The most telling
moment of the 2013 Alabama football season didn’t come from an Alabama player.
As Chris Davis
scampered into the end zone and all hell broke loose on the plains, Alabama QB
A.J. McCarron walked over to his family and then-girlfriend, now-wife Katherine
Webb. When McCarron approach, Webb cocked her head slightly to side, said, “I’m
sorry,” and gave him a kiss.
It was the same
reaction my girlfriend would give me if I complained about being stuck on the
Metro. It was not the reaction you would expect following one of college
football’s most historic losses.
I was rewatched
the replay of the ending and this really confused me. Maybe I missed it when
watching it live, but why didn’t they seem more upset?
Quickly, the
camera pans to Nick Saban taking his headset off and walking to shake hands
with Gus Malzahn with the disgusted look of someone who has to stay an extra
hour at work on a Tuesday.
Then it hit me –
the Alabama/Auburn game was the ultimate, “Shit Happens” game and everyone
associated with Alabama football knew it as soon as it happened.
There are all
types of losses in sports. The “Shit Happens” loss – or “It Happens” for the
families – is the rarest.
Stunningly,
Auburn pulled off two of these in a row last year and the response from the
felled was telling. When Georgia gave up a late miracle touchdown, its coaches
famously crumbled to the turf because their entire worlds had been shattered.
When Alabama did the same, Nick Saban essentially shrugged his shoulders.
It happens,
right?
It’s a lot harder
to get worked up about such circumstances as a two-time defending national
champion. If that exact last second play was redone 1,000 times, it’s entirely
likely Auburn would have won the game in regulation zero times.
The fallout from
that game became a talking point this summer after Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops,
in a strange show of bravado, spent his offseason taking shots at the entire
SEC based on the Sugar Bowl. Nick Saban countered, as only he can, by
essentially saying his team didn’t give a crap.
I agree with
Saban. And it’s why I think Oklahoma is this season’s most
overrated in the preseason.
There is
precedent with the Crimson Tide and Sugar Bowl no-shows. They infamously forget
to show up for the start of the 2009 edition, falling behind 21-0 to a Utah
team that was much, much better than they expected.
The following
year, Alabama won its first national title in 17 years and ran off three in
four years.
But the comparisons
to the 2009 season pretty much end after the Sugar Bowl loss hangover. The 2009
Tide brought back its starting quarterback. That team was not the SEC favorite,
an honor that bestowed on the Tim Tebow-led Florida Gators. And that team began
the season in Atlanta against a Top 10 Virginia Tech team – this year’s team
faces a 4-win West Virginia team.
So despite the
two consecutive losses to end 2013 and the departure of A.J. McCarron, as well
as the usual NFL migration of top talent, Alabama begins the season behind only
defending champion Florida State in the polls.
Alabama is
expected to make the first
college football playoff. Personally, I don’t think they will but I’ve been
wrong before and I’ll certainly be wrong again.
The plight of the
Alabama football team this year will be one of the sport’s most eagerly
anticipated storylines but it may not be one that has any interest until
November.
Look
at the schedule over the first two months and tell me who is going to beat
Alabama. The non-conference slate opens with West Virginia, Florida Atlantic
and Southern Miss – three teams that combined to win as many as Alabama in
2013.
Of the first five
SEC opponents, Florida and Arkansas are coming off of atrocious seasons,
Tennessee remains a work in progress and Texas A&M returns to Tuscaloosa without
Johnny Football. With the possible exception of the road trip to Ole Miss,
there is a realistic chance that Alabama arrives in Death Valley on November 8
undefeated and untested.
For a conference
that is supposed to be teeming with power teams, Alabama drew just about the
softest schedule imaginable – no Georgia, no South Carolina, no Missouri and no
non-conference tests.
Regardless of
schedule or opponents, Alabama is must see television, particularly following
the ugly end to 2013.
What will we see?
Will Alabama be able to carry that offseason motivation through an early
cupcake slate? Will Nick Saban be able to get his team championship-ready if
the first SEC games provide little to no resistance? Will the lack of tough
opponents become a talking point for their playoff possibilities?
It’s unfortunate
that we may not get these answers for three long months. But you might want to
hold off on making any plans the night of November 8.
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