they shifted and I ended up having to make some calls, and then the clock ran out. AJ blamed it on the nearest person, which was me."

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2013 BCS National Championship

McCarron had a different take on what happened, but also dismissed the significance. He blamed it on miscommunication — sort of.

"He wanted to do something else, and I was right and he didn't like it," McCarron said, grinning. "That's us, we're both perfectionist. I think you're all are making it a little bit bigger than what it is."

Bruce Feldman, CBSSports.com senior college football columnist, says: "After what McCarron has done in the past two years in BCS title games, he certainly deserves his share of the spotlight. McCarron connected on 43 of his 62 passes and had four TDs and zero interceptions in wins over LSU and Notre Dame, teams ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in defense. Not bad for a guy who many dismissed as merely a 'game manager.'"

Alabama had plenty of big offensive performances in the game. Tailback Eddie Lacy earned outstanding offensive player honors with 140 yards and two touchdowns — one rushing, one receiving — and freshman T.J. Yeldon ran for 108 yards and plowed through the line for a 1-yard score behind noseguard/goal line fullback Jesse Williams.

Freshman receiver Amari Cooper broke Julio Jones Alabama single-season receiving records, finishing with six catches for 105 yards and two touchdowns to reach 1,000 for the season.

"It was a great game," Jones said. "I loved our balance. I just think this was probably the best overall offensive performance we've had all year."

McCarron as always was pulling the trigger, and maybe he also lit the fuse in that one heated moment.

Not surprisingly, Saban speaks fondly of that kind of passion and intensity.

"AJ is a leader, he's a competitor, he's a fiery guy," the coach said. "I think he has a tremendous amount of respect for the competitors who play around him.

"But I also think that he lets his personality come out, and I think people respect that."

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Alabama quarterback's model girlfriend

Meanwhile, McCarron's model girlfriend, Katherine Webb, became a hot topic on Twitter as her guy was helping the Tide blowout Notre Dame.

Webb gained more than 90,000 twitter followers throughout the game, including Arizona Cardinals defensive linemen Darnell Dockett, who tweeted his phone number to her.

According to CBSSports.com's Bruce Feldman, McCarron (88,000 followers) was informed Webb actually had passed him in Twitter followers.

"No way!" he said incredulously.

[omnibus66]

Maybe after the playoff system is put into effect, farces like this will be a thing of the past. A second rate team will be ranked if it is undefeated, regardless of who they beat. Boise State comes to mind, but there have been others. Oregon or a rematch with A&M would have been a much better game.

[rider1956]

There are alot of kids who sure could use some of that football money as a scholarship. Are these schools about the business of educating or being a feeder to the NFL?

[maryb90]

I must say hes not to shabby himself..... =)

[myopinionpal]

The Tide beat the fight out of Fighting Irish. ND new slogan will be The Irish Of ND.

[bdoober8]

The stench from college football seems especially pungent this time of year. Once again the inexplicable bowl system has concluded by corronating another filthy rich football program whose coach alone makes $6 million, almost half of the entire Athletic Department budget for many universities. Grown fat and rich from ESPN money, the SEC schools all have budgets in the $100 million plus range, while many other supposedly Division I schools have budgets not even half that. Boise State, which it has been decided by the almighty ESPN will never get a shot at the imaginary national title, has a budget under $40 million, while media darling Alabama has a budget of $124 million. Many schools have athletic budgets in the $10 to $15 million range, so if you ever wonder why only certain Division I schools get a shot at the title, there's your answer - there is no reason for the rich schools to let the others share in their wealth. Yet this inequity, perpetuated by a bowl system whose greed so severe it would embarrass that champion of rich-get-richer sports, the late George Steinbrenner (well, probably not), seems just fine with both the fans and media. So who am I to blow against the wind? Three cheers for the rich and powerful! And if your school isn't one of them, who cares? You aren't in the running for the title anyway if you aren't a rich school, so get lost.

[mattrick78]

Get jealous, much?

[thechooch1]

doober first off Boise State wasn't very good this year and certainly didn't deserve a BCS bowl. Secondly all of these football programs you cry about make the monies that fund the rest of the schools athletic programs. Most other sports are money losers for the institution except maybe basketball. Yes it is all about the money, but in this case the playoffs are in the future.

[cigs645]

That game was a pitiful excuse for a national championships game. "No 1 ranked" ND did not belong on that field. Tide let up in the 2nd half score could have been 60 to 0. Oregon would have given them a better game. There are 3 football leagues, the NFC,AFC and SEC