• Sports News
  • NFL
  • NFL Draft
  • How many games did AJ McCarron win at Alabama? Tracing XFL star's college career
AJ McCarron of the Alabama Crimson Tide

How many games did AJ McCarron win at Alabama? Tracing XFL star's college career

AJ McCarron won 36 games as a starter at Alabama Crimson Tide, and he was arguably the team's finest shot caller. McCarron played 40 games for Nick Saban's team and lost just four by the slimmest of margins. McCarron was in Tuscaloosa as a member of three National Championship-winning teams.

AJ McCarron holds a special place in the hearts of longtime Crimson Tide fans, as he was the epitome of a dominant spell for the college football giants. So, without further ado, let's trace the XFL star's college football career.

Ad

Is AJ McCarron the greatest Alabama quarterback of all time?

If you are looking at stats, there's no better Alabama Crimson Tide QB than AJ McCarron.

Ad

Will Patriots draft a QB to kick off Jerod Mayo era? Fire up our NFL Draft Simulator to find out

McCarron joined Crimson Tide before the 2010 college football season. He didn't start a single game that year, as he was below Greg McElroy in the pecking order. He appeared in 13 games for the Crimson Tide, all off the bench, putting up a stat line of 389 passing yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions for the season.

In his second season with the Tide, McCarron initially was a co-starting QB alongside Phillip Sims. That didn't last long, though, as McCarron won the sole starting job early in the season. He repaid coach Nick Saban's faith by putting up solid stats all season and led the Tide to a BCS National Championship. McCarron put up a stat line of 2,634 passing yards, 16 touchdowns and five interceptions in 13 games.

Ad

McCarron's third season was even better, as he put up trademark performances against the likes of Georgia and Notre Dame to win his second consecutive BCS National Championship. He put up a glorious stat line of 264 yards and four touchdown passes in the 2013 BCS National Championship. That year, he threw for a school-record 30 touchdown passes in a season and was named the 2012 CFPA Quarterback Trophy winner.

AJ McCarron's last year at Alabama started with unreal hype, as he made the cover of Sports Illustrated's October 30, 2013, edition. He had a lot of pressing on his shoulders to do a three-peat for Alabama, and gosh, was he close.

During the season, he passed Bama legend John Parker Wilson to become Alabama's all-time passing yard leader. Unfortunately, he lost the Iron Bowl game against Auburn University, thus knocking his team out of contention for the SEC Championship.

On a personal level, the season was remarkable for McCarron, as he broke Greg McElroy's record for passing yards in a season with 3,063. He finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting for the season. Overall, AJ McCarron ended his college career with 9,019 passing yards, 77 touchdowns and 15 interceptions in 53 games.

Ad

AJ McCarron's Professional Legacy

AJ McCarron's post-Bama legacy is less spectacular than his college's, with the Alabama Crimson Tide failing to impress at the highest level.

The Cincinnati Bengals drafted him as the 164th pick in the 2014 NFL draft. He was a member of the Bengals for three seasons and acted as a backup for most of his time there. He only played in 11 games and threw six touchdowns and two interceptions. He left in 2018 as a free agent and has bounced around the league since then.

Now, McCarron plays in the XFL as the starting quarterback for the St. Louis BattleHawks. McCarron had fabulous offers to play as a backup in the NFL, but he declined them for a pretty sweet reason. He said that he chose to play in the XFL rather than take a more lucrative position as an NFL backup to give himself more on-camera playing time so that his children could watch him play.

Ad
Edited by
Bhargav
 
See more
More from Sportskeeda