You almost expected Jalen Milroe to play like Bryce Young, for Dallas Turner to be Will Anderson Jr., for someone in that wide receiver unit to emerge as this team’s Jameson Williams or John Metchie III.
That’s the way it’s supposed to work in Tuscaloosa. That’s the way it has worked for the better part of the last 15 years, since Nick Saban took this vaunted program and made it virtually invincible.
He first won with defense and a prolific running game, then he adjusted with the times, and turned the Crimson Tide’s once methodical offensive attack into a dynamic one, an offense that attracted the best quarterbacks and receivers in the country.
But, it feels like those times are changing. It’s at least fair to question how much Saban has left at the age of 71 after winning 10 SEC titles and seven national championships, six with Alabama.
Last year, with two top-three NFL draft picks in Young and Anderson, Alabama was basically eliminated from the College Football Playoff on the first Saturday of November. And this season doesn’t look like it will be much better following an ugly 34-24 home loss to Texas — the first double-digit home loss of the Saban era for Alabama — in which the Longhorns were clearly the better team on both sides of the ball and easily could’ve put up close to 50 points if not for a few loose possessions in Alabama territory. The Crimson Tide were exposed at quarterback (Milroe threw two interceptions, one returned for a score), along the offensive line (Texas had five sacks and held Alabama to 107 rushing yards at 3.1 per rush) and in the secondary (the Longhorns piled up 349 yards through the air).
This isn’t to say Saban has completely lost his fastball. Alabama isn’t all of a sudden going to lose four or five games. It has too much talent, too many four- and five-star recruits. But reaching the playoff will now take perfection from the SEC dynamo the rest of the way. No two-loss team has ever been selected among the final four.
There has been slippage under Saban. In Alabama’s last 19 games against power five opponents, it has lost five times. In the previous 50 games against those opponents, it lost just five times, twice coming in the national championship game.
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It is surprising that Alabama wasn’t more active in the transfer portal to prop up Milroe with more of a game-changer on the perimeter. Even Young, for all of his ability, struggled on occasion last year without someone who scared the opposition. The defense, once so feared, failed to record a single sack against Texas. It lacks playmakers.
Saban changed his coaching staff this offseason. bringing in Tommy Rees from Notre Dame as his new offensive coordinator and Kevin Steele from Miami to run the defense. Those moves didn’t help against Texas. No, Saturday night felt like a continuation of last year, when Alabama was eliminated from playoff contention early and nearly lost a few more games.
Right now, Alabama isn’t the Alabama we’ve come to expect under Nick Saban. It’s becoming fair to wonder if we’ll see those days again under the legendary coach.
You always wonder how much offseason positivity is real. What happens when all those glowing reports are put to the test. In the case of Quinn Ewers, it does seem like he has matured, which was the talk in Austin all summer. He certainly looked the part in the win over Alabama. He didn’t force throws. He remained composed even after a few drives stalled and Alabama seemed ready to take control. He acted, and performed, like a leader.
The Texas quarterback made an early Heisman Trophy statement in the win, completing 24-of-38 passes for 349 yards and three touchdowns and becoming the first non-SEC quarterback to throw for over 250 yards and two touchdowns at Alabama in the Saban era. More than the numbers, though, Ewers played a smart, under-control game. Texas wasn’t far off last year, suffering five losses by a combined 25 points. There were legitimate questions entering the offseason if Ewers would even be the starting quarterback, before he beat out prized freshman Arch Manning in the spring. Now, he looks like the quarterback who can lead the Longhorns to their first Big 12 title since 2009.
If the first two weeks of the season are an indicator, the SEC may not be the best conference in the country this year. It’s certainly up for debate. The powerhouse conference is 3-6 against power five opponents. Alabama and LSU – the co-SEC West favorites – were outclassed by Texas and Florida State, respectively. Texas A&M was manhandled by ACC also-ran Miami. Florida was doubled up by Utah.
The best win so far is Ole Miss’ 17-point victory at Group of Five foe Tulane, the favorite in the AAC. Georgia remains the class of the country until proven otherwise, even if it has played nobody so far. The gap between the Bulldogs and the rest of the SEC, however, may have widened.
