We live in the computer age of college football, meaning you need a computer to keep up with the scoring. The current bowl season is a prime example of this. Consider the following finals:

• West Virginia 70, Clemson 33.
• Baylor 67, Washington 56.
• Oregon 45, Wisconsin 38.
• Oklahoma State 41, Stanford 38.
• Boise State 56, Arizona State 24

Those five games alone produced a staggering total of 468 points. Auburn, Missouri, Toledo and Air Force all topped 40 points in their bowls, and 15 other teams scored in the 30s. Now granted, these types of scores are partly due to some lousy defense. But this is also the new world order in college football (and, to a slightly lesser extent, the NFL), where teams sling the ball around all game long and zip up and down the field with abandon.

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In other words, it’s all about the quarterback. If you want to succeed in college football these days, then your quarterback had better be a strong-armed, point-producing star. Right?

Well, maybe not in all cases. For in the midst of this kingdom of score-a-lot that college football has become, Monday’s BCS national championship game between No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Alabama will feature a heavy dose of defense and two starting quarterbacks who live off the grid when it comes to national attention.

Quick, for anybody outside of SEC country, name the starting quarterback at Alabama? Even Alex Trebek might be stumped. The answer is AJ McCarron, who has solid stats (66.7 percent completion rate, 200 yards passing per game, 16 touchdowns to five interceptions) and no star power.

LSU counters with Jordan Jefferson, who is better known nationally for his role in a preseason bar fight that led to his arrest and a four-game suspension than for anything he has done on the field this season. Jefferson did not return to the starting lineup until the 10th week of the season, and he enters the championship game with 684 yards passing and six touchdowns. That is the same number of TDs that West Virginia’s Geno Smith threw in Wednesday’s Orange Bowl victory over Clemson.

Video   Rematch for BCS title Jan. 5, 2012: SportsTalk: Find out the subplots to the LSU-Alabama rematch in the national championship game.

Six years after Texas quarterback Vince Young and USC’s Matt Leinart helped produce what some have called the greatest national championship game of the BCS era, we have a title game that gives us the opposite scenario. All the stars are on defense and in the backfield, and the quarterbacks are practically an afterthought.

While Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III was winning this season’s Heisman Trophy and fellow quarterback Andrew Luck of Stanford was finishing second, McCarron and Jefferson were back home, out of sight and out of most everybody’s mind. Representing their teams in New York that day were running back Trent Richardson for Alabama and LSU’s Tyrann Mathieu, a cornerback who has developed a cult following based largely on his dyed-blonde hair and “Honey Badger” nickname.

In many ways it is amazing that these two teams have reached the pinnacle game of the sport with such underwhelming players at quarterback. This doesn’t mean that McCarron and Jefferson are not talented contributors. But neither seems to be the key to the game, and they certainly are not the face of their teams.

That was evident once again Wednesday when Alabama and LSU arrived in New Orleans. Both teams made a few players available to the media for quick interview sessions. Alabama offered up Richardson, defensive back Mark Barron and linebacker Dont’a Hightower. LSU countered with wide receiver Rueben Randle, offensive lineman Will Blackwell and defensive backs Eric Reid and Brandon Taylor. Meanwhile, McCarron and Jefferson, the two starting quarterbacks for the biggest game of the season, were hustled away with the kickers and backups.