Alabama blanks LSU to claim BCS title in a snoozer

NEW ORLEANS — The Rematch of the Century, it wasn't. For Alabama, it was good enough for No. 1, if not a lot of style points.

The Crimson Tide romped to another BCS championship against top-ranked LSU with a smothering defensive performance Monday night, a numbing barrage of field goals and even a long-overdue trip to the end zone. Final score: 21-0.

No. 2 Alabama posted the first shutout in the 14-year history of the BCS, relying on Jeremy Shelley's right leg for most of the points — he made a bowl record-tying five field goals — and letting its defense do the rest. It was the Tide's second BCS title in three years.

"That was the message before the game: to finish," coach Nick Saban said. "In fact, it was how bad do you want to finish? We certainly didn't play a perfect game, we got a field goal blocked, we couldn't find the end zone for a long time, but we just kept playing."

While only crimson-clad fans will remember this as a thing of beauty, Alabama (12-1) erased any doubts that it deserved to be in the title game over another one-loss team like Oklahoma State or Stanford.

Then again, one of those teams might have actually scored a touchdown before Alabama finally did, with 4:36 left in the game, long after fans may have flipped to something more entertaining than a one-sided kicking contest.

Amazingly, these Southeastern Conference powerhouses played twice in a span of about two months, and never came that close to one of those things that's worth six points — you know, touchdowns — until Trent Richardson broke off a 34-yard run with 4:36 remaining.

It only took 115 minutes, 34 seconds, plus an overtime period in their first meeting.

LSU (13-1) had beaten eight ranked teams — including Alabama in early November — to establish itself as the clear No. 1 going into the bowls, but the Tigers crossed midfield only once in the sequel to the Game of the Century in Tuscaloosa. Instead of putting up a "Godfather II," this one was more akin to "Speed 2."

The Tigers were outgained 384-92 in total yards, managed a puny five first downs and didn't cross the 50 until there were just 8 minutes left. From there, they went back, back, back — the last gasp ending appropriately with beleaguered quarterback Jordan Jefferson getting the ball knocked from his hand before he could even get off a fourth-and-forever pass.

The BCS title belongs to Saban, who is carving out quite a legacy of his own at the school that still worships Bear Bryant as if he just retired yesterday. The Associated Press likely will follow suit by bestowing the title on the Tide when its poll comes out early Tuesday, given the dominance of Alabama's performance.

"We didn't do a lot different," Saban said. "We did some things on offense formationally. Our offensive team did a great job. Defensively, we just played well, played the box. Our special teams did a great job."

He has won a pair of BCS titles at Alabama, plus another at LSU in 2003. He's the first coach to win three BCS titles, denying LSU's Les Miles his second championship.

The Tigers will have to settle for the SEC title, but that's not likely to ease the sting of this ugly performance.

Back on Nov. 5 at Bryant-Denny Stadium, Alabama held the top spot in the first matchup between the 1-2 teams. The Tigers pulled off a 9-6 victory in overtime, kicking three field goals while the Crimson Tide missed four of its six attempts.

OK, so maybe that wasn't a classic. But it was downright thrilling compared to the rematch, the first time in the BCS that teams played for the title after meeting during the regular season.

Credit the Alabama defense for that.

Led by dominating linebackers Courtney Upshaw and Dont'a Hightower, LSU simply couldn't do anything — running or passing.

Kenny Hilliard led the Tigers with 16 yards rushing, while Jefferson was 11 of 17 passing for 53 yards, usually hurrying away passes before he was sent tumbling to the Superdome turf. He was sacked four times and threw a mystifying interception when he attempted to flip away a desperation pass, only to have it picked off because his intended receiver had already turned upfield looking to block.

A.J. McCarron was the offensive MVP, completing 23 of 34 passes for 234 yards. Richardson added 96 yards on 20 carries. But an even bigger cheer went up when the defensive award was presented to Upshaw, who had seven tackles, including a sack, and spent a good part of his night in the LSU backfield.

"This defense is built on stopping them, and that's what we did," Upshaw said. "We wanted to come out and show the world we beat ourselves the first game. We wanted to come out and dominate from start to finish, and that's what we did."

With the way his defense was playing, McCarron simply had to avoid mistakes and guide the offense into field-goal range. He did that to perfection.

"When you have a great offensive line like I have, and great players around you, it makes your job easy as quarterback," McCarron said. "I've got to give all the credit to them. I wish I could have the whole team up here."

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Carroll scores pair as Liverpool blanks Man City

Andy Carroll scored his first goals for Liverpool since becoming Britain's most expensive player, striking twice in a 3-0 win over Manchester City on Monday that keeps alive his team's hopes of European football next season.

Big night: Liverpool's Andy Carroll celebrates after scoring against Manchester City in Premier League action at Anfield on Monday night. Liverpool won 3-0. AP

The England striker, who joined on a 35 million pound transfer in January, smashed a powerful shot on his favored left foot to make it 1-0 in the 13th minute and hit the third goal with a glancing header in the 35th minute of the Premier League match.

Dirk Kuyt found the net in the 34th in a slick and vibrant display from Liverpool that extended its run against Man City at Anfield to nine straight victories.

Liverpool stayed sixth in the standings but moved within five points of No. 5 Tottenham in the sole Europa League qualifying position, albeit having played one more match.

Fourth-place City has also played one more game than Tottenham and is only three points above Spurs in the final Champions League berth.

Worse still for City, captain Carlos Tevez was replaced early in the match with an apparent hamstring injury only five days before the FA Cup semifinal against Manchester United.

Due to a defensive crisis that has claimed Daniel Agger, Glen Johnson, Martin Kelly and Sotirios Kyrgiakos to injury or illness, Liverpool manager Kenny Daglish gave 18-year-old John Flanagan a debut at right- back.

With the semifinal in mind, City manager Roberto Mancini made three changes from the team that thrashed Sunderland 5-0 last week.

Striker Edin Dzeko, still to score in eight league matches since joining from Wolfsburg in January, replaced Mario Balotelli while midfielders Gareth Barry and James Milner also came in for Nigel de Jong and David Silva.

Liverpool started with plenty of verve, passing the ball from wing to wing as Luis Suarez probed for openings just behind Carroll.

Carroll's first goal came after a speculative long-range shot from Raul Meireles was blocked by Vincent Kompany. The ball landed for him to strike a low swerving shot that flew past 'keeper Joe Hart in a goal reminiscent of his first for England last month against Ghana.

Liverpool then scored twice within 93 seconds.

Desperate defensive lunges by City players had blocked goal-bound shots on three occasions before Kuyt collected his ninth league goal of the season, sliding the ball across Hart and inside the far post in the 34th minute.

American sports tycoon Stan Kroenke promises to make Arsenal a champion again.

Kroenke secured a controlling stake that clears the way for him to become the fifth U.S. owner of a Premier League club.

While the Denver investor said he would bring "new success" to a club in the midst of a six-year title drought, he did not mention a commitment to spending heavily on new players.

Kroenke's stake in Arsenal will rise from nearly 30 percent to nearly 63 percent after agreeing to buy shares from fellow directors, including Danny Fiszman and Nina Bracewell-Smith. The deal values the club at $ 1.2 billion.

By going over the 30 percent threshold, the 63-year-old Kroenke is obliged to mount a full takeover bid by making a mandatory cash offer for the remaining shares.

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