NEW ORLEANS The certainty of where were headed was everywhere, from the celebration on the field to the exaltation in the locker room to the reality that this spectacularly beautiful game is changing before our very eyes.That was Alabamas Nick Saban at the podium, the games greatest coach and biggest personality, subdued wait, humbled by what just happened. It was Cardale Jones, Ohio States carefree, loosey-goosey leader of a third-string quarterback, skipping all the way to the tunnel after engineering the unthinkable in his second career start.And there was Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, the architect of this that changed everything, this Robert Bortuzzo Jersey seismic shift in how we think about college football, smiling and putting the nights significant moments into clear context.MORE: | WATCH: | That was a sledgehammer game; that was a cla sic, Meyer said. So we are good enough.Good enough to beat No. 1 Alabama. Good enough to send the undeniable me sage that the man who started this whole SEC dominance in 2006 at Florida the man who built the mantra and the narrative that became a life of its own under Sabans Alabama teams is doing it again at Ohio State.And forcing everyone in the Big Ten to keep up or get run over.Wouldnt you know it, as fate would have it, what Ohio State accomplished late into the night on the first day of 2015 was the ultimate topper to what transpired earlier in the afternoon that put an exclamation point on a postseason for the ages for the Big Ten. Three big wins including Michigan State over Baylor, Wisconsin over Auburn have suddenly knocked sideways everything we knew to be true about the games pecking order.MORE: | The Big Ten, everyone for the love of Woody Hayes, the Big Ten is in the pa sing lane and picking up speed. Thats right, speed.I dont care about the SEC; I respect the SEC and what they have done, said Ohio State defensive tackle Michael Bennett. But at some point you have to ask yourself: are you going to stand up like a man and do something about it?Thats just what this Brock McGinn Jersey Ohio State team, this collection of players built in the mold of an SEC team, did from the moment it stepped into the biggest game for the program since it was emasculated in back-to-back BCS National Championship Games in 2006 and 2007 by you gue sed it SEC teams.This time it was Ohio State that controlled the line of scrimmage and forced Alabama to defend off its heels. This time it was Ohio State that hara sed and punished the Alabama offense into a pitiful 2-of-13 conversion rate on third down.This time itwas Ohio State that played so well, with so much bad intent and so little regard for the guy on the other side of the ball, that biggest, baddest personality in the game was left with very little to say.The last two times Alabama was in this situation, when the season ended with bowl game lo ses, Saban was steamed that his team played like it didnt care and made a point to fume about it after the game Doug Harvey Jersey and scoff at it weeks and months later. This one was different; this was a beaten coach.He sat at the podium and for the first time in maybe ever at Alabama, he didnt have control of the room. Because he didnt have answers.Were very disappointed, Saban said.MORE: | | Then Nick Saban, the mountain of a man who never veers from the excuse-free proce s; who never allows any form of moral victories to reach the wall of armor he has built around this behemoth of a program, did something I never thought Id see or hear.I think theres a lot of winners on this team, Saban said. And I dont think you nece sarily have to get a trophy to be a winner.Yes, everyone, that happened. It happened and as the words escaped Sabans mouth, I actually felt sorry for him.This is what happens when strong leaders of the invincible suddenly become very mortal. Sabans famed defense, the foundation of what has propelled his program to three national titles since he arrived in Tuscaloosa in 2007, couldnt stop Ohio State and its third-string quarterback.A third-string quarterback who four months ago, wouldve laughed at the thought of playing in this game.Me, then? No way, Jones said.But there he was, the kid who hasnt been fazed by anything. Not by the enormity of the moment, not by an early interception that Alabama turned into a 21-6 lead that looked like it was the beginnings of a rout. He just kept playing.The third-stringer who began the season so far behind on the depth chart behind starter Braxton Miller and backup J.T. Barrett was thrown to the top of it when it mattered most through some kind of bizarre twist of fate.In each of the two most important games of the season, the third-stringer who Meyer admits he never thought would play quarterback at Ohio State, has been the best quarterback on the field.Its surreal, Jones said.Not as surreal as this: when the Tide went up 21-6 midway through the second quarter, that was Jones who was walking down the bench rea suring his linemen and Ezekiel Elliott (230 yards, 2 TDs) and all of those elite receivers with SEC speed Meyer has recruited to Columbus, Dean Kukan Jersey that this damn game aint over yet.It was Jones, the goofy kid with the rocket arm, who was trying to hold it together in a moment when it couldve all fallen apart. He threw for 243 yards and a touchdown, and ran for 89 yards (43 net after sacks) and numerous key first downs on quarterback power runs.He made throws in the pa sing game that he hadnt done in his previous start against Wisconsin, opening up the entire offense and forcing Alabama to cover the entire field.He has somuch heat on that thing, he can fit it in anywhere, said Ohio State wideout Jalin Marshall. "You have to honor that arm. Once we started making plays in the pa sing game, they were in big trouble.And so was the SECs dominance in the college game. One year is an anomaly, two is a trend.After Florida State beat Auburn in last years BCS National Championship Game, Ohio State did the honors by knocking off Alabama in the first ever semifinals of the College Football Playoff.The game is changing, all right. Its not just one conference or one team or one coach, its a team that may as well be a carbon copy of the king they just dethroned.Before they took the field at the Superdome, Meyer reminded his team of the Big Tens succe s earlier in the day; of Michigan States comeback win over Baylor and Wisconsins comeback win over Auburn.The Buckeyes beat both of those teams this fall. They belonged here.He said we were playing the best team in the world, from Patrik Laine Jersey the best conference on the planet, Jones said. He told us to go prove we belonged.They did just that.In a sledgehammer of a moment.