Fiesta Bowl: Crimson Tide rides the wave of Baylor yellow flags; Bama barely wins 45-41

In the first quarter, Alabama seemed immune to the long standing third seed curse, but Baylor made it interesting in the fourth quarter, however Bear penalties hindered their upset dreams.  Alabama won the Fiesta Bowl 45-41 in a game with lots of passing, and the Tide move onto Indianapolis and the Semi-Finals.  Alabama will play in their fourth Final Four over the past five seasons.

Many thought Baylor might be a worthy challenger to the experienced Crimson Tide, however the Bears seemed tense early.  Alabama stormed to a quick touchdown in a four play drive highlighted by two McCarron to Amari Copper pass plays, and T.J. Yeldon ran it in from a yard out for the Alabama 7-0 lead.  Baylor early possessions were fruitless, and Alabama soon drove again, scoring to take a 14-0 lead and making it look easy.  However, a McCarron interception gave Baylor good field position, and they scored before the end of the first frame following a Lache Seastrunk run for 29 yards, and Bryce Petty ran it in from the 1,  and it was 14-7 Alabama to start the second. 

Alabama still looked dominant, as the Baylor secondary struggled with costly penalties and poor tackling.  AJ McCarron's 67 yard TD pass to DeAndrew White gave the Tide the 21-7 lead.

However Baylor took advantage of Alabama's own struggles in the secondary, as Bryce Petty hit Levi Norwood with a 30 yard TD strike, and Baylor cut the lead to 21-14.  Alabama scored on Cade Foster's field goal of 27 yards, to extend the lead to 24-14, however a McCarron interception positioned Baylor to score before the end of the half on a Bryce Petty rush of 13 yards, and Baylor was down only 24-21 at the break, despite the sense they were overmatched.

In the third quarter, both teams score a TD, first Bama on Derrick Henry's 43 yard run, answered again by Baylor on a Bryce Petty 1 yard run, as the final frame began with Alabama holding the 31-28 lead.

The fourth quarter scoring started with an excellent run by Derrick Henry on a pass from AJ McCarron, and the 61 yard TD pass gave Alabama the 38-28 lead.  Baylor answered, on a Glasco Martin 9 yard run, and the lead was back to 3.

With eight minutes left, Baylor had their best chance to take the lead or tie, but Bama's defense held, as their secondary knocked down a key third down Petty pass, and Baylor kicker Aaron Jones missed his attempt, and Baylor still trailed by 3.  Bama extended the lead back to 10, but a late McCarron fumble allowed Baylor to score a last minute TD on a Clay Fuller 9 yard TD reception from Petty, to narrow the lead to 45-41.

Alabama offense often looked sluggish in the second half, and their defense made key errors in the secondary, but in the end, Baylor could not overcome costly penalties and poor tackling, and the Tide prevailed, perhaps setting up Iron Bowl II in Indianapolis as they await the Sugar Bowl victor.

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Updated tournament results:

FIRST ROUND:

In Cleveland:
7 Ohio State
9 South Carolina 

In Tampa:
8 Missouri 
10 Central Florida 

BCS BOWLS (Quarterfinals):

Orange: 
1 Florida State
8 Missouri/Central Florida winner

Rose: 
4 Michigan State 24
5 Stanford 20

Sugar:
2 Auburn
7 Ohio State/South Carolina winner

Fiesta: 
3 Alabama 45
6 Baylor 41


Semi-Finals in Indianapolis:
Orange Bowl winner versus Michigan State
Sugar Bowl winner versus Alabama

BCS Championship in Pasadena