Alabama Plays a Bear of a Game : Sugar Bowl: Crimson Tide controls ground, stifles Torretta, shuts up Miami and wraps up the No. 1 ranking, 34-13.

It was a postgame Sugar Bowl sight few thought possible: Alabama’s Gene Stallings, sitting on his players’ shoulders, his feet dangling above the Superdome field, his arm raised, his fist clutched in triumph as he was shuttled to midfield for a handshake to remember. Once again, a Crimson Tide coach surveyed the world of college football from far above.

From his vantage point, Stallings could see a scoreboard that read, Alabama 34, Miami 13. This morning he will see another sight to cherish: the Crimson Tide perched atop the final polls, an improbable national championship a well-earned certainty.

Of course, don’t ask the late, great No. 1-ranked Hurricanes how it happened. The effects of trauma take days to subside.

Miami entered the game with the kind of resume that produced talk of dynasties and invincibility. The Hurricanes had the nation’s longest winning streak. They had a Heisman Trophy winner at quarterback. They had a defense to be feared. They had a national championship to defend and a legacy to protect. And they had the swagger, the kind gained only by victory after convincing victory.

But Friday evening, in front of a Superdome audience of 76,789, many of them wearing Alabama’s crimson colors, the Hurricanes staggered. Alabama, which began the day ranked second in the country, shut Miami up. By game’s end, the Hurricane players had the look of men who flinched at their own shadows, and Alabama had the look of national champions.

“Earlier in the week I said I didn’t feel like we were underdogs,” Stallings said. “You’re only an underdog if you think you’re an underdog. I knew I was going out on a limb. But just because they’re good doesn’t mean we’re not good, too.”

Added Crimson Tide running back Derrick Lassic, who finished with 135 yards and two touchdowns: “Not too many people, except Alabama fans, predicted we would win this game. We went out there and proved it to them, proved it to the world.”

That they did and in the process, they ended Miami’s pregame hopes.

A dynasty? Only if you count the one Stallings might be assembling at Alabama. So thorough was the Crimson Tide’s victory that the legendary and demanding Bear Bryant would have given his former player and assistant coach--Stallings--a standing ovation.

The 29-game winning streak? Nothing more than a line in a future NCAA record book.

The Heisman winner? Torretta completed only 24 of 56 passes for 278 yards, no touchdowns and three interceptions, all three of which resulted in Alabama touchdowns. An image that typified Torretta’s night occurred early in the fourth quarter, when he took the snap and, without being touched, stumbled and then fell on his bottom.

“To tell you the truth, I don’t remember the second half,” Torretta said. “The whole game’s a blur. It was all or nothing, and we’re going home with nothing, basically.”

A second consecutive national title? Not for Miami. Alabama has a chance.

The Hurricane legacy? Slightly tarnished.

And that Miami swagger? Replaced by an Alabama postgame celebration that included tackle Roosevelt Patterson waving a 20-foot pole decorated with the pennants of each of the Crimson Tide’s victims this season. Star defensive end Eric Curry grabbed an Alabama banner and stood at field’s edge and saluted the crowd.

This was Miami’s worst loss since a 35-7 defeat to Tennessee in the 1986 Sugar Bowl. It left the Hurricanes (11-1) searching for answers.

“They dominated the football game,” Miami Coach Dennis Erickson said. “They deserved to win, and they deserve to be national champions.”

The formality of the official vote is all that remains. But whatever the final tally, Alabama will have its 12th national championship, its first since the 1979 season. For the Crimson Tide, spoiled in past years with such success, it was a long wait.

Friday night’s victory helped ease the pain of the championship drought. Miami had said Alabama’s secondary couldn’t play man-to-man coverage. The Crimson Tide then went out and did that very thing.

Miami had said the Crimson Tide was a running team and nothing more. Alabama went out and proved them correct, rushing for 290 yards, more than enough to offset a four-of-13 evening by Crimson Tide quarterback Jay Barker, who also threw two interceptions.

“Miami said a one-dimensional team couldn’t beat them,” Lassic said. “The offensive line took that as a challenge.”

By the end, Alabama’s players had accomplished the unexpected. They scored lots of points against a defense that gave up less than 10 per game. They ran outside on the speedy Hurricane defense. They shut down Torretta. They quieted the mouthy Hurricanes. They humiliated.

Miami wobbled and labored through the first half as if it were the Hurricanes’ season opener rather than their season finale. Alabama had a lot to do with Miami’s problems, but then again, so did the Hurricanes, who found themselves trailing, 3-0, before they had a chance to execute their first taunt.

The Hurricanes, despite their pregame boasting to the contrary, knew Alabama was worthy of its No. 2 ranking. But they didn’t expect Torretta to get sacked on the second play of the game. And while they were well aware of kick returner David Palmer’s reputation, they didn’t think he would break free for a 38-yard run the first time his hands cradled a Miami punt.

The first half was full of surprises. Palmer’s return on the first punt of the evening put the Crimson Tide at Miami’s 24-yard line, where Alabama promptly moved 22 yards before the drive stalled. Out came Michael Proctor, who kicked a 19-yarder with 10:56 left in the first quarter.

Later, Torretta led the Hurricanes from their 21-yard line to Alabama’s 32. A 34-yard pass to wide receiver Kevin Williams was the key play that eventually led to a game-tying 49-yard field goal by Dane Prewitt.

The game turned sloppy at that point. Barker threw his first interception, but it didn’t matter as Miami fumbled the ball away two plays later.

Barker, not knowing what to with yet another Miami gift, threw another interception. End of threat. For the moment.

On its next drive, the Crimson Tide worked its way to the Miami six-yard line before settling for a 23-yard field goal with 10:48 left in the second quarter.

Then, after another Miami mistake--this time an interception of Torretta by strong safety Sam Shade, which he returned to the Hurricane 31--Alabama scored the first touchdown of the night, a two-yard run by Sherman Williams. Williams’ touchdown extended the lead to 13-3 with 6:09 remaining in the half.

Miami did what it could in the closing moments of the half. Starting at their 16, the Hurricanes showed occasional signs of offensive life and were able to get to Alabama’s 25 before kicking a 42-yard field goal with no time left on the clock.

Things got worse for the Hurricanes in the third quarter. Much worse.

Torretta’s first pass of the second half was intercepted by Tommy Johnson, who returned to Miami’s 20-yard line. Six plays later, Lassic squirted through the line for a one-yard touchdown.

Only 16 seconds later, Torretta faded back to pass on first down and once again was intercepted. This time cornerback George Teague plucked the ball from midair and returned it for a touchdown. The Crimson Tide lead had swelled to 27-6 and 9:56 still remained in the quarter.

* NOT ALL TALK

Alabama’s Derrick Lassic is happy to say that the Crimson Tide didn’t only beat Hurricanes, it dominated them. Robyn Norwood’s story, C9

* SPOTLIGHT: C8

* BOWL SUMMARIES: C19