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Brent Musburger: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the first SOTU-BCS Impossible Championship game. This is Brent Musburger along with Kirk Herbstreit coming to you live from the SOTU Stadium with this exciting hypothetical contest. Kirk, what do you think the Nick Saban’s squad needs to do in order to take home the trophy against a legendary Miami Hurricanes team tonight?
Kirk Herbstreit: Well, Brent, it all comes down to what happens in the trenches. In order to be successful as a QB, you need time to look down field and make accurate throws. The team that controls the trenches will most likely win this game.
Brent Musburger: Much of the focus is going to be on the defensive backfield because there are some big-time wide-receivers playing in this game. Tell our viewers a little bit about the guys who will be responsible for containing the likes of Julio Jones and Andre Johnson.
Kirk Herbstreit: When you talk about Alabama’s secondary, the guy to watch is S Mark Barron. The kid’s nickname is "Superman" and that tells you a lot about what the fans think of his play. Barron had 7 picks on the season and returned one of them for a score. CB Javier Arenas and the other defensive backs will be sorely tested by Johnson, Kevin Beard, and Ethnic Sands. On the other side of the ball, the 'Canes feature 3 starters that were selected in the 1st round of the NFL draft, including future Hall-of-Famer Ed Reed. CB's Mike Rumph and Phillip Buchanon will have their hands full with Jones and his cadre of talented receivers.
Brent Musburger: Earlier in the year Miami was facing a tough Boston College team on the road, one of their two close games on the season. BC was threatening to win the game and derail the 'Canes quest for an undefeated season with a late touchdown and then this happened to set everything right in Coral Gables:
Kirk Herbstreit: That was pretty amazing, Brent, but Reed's counterpart is also worthy of mentioning. Barron is a ball-hawk and a ferocious hitter in his own right: Brent Musburger: We touched a little on the passing game, but both these teams are capable of doing serious damage on the ground. Even the back-ups are NFL players or will one day be drafted by NFL teams.
Kirk Herbstreit: That's right, Brent. When you talk about great running backs, it's impossible to keep Mark Ingram out of the conversation. On his way to winning the Heisman Trophy, Ingram racked up 1658-yds on just 271 carries - that's over 6 yards per carry - and scored 17 touchdowns. He did it with power, speed and agility. Ingram is also a menace out of the backfield catching 32 balls for 334-yds and 3 scores. Let's take a look at some of Ingram's finer moments in his glorious Heisman campaign: Brent Musburger: Wow, Kirk. That made me tired just watching it.
Kirk Herbstreit: I think you're tired because you missed your nap. Either way, let's check out Ingram's main counterpart today, 'Cane running back Clinton Portis. All Portis did in 2001 was carry 220 times for 1200-yds and 10 scores. At 5.5-yds per rush, Portis is capable of busting long runs due to his blinding speed. This is a guy who ran a 4.35 40-yd dash at the combine. After our viewers at home watch this maybe they can explain to me how Portis slipped to the 2nd round:
Brett Musburger: Let's go down to the sidelines to hear from our own Erin Andrews. Erin.
Erin Andrews: Thanks Brent. I just spoke with Coach Larry Coker who said his team was loose and ready to play. He said that in order to win the game his players had to play smart football and avoid silly penalties. Most importantly, he said that bringing down Mark Ingram at first contact was one of the top priorities of his defense. Earlier I caught up with Coach Nick Saban who mentioned that he was confident in his defense's ability to cause Dorsey and the Hurricanes some problems. Coach Saban also mentioned the importance of executing not only on offense and defense, but on special teams. It'll be fun to watch. Back to you, Brent.
Brent Musburger: Thank you Erin. For those of you at home, here are highlights of Alabama's unblemished championship season:
And here are some Hurricane 'Cane highlights from their undefeated season:
Tune in soon for the start of the game!