Did they? I didn't even start watching until after Bradford went out.
Anyway, thats sort of been my point about the whole "Alabama only won because McCoy wasn't in" argument. Its hypothetical. Sure, it gave is a damn good opportunity. But its part of football. Dareus certainly wasn't trying to knock him out. It just happened. A few Texas fans at work were pissed off, but when I said the same thing about them winning against Oklahoma, they didn't have much left to say.
What if McElroy didn't have a fractured rib? What if we had Hightower? What if Marquis Johnson didn't have a broken thumb? What if Ingram didn't have an ankle injury wasn't a big PUSS? What if McClain wasn't receiving IV fluids twice before the game and once at halftime? What the phuk if? It works both ways.
See changes above.
Mostly kidding.
I don't know that Colt being in the game would have given Texas too much of a better chance. Let me clarify that....if everything else was exactly the same, and the only change was McCoy at QB, then sure, Texas likely would have won.
But the thing is, Alabama did what they did based on the game being 24-6. They were content to ride that lead, not take chances, etc. Had it been 14-6, then 14-13, then 21-20, etc, both teams would have played the game completely differently.
Nearly every championship game winner and championship game loser has "what ifs". Like, Ohio State's was "what if we didn't get here just because our conference sucks?". USC's was "what if Reggie Bush didn't try to lateral the ball for no reason inside the 20?".
Think of Nebraska's whole season....what if they didn't turn the ball over EIGHT times against Iowa State. What if they didn't have blown coverage on ONE play at the end of the Virginia Tech game? What if they didn't kick the ball out of bounds against Texas?
There's no excuse for the Texas Tech loss (31-10), but Nebraska could easily have been 12-1, Big 12 champs, and played in the Fiesta Bowl with a chance at a 13-1 season.
What if, what if.