Written by Jesse Lamovsky

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The inaugural NCAA Football Tournament has been a victory for the chalk- and for God’s Conference. Top-seeded LSU and second-seeded Alabama knocked out the best the West had to offer in impressive fashion in the Christmas Eve semifinal round, and now- appropriately enough, in New Orleans, home of the SEC-centric Sugar Bowl- the Tigers and Tide will meet for the second time this season, this time to decide the National Championship.

#1 Louisiana State (16-0) 48, #5 Oregon (13-3) 20

LSU didn’t beat the Ducks as badly as they did on the first weekend of the season. They beat them worse. Forcing five turnovers to add to the four they forced in the 40-27 win in Jerry World, the Tigers swarmed all over from the visitors from Eugene to punch their ticket to the Championship Game in the Superdome.

Things actually started decently for Chip Kelly’s team. Slashing runs by LaMichael James and Kenjon Barner got the Ducks waddling on their first possession. But with a first down deep in LSU territory, a scrambling Darrin Thomas fumbled and Tyrann Mathieu- who else- recovered to snuff the threat. Six plays later Michael Ford blasted 24 yards for a touchdown to make it 7-0 Tigers.

Oregon knew it needed to get off fast to have a chance in Baton Rouge. Instead the early turnover begat a series of miscues that took the Ducks out of the game before halftime. The opportunistic Tigers scored 24 points off four Oregon turnovers- two fumbles and two interceptions- on the way to a 31-7 lead at intermission. The Ducks had their moments- Thomas’s touchdown pass to Lavasier Tuinei, for example- and moved the ball reasonably well offensively… but too many mistakes and too many short fields for LSU’s offense spelled disaster.

The second half amounted to a thirty-minute holding action by the triumphant Tigers. Oregon drew to within 31-13 on James’s touchdown run early in the third period, but was stuffed on the two-point conversion attempt. Any momentum the Ducks gained by this score was quickly dissipated when LSU took the ensuing kickoff and marched 81 yards to another touchdown, making it 38-13. Drew Alleman’s 41-yard field goal- the result of Oregon’s fifth and final turnover- made the score 41-13 at the end of three quarters.

The final highlight came courtesy of none other than Tyrann Mathieu. Midway through the fourth period, with LSU leading 41-20, Mathieu gathered in a punt and, as the roars of the Tiger Stadium crowd swelled to a climax, dashed 71 yards for the touchdown that put the icing on Louisiana State’s victory cake.

Statistically the two teams weren’t far apart. LSU barely outgained Oregon in total yardage, 363-344. But those five Duck turnovers, compared to one for the Tigers, was what spelled doom for the visitors from out West. Oregon’s season had begun with a loss to LSU. It ended in the same fashion, as the Ducks came up short yet again in a showdown with a top out-of-conference opponent.

#2 Alabama (14-1) 24, Boise State (13-2) 7

Playing in the most hostile of environments, Boise hung tough for much of the night- but at the end it was simply a case of too much Alabama. With Nick Saban’s defense making Kellen Moore’s last collegiate game a painful one and his offensive line and Trent Richardson pounding the weary Bronco defense, the Tide pulled away late and won going away to advance to the inaugural NCAA Division I-A Football Championship.

Alabama opened the scoring on its first possession, Jeremy Shelley’s drive capping off a quick 56-yard march. After Boise’s defense held the Tide to a three-and-out on its next series, the Broncos put together their only sustained drive of the night, going 79 yards in 12 plays and taking a 7-3 lead on Moore’s 13-yard pass to Tyler Shoemaker late in the first quarter. Moore completed 7-of-10 on the march and picked up a key third-down on a scramble. It would all be downhill from there for the decorated senior from Prosser, Washington.

It took a while for the Tide to get going offensively, but things finally clicked two possessions after Boise took its lead. On third-and-ten from his 27-yard line, A.J. McCarron- oft-criticized for his mediocre performance thus far in the Tournament- hit Marquis Maze for a critical first down. The clutch play lit the fires of an Alabama drive that ended when Richardson bounced off two tacklers and dove over from the five to make it 10-7 Crimson Tide with 4:38 left in the half. Alabama had a chance to score again just before intermission, but Maze dropped a possible touchdown pass and Shelley was wide right on a 47-yard attempt at the gun. With possession to start the second half, Chris Peterson was more than happy to get into the locker room down just three.

That possession would go nowhere- a fate that describes every one of Boise’s second-half thrusts. The Broncos hadn’t been able to run the ball to begin with and now Courtney Upshaw and Co. was getting in Kellen Moore’s face on a regular basis. A rattled Moore missed a wide-open Matt Miller on third-down to end Boise’s second second-half series- and as it turned out, the last chance for the Broncos to control the game had gone a-glimmering.

The Tide took over at its 23-yard line with 8:54 left in the third quarter and proceeded to spend the remainder of the period driving the ball down the throats of the Boise State defense. The game-plan was simple: bludgeon the smaller Broncos with Trent Richardson, Eddie Lacy and the offensive line. Hands on hips, white uniforms befouled with grass stains, the visitors from Idaho couldn’t stem the Tide. Richardson and Lacy carried the ball on 14 out of 16 plays on the marathon march, which ended when Lacy zigzagged for an 11-yard touchdown on the opening play of the fourth quarter. Alabama now led 17-7.

Boise finally scraped together some offense, nibbling its way to a third-and-three at the Alabama 31. But as it has done throughout the Tournament, the Tide came up with big plays on defense. First Dont’a Hightower roared through and dropped Moore for an eight-yard loss. On fourth-and-eleven a pressured Moore forced one over the middle and Mark Barron intercepted at the ‘Bama 20 with 10:03 remaining in the game.

That was it for the Broncos. But Trent Richardson had one more treat for the home folks in his final game at Bryant-Denny Stadium. With 4:51 left the wrecking ball from Pensacola evaded defensive end Byron Hout in the backfield, picked up some blocks, broke another tackle and was gone for a backbreaking 55-yard touchdown. It was an appropriate capper for Richardson, who finished with 29 carries for 184 yards and two touchdowns.

The final statistics were as decisive as the scoreboard. Alabama outgained Boise 403-241, including an overwhelming 256-36 edge in rushing yards. The Tide ran nearly twice as many plays as the Broncos and dominated time of possession. Kellen Moore was sacked five times, intercepted twice and completed 16-of-34 for just 205 yards. Boise made a game of it, for a while. But at the end there was no doubt about which team was worthy to move on to New Orleans and the Championship Game on New Year’s Night.