#3 – 2010 BCS National Championship – 10 Most Important Games of the Saban Era

Welcome back to our edition of throwback Thursday as we countdown the top 10 games of the Nick Saban Era at the University of Alabama. We continue this week with our #3 selection, the 2010 BCS National Championship between the Alabama Crimson Tide and Texas Longhorns.

In had been 17 years since the Crimson Tide had won their last national championship and after nearly two decades of peaks and valleys, Alabama was on the cusp of its 13th national championship. After a 12-2 season in 2008, the Crimson Tide responded in 2009 with an undefeated mark, defeating nemesis Florida in the SEC Championship game over a month earlier.

But still, the pressure was on.

The Texas Longhorns were returning to the stadium in which they had won their last national championship in a thriller with the USC Trojans. Led by one of the most winning quarterbacks in program history and a defense headed by a Saban disciple, Will Muschamp, Texas was deserving of the #2 ranking they held heading into the game.

But just as it is sung in the fight song, “Remember the Rose Bowl, we’ll win it then,” through the trials and tribulations through the years, January 7th 2010 was the night Alabama fans remembered the Rose Bowl, and they did win.

Now, as we look back, that night will forever be remembered as the night that the dynasty began. Relive the Marcel Dareus hit on Colt McCoy, the Trent Richardson touchdown run, the Eryk Anders hit that forced the fumble and the clinching touchdown run from Mark Ingram.