Roll tide? Did they ever.

In what was arguably one of the most-hyped title bouts in recent memory, then-No. 2 Alabama (13-1) routed then-No. 1 Notre Dame (12-1), 42-14, Monday night in the BCS National Championship Game in Miami.

The win secured back-to-back national titles for the Crimson Tide and the program’s third national championship in four years.

Alabama finished No. 1 in the final Associated Press top 25 poll while Notre Dame dropped to No. 4 behind No. 2 Oregon and the season’s only undefeated team, No. 3 Ohio State, which was barred from this year’s postseason because of NCAA sanctions.

Coach Nick Saban’s squad dominated the Fighting Irish from the game’s beginning, including a 28-0 lead at the contest’s intermission.

En-route to its 42 points against the nation’s best statistical  scoring defense, Alabama amassed 529 total yards of offense, 28 first downs and gained an average of 7.2 yards on each of the 73 plays they ran Monday.

Junior quarterback A.J. McCarron threw for 264 yards and four touchdowns on 20-of-28 passes.

Alabama’s propensity to successfully run the football, though, perhaps best exemplified the extent of its dominance.

After all, Saban called for 45 rushing attempts against the nation’s fourth-best run defense.

It paid off.

Redshirt junior running back Eddie Lacy rumbled for 145 yards rushing and a touchdown while freshman running back T.J Yeldon ran for 110 yards and two scores on 21 touches. In total, the Irish surrendered 265 yards on the ground.

Not to mention, Alabama secured 38 minutes of possession time compared to Notre Dame’s 22 minutes.

Conversely, the Crimson Tide’s defense gave the Irish’s offense fits.

Alabama stymied Notre Dame’s running game to 56 yards and one touchdown on 19 attempts. In total, coach Brian Kelly’s crew totaled 302 yards and 16 first downs, but a 35-point deficit with 7:34 to play in the game’s third quarter was too much to overcome.

Sophomore quarterback Everett Golson threw for 270 yards, a touchdown and an interception on 21-of-36 attempts. The mobile signal-caller could only muster nine yards rushing against the Crimson Tide.

It was the first loss of the season for Notre Dame

While the win likely solidifies Alabama as the nation’s preeminent college football power, the Crimson Tide arguably will head into the 2013 season as the favorite to, again, win it all.