Former Kilgore standouts Eddie Jones, Michael Huey and Britt Mitchell all got significant playing time on college football’s most grand stage Thursday night, as a part of the No. 2-ranked Texas Longhorns in the BCS National Championship Game in Pasadena, Calif.

Texas’ opponent, though, was top-ranked Alabama, who held off a late Longhorns charge and claimed a 37-21 victory.

The loss ended, but didn’t mar, a fantastic season for Texas in which the ’Horns went 13-1, played for the national championship and won the Big 12 Championship.

A fourth former Kilgore player, defensive end/ tight end Dominique Jones, was a redshirt freshman this year. Kilgore has more players (four) on the Longhorns’ roster than any high school in the state.

Eddie Jones, the hard-charging defensive end, had two tackles in the game. Jones was part of a defense that held Alabama to just 58 passing yards, and 263 yards of total offense.

Huey and Mitchell, both offensive linemen, helped Texas get back into the game in the third quarter, and almost pulled off the comeback. The Texas offense never really established a running game all year, though, and that hurt the Longhorns against Alabama, which picked off Gilbert four times and held Texas to an average gain of just 3.9 yards per play, and an average of less than 3 yards per carry.

Alabama benefitted from an unfortunate injury to Colt McCoy on the game’s fifth play, an apparent arm injury that forced the quarterback, college football’s winningest quarterback in history, to the sidelines. The ’Horns were forced to put former Lake Travis standout and freshman Garret Gilbert into the game. Gilbert looked unprepared playing out the remainder of the first half against a tough Alabama defense, but settled down in the second half and brought Texas within three, 24-21, with a touchdown pass to Jordan Shipley and a two-point conversion.

But ultimately, though, Alabama’s defense would make the game-changing play, a hit on Gilbert that caused a fumble and a subsequent Alabama recovery inside the Texas 5-yard-line. A Mark Ingram touchdown later gave Alabama a 10-point lead with two minutes left, and all but finished the contest.

McCoy will be gone, a senior entering the NFL draft.

But Gilbert, who comes from a winning program in Lake Travis, got invaluable experience in the title game against Alabama, and should be much more polished in the 2010 season. Eddie Jones and Mitchell will both be seniors next year, and Huey a junior.

Dominique Jones should be ready for his official Texas debut next season, when the Longhorns will likely again be favored to win the Big 12.