The Alabama football team (13-1) has once again placed itself as the pinnacle of all college football. The Crimson Tide absolutely dismantled No. 1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 42-14 to place itself there.
It was a complete game all the way through, and with few mistakes by the Tide But two players stood out from the pack. Those two players were junior running back Eddie Lacy and junior linebacker C.J. Mosley, who etched themselves into Tide lore by earning the offensive and defensive Most Outstanding Player honors, respectively, of one of the most dominant performances in BCS history.
Lacy earned his MOP status by gashing the vaunted Fighting Irish front seven for 140 yards for a ridiculous seven yards per carry average. He added a 20-yard touchdown, as well as an 11-yard touchdown reception. Mosley led the team with eight total tackles and five solo tackles, and was tied for second on the team with a tackle for loss.
Lacy pretty much enforced his will on the Notre Dame defense – with a little help from his offensive line. Indeed, he was pretty much set to become offensive MOP in the first quarter alone, where he rushed for 72 yards and a touchdown. Shortly into the second half, he’d become only the second running back all year to rush for over 100 yards against Notre Dame.
He didn’t just do it one way, either. Lacy used just about every move in his arsenal to gain the yards he did: cutting ability, speed, power and of course his trademark spin move. In one particular play, Lacy had been stood up by a Notre Dame defender, only to fling him off to gain more yards.
That kind of performance prompted senior center Barrett Jones to call Lacy’s performance one for the ages.
“He’s incredible,” Jones said. “He’s an incredible player; I think we’re seeing what Eddie’s capable of. He’s been a little banged up at the beginning of the year, but now he’s just now getting healthy, and he’s an incredible player.”
Still, even with his impressive performance, Lacy was quick to shed the thanks to the players around him for the success he had in the
“Even though my teammates ain’t here, the offense, I thank them,” Lacy said. “Because without them I wouldn’t be here right now. And Coach Saban, he’s a great coach, and I thank him, as well.”
On the other side of the ball, Mosley’s statistics weren’t nearly as gaudy as his offensive counterpart, although he played as big a role in the Tide’s success on defense as Lacy did for the offense. Mosley flew all over the field, created havoc in the Notre Dame backfield, stuffed the Notre Dame running game and kept Fighting Irish quarterback Everett Golson in check the entire game. Essentially, he never let them get off the ground.
Indeed, Mosley was responsible for setting the tone early for the Tide defense, when he stuffed Notre Dame running back Theo Riddick in the hole on an early Irish drive. Rather than wait for his teammates to help bring Riddick down however, Mosley slammed him to the ground.
The play was pretty much the entire defensive game in a nutshell: It demonstrated Mosley’s versatility and power, while at the same time showing off the disparity in talent and strength between the Alabama and defense and Golson and company.
Senior defensive lineman Jesse Williams, who opened up many of the plays Mosley made by consuming double teams, said Mosley’ versatility on the field was his biggest asset during the game.
“C.J.’s a great guy,” Williams said. “He’s all over the field. He’s shifty, and he makes plays out of nothing. He’s a huge part of the team.”
The fact that Mosley will return for his senior season – Lacy is still deciding whether to enter the NFL Draft – can only mean good things for the defense in the future.
“Obviously, it’s going to be huge for him to come back,” Williams said. “I’ve been grateful that I’ve had to take double teams for him to make plays the last couple of years, but he’s a great guy and he deserves everything he got.”
