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Copyright © 2010 Ed Bagley

Twelve months is a long time to wait when you seek personal and team redemption, but it is also a short time to wait when the event yields a positive result and you can bask in that success for the rest of your life. For Alabama this year, the memories will be ever so sweet, and at least one legend will be created in the process.

From Kenny "The Snake" Stabler to "Joe Willie" Namath to Bart Star, all of whom won Super Bowls as NFL quarterbacks, now add "Mount Cody" to the list of Alabama legends.

Senior Terrence Cody was Alabama's 6-foot-5, 365-pount nose guard who, as much as anyone on Alabama's team, was responsible for getting the Crimson Tide to the championship game undefeated. Had it not been for his block of a field goal attempt by Tennessee on the last play of the game, Alabama would not have beaten the Volunteers, 12-10, to remain undefeated. It was Cody's second block of a field goal in the 4th quarter.

"I didn't really get off the ground," said Cody of his game-saving blocked kick. "I just reached my arm up. That's how I got it. I knocked (the blocker) back. He was on his back." That's Cody—he flattened the blocker on his way to the most crucial play of Alabama's unbeaten 14-0 season.

Take away the Crimson Tide's game against Tennessee—their closest of the year—and Alabama scored 400 points and gave up only 133 points prior to entering the national championship game, a 22-point-plus winning margin in 12 games.

The national championship game itself was not as dramatic as Mount Cody's blocked kick. In retrospect, the game some sportswriters made out to be close and in question, was really nothing of the such.

The reality was that Texas spent much of the game looking confused. The initial enthusiasm of the Longhorns evaporated quickly when, on their 5th offensive play, Alabama's Marcell Dareus hit Colt McCoy with such force he re-injured McCoy's shoulder and knocked him out of the game.

"I did lay it down pretty hard," said Dareus, the 6-foot-3, 280-pound sophomore defensive lineman. The entire Texas offense revolved around McCoy all year, and there is no way that the Longhorns would have been playing in the final game of the season without him. McCoy is the winningest quarterback in NCAA history, with 45 victories in 52 starts.

With McCoy out and the Crimson Tide defense smelling blood like sharks in deep water, they shut down the Longhorns as 'Bama scored 4 times in the 2nd quarter to take a 24-6 halftime lead.

Sophomore running back and Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram scored on a 2-yard run. Freshman Trent Richardson scored on a 49-yard run. Senior placekicker Leigh Tiffin added a 26-yard field goal, and Marcell Dareus continued his damage by scoring on a 28-yard interception return after picking off a shovel pass from McCoy's replacement, Garrett Gilbert.

At this point in the game, Texas looked like dead meat.

Gilbert, an inexperienced freshman and Texas' quarterback of the future, would settle down and later throw 44-yard and 28-yard touchdown passes to Jordan Shipley, the Longhorns go-to receiver. The gap was closed to three, 24-21, with 3:02 left.

Then senior linebacker Eryk Anders stepped up with a blindside sack of Gilbert 8 yards behind the line of scrimmage, forcing a fumble that was recovered by sophomore linebacker Courtney Upshaw. Alabama took over on the Texas 3-yard line and three plays later, Mark Ingram found paydirt, putting 'Bama up 31-21.

On their next possession, Gilbert was intercepted for the 3rd time in the game by senior defensive back Javier Arenas, and Alabama took over on Texas' 27-yard line. Trent Richardson then scored his 2nd touchdown by running 27 yards in three plays, putting 'Bama up 37-21. The game was then all but over with an exclamation point—one freshman (Richardson) beating another (Gilbert).

In a nutshell, the Crimson Tide did not need a great quarterback (Greg McElroy) to win—they had Mark Ingram and the Alabama defense to do the job when it counted. Ingram would finish with 116 yards on 22 carries (5.3 ypc) and 2 touchdowns. 'Bama outrushed Texas, 205 yards to 81.

While many thought Alabama was nuts to pay Nick Saban $32 million over 8 years ($4 million annually) to coach its team, here are the results: After going 7-6 his first year and winning the Independence Bowl, Saban's team last year was 12-2 and would have played in the national championship game had it beaten Florida in the SEC title game. This year Alabama was 14-0, won redemption and the SEC title by beating Florida 32-13, and won Alabama's 8th national championship.

Alabama's title was its first in 17 years, the Tide's last national championship was in 1992. And let's not forget Texas (13-1). It may not be very well known, but Alabama's victory over Texas for the 2009 national championship was its first victory in 9 contests against the Longhorns. Texas will bounce back, and Alabama will have its work cut out for it to remain on top next year.

Even more significant than this year's national championship for Alabama is the fact that Nick Saban, by winning the national title this year, becomes the first coach ever to win national championships with 2 different schools. He won the 2003 BCS title with LSU (Louisiana State University) by beating Oklahoma 21-14.

Alabama and Bear Bryant are synonymous. Paul "Bear" Bryant, ever familiar in his houndstooth hat roaming the Crimson Tide sideline, coached at Alabama, his alma matre, for 25 years. When he retired in 1982, he had won 323 games—the most ever at the time—won 13 SEC (Southeastern Conference) titles and 6 national championships. In 38 years of coaching, Bear Bryant had exactly one losing season.

Nick Saban is looking so great as a coach at the moment, but let me say it here and now: Nick Saban is no Bear Bryant. Saban must establish his own unique identity in football history, as Bear Bryant did. Saban also has another 200 games to win, more SEC titles and at least 4 more national titles, either at Alabama or elsewhere.