Has Bama Lost the Saban Way?
The Alabama Crimson Tide football team, known as one of the most dominant football programs in the country, faced some difficulties during the 2024 season. The Crimson Tide are currently 2-1 and ranked #7 in the country. Some people would even say that Alabama has lost the Saban way.
Alabama had a disappointing end to their season in January when they lost to Michigan in the Rose Bowl, which later won the National Championship. Alabama also lost their most successful coach in school history, Nick Saban, who won 6 national championships with Bama. The Tide hired Kalen DeBoer, who was the head coach of the University of Washington. Alabama cruised through their first 3 games, winning dominantly. They had their first real test of the season against the Georgia Bulldogs. Alabama won 41-34. Despite the score, the game wasn’t close until the 4th quarter. Alabama had a lot of firepower on offense and disrupted one of the best college football quarterbacks Carson Beck. But after this game, Alabama started to struggle.
In a surprising upset Alabama lost to Vanderbilt 35-40. This was Vanderbilt’s first time beating Alabama since 1984! In that game, Alabama was favored to win by a 22.5 margin. Despite Jalen Milore throwing for 310 yards and a touchdown, Alabama still couldn’t get it done with their defense allowing 40 points. The last time Vanderbilt scored 40 on Bama was 1906, so this was a historic upset.
Alabama also struggled to get the job done against South Carolina. Alabama won this game 27-25, but if you watched it, you could see Alabama’s struggles. Jalen Milore got outplayed by LaNorris Sellers, who threw 238 yards and 2 touchdowns. South Carolina had more total yards (374), passing yards (242), rushing yards (132), and yards per play (5.3). South Carolina also outplayed Alabama in first downs, 23 to 20, and third down conversions 7 to 5. Alabama managed to win the game by forcing turnovers. They have a big game coming up vs Tennessee, who is also 5-1 and ranked 11th in the country. If Alabama continues to play like this, there could be some questions for the remainder of their season.
