Just your opinion...a simple yes or no vote will suffice with discussion below as to why you feel that way.

no

who knows? it would of been a better game for sure.

It probably wouldn't have been a boring game, that's for sure.

Coulda, woulda, shoulda..........but yes, I think Texas wins if McCoy plays. It took their backup QB an entire half to calm down and even then, he made fatal mistakes near the end of the game.

Yes, I believe Texas would have won the game with McCoy. Shit happens, though.

Without any and all doubt TX wins that game with McCoy. Finito.

The two biggest "what ifs" I've seen over the past 10 years in college football both occurred in national championship games, IMO.

Ohio State had an entire offensive gameplan around Ginn, so who knows. Would they have won? Probably not. Would it have been competitive with Ginn at least? I think so.

As for last night? You can't discredit Colt McCoy. He's been showing up in big games since he was a freshman against OSU. So I think he definitely would have played really well last night. But regardless, I still voted no.

Yes.

BTW...how come nobody is questioniong what a pussy the Heisman Trophy winner was last night? Cramps? c'mon he was walking around on the sideline. Ya think "cramps" ever kept Speilman out of a game? Jack Lambert? Barry Sanders? My f'n ex-wife gets "cramps"...whatta crock. Man up boy...its the Natl Championship.

I think so because...for one, I think that instead of it being 6 to 0 after Alabama's biffs...It's either 14-0 or 10-0. And, Jordan Shipley working out of the slot essentially had his way with Saban's preferred man defense. He was absolutely wide open on his two TD passes. I have a feeling if we took a look at the game film and could see downfield, we would see him open enough where Colt would have hit him whereas Gilbert, being young, wouldn't have considered him "open enough." Bama doesn't get that freebie before the half and it's probably 14-14, 14-17 or 17-14 at the half

I think Texas scores 28-31 points with McCoy in there and that Bama doesn't get more than 24.

lhslep134 wrote: The two biggest "what ifs" I've seen over the past 10 years in college football both occurred in national championship games, IMO.

Ohio State had an entire offensive gameplan around Ginn, so who knows. Would they have won? Probably not. Would it have been competitive with Ginn at least? I think so.

I understand where you're coming from but let's compare apples to apples. Losing you're starting QB is alot more devastating than losing your top WR.

It's really hard to say how many points Alabama would have scored had Colt played. You may be right about Texas getting more points, because Colt probably would have scored more, but it seemed to me that Texas wasn't doing a whole lot to limit Alabama from scoring, and while the rookie qb made some mistakes and turned the ball over a couple of times, who is to say that Colt would have capitalized...and even if he did, wouldn't Alabama have more offensive opportunities? I don't think Colt has much to do with stopping Alabama when they have the ball." What ifs" aren't important. In the game itself, Alabama outscored the Long Horns and all that matters is what REALLY happened. Not what we can imagine happening. I'm no more an Alabama fan than I am a Texas fan, but Alabama clearly won the game and we're just going to have to give them their due and come back and get "em next season.

It's impossible to tell. If the freshman can put some TDs on the board against Alabama, I'm sure McCoy could have done better. Would they have won? No one knows.

rock_knutne wrote:
I understand where you're coming from but let's compare apples to apples. Losing you're starting QB is alot more devastating than losing your top WR.

What are you trying to say? I wasn't comparing Ginn's impact to McCoys. I stated that IMO, the two biggest what ifs occurred in national championship games, and then talked about each one. But I didn't compare them to each other, so I'm confused about what point you're trying to make.

who knows if they would have won, but I don't think the gap would have got to 24-6....

Bama also wouldn't have been able to sit on the run so early when the freshman was in the game. He got comfortable and settled in nicely as the game went on, but Bama for that stretch of the 2nd quarter was handling Texas.

Kudos to the Longhorn defense for hanging on there in the 2nd half and giving them a chance to get back in it

rock_knutne wrote:

lhslep134 wrote: The two biggest "what ifs" I've seen over the past 10 years in college football both occurred in national championship games, IMO.

Ohio State had an entire offensive gameplan around Ginn, so who knows. Would they have won? Probably not. Would it have been competitive with Ginn at least? I think so.

I understand where you're coming from but let's compare apples to apples. Losing you're starting QB is alot more devastating than losing your top WR.

I agree...there's no doubt losing Colt McCoy was way more harmful to Texas than losing Ted Ginn was for the Bucks.

But, people underestimate the impact Ginn would have made.

Charlie Strong, contrary to a lot of present day D-Coordinators, likes to keep his safeties....Waaay Back...especially when there are legit wide receivers on the field.

Without Ted Ginn...Florida played an uncharacteristic amount of Cover 0 against tOSU's spread sets and on third downs...leaving Troy to have to lob up fades to Brian Hartline, etc. and he had no chance. Against our Two back sets, the gators played a lot of Cover 1...again, uncharacteristic...and Tress tried to run anyways against a numerical disadvantage in the box and couldn't out muscle the equally talented Gators like they could the Big Ten...

In both scenarios...I think Charlie Strong leaves his safeties back where he likes them because he respects Ted Ginn's speed and Gonzo is able to do what he does best out of the slot in his spread sets and Pittman and and Beanie are able to get some yards against a 7 man front instead of an 8 man front...

I still think the Bucks lose the game because even without the blitz...the Gators would've gotten pressure because their DE's were so much better than our Tackles and The Buck's failure to rotate their "soft zone" quarters set when Florida would motion Percy Harvin out into those Quads formations. which gashed us on several crucial downs....among other defensive adjustment failures...

Texas probably scores 1 of the 1st 2 TDs with McCoy in (instead of the fg's they ended up with), and they probably don't have an INT returned for a TD.

Field position was huge for a lot of the game. With McCoy in Texas at least moves the ball in the 1st half, even if they aren't scoring. I think Texas wins with him in there.

I think Texas would have had a good chance to win with Colt, but who knows, you have to play with who is available. The big disagreement with most experts that I have is that I don't see Alabama as a dynasty and a lock for next year's NC game. They are good but not great. They beat everyone they had to beat so you can't take anything away from them but they have enough flaws (QB for one) to be a beatable team.

lhslep134 wrote:

rock_knutne wrote:
I understand where you're coming from but let's compare apples to apples. Losing you're starting QB is alot more devastating than losing your top WR.

What are you trying to say? I wasn't comparing Ginn's impact to McCoys. I stated that IMO, the two biggest what ifs occurred in national championship games, and then talked about each one. But I didn't compare them to each other, so I'm confused about what point you're trying to make.

Geesh, how hard is it to understand? The QB touches the ball on EVERY play, not the case for a WR. It's impossible to compare the "what if" factor in those two instances. IMO, Florida would have smoked OSU regardless of what happened, Ginn didn't play on the Oline and that's where OSU lost the game. On the contrary, Texas' backup QB, once he settled down, made some plays, imagine if McCoy plays the entire game, IMO, it's a different outcome. Injuries are a part of the game so it really doesn't matter in either instance.

BoatShoes wrote: But, people underestimate the impact Ginn would have made.

The only impact Ginn had and may have had the rest of the game was in the return department. He would have never had time to get down the field because Florida's pass rush was destructive, Troy Smith never had a chance.

It was clear that their defense was playing more conservative towards the end of the 3rd quarter.

I think if McCoy was in, and the game was closer, they would have played with more intensity and still won the game. Not to mention, you can't ignore the fact that McCoy struggles against real defenses, and there's no guarantee that he would have played well.

To say that Texas would have definitely won this game had McCoy been in is stupid.

The score would of been different but Bama would still have won IMO. You cant automatically say it would of been 14-0 or 10-0 with there 1st 2 possessions. Colt had 12 pics this year so its not like he plays mistake free football. Gilbert was getting blitzed like crazy which would of been the same treatment for mccoy and we saw how well he did against Nebraska when pressured.

DaBrowns41 wrote: It was clear that their defense was playing more conservative towards the end of the 3rd quarter.

I think if McCoy was in, and the game was closer, they would have played with more intensity and still won the game. Not to mention, you can't ignore the fact that McCoy struggles against real defenses, and there's no guarantee that he would have played well.

To say that Texas would have definitely won this game had McCoy been in is stupid.

Rotinaj wrote: The score would of been different but Bama would still have won IMO. You cant automatically say it would of been 14-0 or 10-0 with there 1st 2 possessions. Colt had 12 pics this year so its not like he plays mistake free football. Gilbert was getting blitzed like crazy which would of been the same treatment for mccoy and we saw how well he did against Nebraska when pressured.

How many times did Gilbert miss Shipley on some routine routes.......quite a few. McCoy doesn't miss those throws.

rock_knutne wrote:

How many times did Gilbert miss Shipley on some routine routes.......quite a few. McCoy doesn't miss those throws.

once.

how many did shipley and crew drop?

gilbert will be twice the quarterback mccoy ever dreamed of being