Like many, I assumed that Gilbert's performance against Alabama was hardly indicative of his future performances, given that he was thrown into the game without any real game experience and against a truly great defense. It was easy to assume that his negatives in that game were a result of the situation, and his positives were a foundation that would be built upon in 2010.

However, I'm beginning to think that the Gilbert who played against Alabama, and possibly the entire Texas performance, was actually a pretty accurate indicator of Gilbert and Texas this season.

Gilbert's line against Alabama: 15/40 (.375 completion %) for 186 yards (4.7 yds per reception), 2 TD and 4 interceptions.

After 9 games this season, Gilbert has a higher completion % for about 40 yards more per game, not marginal but hardly significant either. His yards per completion is only marginally higher (4.7 vs 5.87), and his TD to INT ratio is identical.

Could it be that the National Championship game was the Gilbert we would be seeing the following season?