Trailing 14-0 in front of a raucous crowd at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas, the University of Alabama looked to be heading down the path toward another letdown at the hands of Johnny Manziel and the Texas A&M University Aggies.
Then, Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron and head coach Nick Saban took over. The rest is, well, history.
The game, which kicked off at 3:30 ET on CBS, earned the network's best afternoon rating in 23 years. It wasn't the Alabama/LSU game in 2011 that was hyped up for weeks and ended 9-6, including overtime. It was everything college football nation was looking for in a game, and it was everything McCarron, Saban and the Crimson Tide needed to prove they have nothing left to prove.
As if two straight national championships and three in the last four years didn't prove it beforehand, beating Manziel and Texas A&M on a major national stage after falling down 14-0 early in the game and dropping the contest against the Aggies a season ago has pushed them over the top.
Saban has built a dynasty in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Prior to the Saban-era kicking off in 2007, the Crimson Tide suffered through multiple mediocre years with .500 records and NCAA sanctions under coaches Mike Shula, Dennis Franchione and Mike DuBose.
Since Saban arrived on campus, Alabama is officially 65-13. Due to NCAA sanctions, the Crimson Tide had to vacate five wins in 2007.
Since McCarron took the reins, the Crimson Tide have lost twice — 9-6 to LSU in 2011 and 29-24 in 2012 to Texas A&M in 2012. Both losses came at home in Tuscaloosa.
GAME RECAP: Bama outguns Texas A&M
Alabama exacted its revenge Saturday against Texas A&M when it went to Kyle Field and put up 49 points on Kevin Sumlin's Aggies after Texas A&M went to Tuscaloosa and almost ruined Saban and McCarron's chances at a second straight national championship last season.
The game proved Manziel is just as good at playing football as he is at attracting media wherever he goes. And it proved Saban and company can beat anybody in any fashion at any location.
Known for stout defense, Alabama gave up 42 points. No problem for the Crimson Tide, though, as McCarron took up the slack and powered the Alabama offense to 49 points for the win.
By the way, Alabama has not played a home game yet this season, yet they've topped Virginia Tech and Texas A&M in Atlanta and College Station, respectively. Even without a home game to this point in the season, the Crimson Tide seem well on their way to the BCS National Championship game again.
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The remaining tests on the schedule are Ole Miss, LSU and Auburn. Ole Miss and LSU have to come to Bryant-Denny Stadium while Alabama goes down the road to Auburn to end the regular season Nov. 30. But nothing left on the schedule resembles the task Texas A&M and Kyle Field, known as the "Home of the 12th man," mounted against the Tide.
Who is going to beat them? There is not a University of Georgia on the schedule unless it's a meeting in the SEC championship. There's no University of Florida, unless, again, in the SEC title game. LSU is the toughest test left of the docket for Saban's Crimson Tide, but quarterback Zach Mettenberger doesn't exactly pose the same scary threat Manziel does.
When Alabama wins it's third straight national title and fourth in five years come January, McCarron will have played his final game with the Crimson Tide and will have enshrined himself as the only player to have ever won three national championships as a college football player.
As for Saban, he'll further entrench himself as the best coach in the country, having won his fifth national championship between LSU and Alabama.
What's left for the duo to prove? Just three weeks into the 2013 regular season, the answer is already a resounding "nothing." Nothing at all.