What to make of one-loss Alabama ahead of essential stretch

• Alex Scarborough, ESPN

  • Staff WriterOct 18, 2023, 07:00 AM ET Close Covers the SEC.Joined ESPN in 2012.
  • Graduate of Auburn University.TUSCALOOSA, Ala.– A month ago

, a nearly empty Bryant-Denny Arena seemed like a ghost town as the clock ticked toward midnight.The only noise was the whir of gas-powered blowers pressing garbage into piles for pickup. While Texas commemorated ending up being playoff competitors inside the visitors locker room, it appeared the sun had set early on Alabama’s season. Kiss the apparently annual trip to the national championship game bye-bye. Those travel appointments might also have gone in the refuse bin along with empty shots of bourbon and shattered gas station sunglasses.A week later, an ugly 17-3 win at South Florida seemed to indicate something much more damning: the decrease of the dynasty under Nick Saban that had actually dominated college football with six champions because 2009. The offense, which had in current years progressed into among the very best in football with star quarterbacks and receivers, reverted to a shell of its former self. Quarterback Jalen Milroe, the beneficiary obvious to No. 1 draft choice Bryce Young, was benched; his replacements, Tyler Buchner and Ty Simpson, yielded the worst combined QBR of the Saban era. Saban based on a water container in Tampa and preached positivity while the sky was falling around him.Numerous former players took to social media throughout and after the game to question how it had actually gotten so bad, so quickly. And those who withstood the urge to post were

no less troubled. A former offending player concentrated on the line’s struggles to help the running game and safeguard the quarterback.”It’s a best storm,” he stated, noting that the personnel across the board was no longer elite. A previous protective player went big-picture, questioning whether Saban was still a suitable for the modern game offered the tandem impact of the transfer portal and NIL.The scrutiny on the Mal Moore Athletic Center, home to the football program, was extreme. But internally, concerns were being asked and addressed. Veteran players were taking ownership. And a formula– imperfect though it was– was taking shape that would cause a turn-around couple of saw coming. It’s a turnaround reminiscent of 8 years earlier, when Saban notoriously scolded the media for burying the team after an early loss to Ole Miss. His specific words were,” If it was up to you, we’re 6 foot under already. We’re dead and buried and gone. “Alabama went on to win the championship.The rush to eulogize the program came rapidly after Texas and USF, and ever since public approval of this Alabama team has actually been gradual. However after five straight wins, an air of belief has taken root among players. The defense is playing along with it has in years, especially the front 7, which has actually turned up the pressure on opposing quarterbacks. On the other hand, Milroe has actually settled in after being called the starter– still unsteady in the short-to-intermediate passing game, but exceptionally reliable at pressing the ball downfield.After a closer-than-expected win in your home against Arkansas on Saturday, Alabama sits at No. 11 in the AP poll ahead of back-to-back games versus Tennessee and LSU– the most critical stretch of the season.Each game will be a suggestion of the team’s 2 losses last season– the enduring images of fans rushing the field in Knoxville and Baton Rouge, commemorating the failure of

a rival that had actually tormented them for the much better part of a years. After Tennessee won, it rubbed salt in the injury by playing Alabama favorite “Dixieland Pleasure”over the loudspeakers inside Neyland Stadium.If motivation was

part of the issue early in the season, it shouldn’t be on Saturday(3:30 p.m. ET, CBS )when the Tide host the Vols. After the USF game this season, Alabama coach Nick Saban picked up something different. “This was the first game where I saw some guys a little disappointed.

“Gary Cosby Jr./ USA TODAY Sports AS BAD AS losing to Texas was, marking Alabama’s very first double-digit loss in your home because 2004, Saban didn’t see his group splintering under the pressure.That changed versus USF, though.”This was the first game where I saw some guys a little disappointed, “Saban said at the time.”I believe the disappointment came possibly due to the fact that we weren’t as focused as we needed to be, which is my obligation. “But it wasn’t his responsibility alone.The Sunday after the game, players called a conference to clear the air and get everybody on the very same page. As junior offensive tackle JC Latham put it, it was about”holding guys liable.

“A vocal leader who this summertime called

talk of the Alabama dynasty ending”exceptionally ill-mannered,” Latham was reluctant to divulge too many information about what was stated behind closed doors. However after hearing from other players in subsequent weeks, a photo of

the meeting has entered focus.The tenor wasn’t combative,

more matter-of-fact as if the team leaders felt the requirement to strike the proverbial reset button– albeit early in the season.” We are all capable– the entire group, “stated linebacker Chris Braswell.”We’re way much better than that. … We simply wished to get back to that Bama standard. “Editor’s Picks 2 Associated Running back Jase McClellan echoed the value of playing to the standard as well as completing and being more aggressive. Several players spoke throughout the meeting. In a radio interview, cornerback Terrion Arnold singled out Latham, Milroe, linebacker Dallas Turner and cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry. Arnold said it had actually specified where they required to get things

“off their chest.””You call yourself a family, a brotherhood, “Arnold stated.”When we have those type of conferences … if you don’t seem like you can state it to your brother, you’re not a genuine bro.”Protective take on Tim Smith concurred that it wasn’t a lack of understanding or ability holding the team back. Rather, he said, the message that stood apart was,”We require to have the focus to execute.””Everybody comprehended that [the meeting] was needed and quite essential,”Smith stated.”There wasn’t any complaining like,’Aw, why do we have to satisfy as a team?’We’re a brotherhood and everybody is attempting to be on the same page. “However a lot of guys took responsibility in what was said throughout the meeting, so I believe it was a respectable one.”Milroe said he noticed a modification after beating

then-No. 15 Ole Miss by 2 touchdowns. The Rebs’10 points in the game were the least they ‘d scored against an SEC opponent throughout coach Lane Kiffin’s period. “We do have our swagger back,”

Milroe said,”but we do have to acknowledge that we have actually got a lot of work to do.”However I will state this: that we are starving to enhance and we’re excited for what the future holds.” Kiffin left a believer– not that he wasn’t in the past. The method Alabama fought back from down 7-6 at halftime and pulled away in the 2nd half, Kiffin said, was as simple as the Tide having terrific players that “you can only keep … down so long. “Kiffin went on to state he does not like playing the Crimson Tide after they have had a bad game. He called his previous manager the “finest worldwide”at motivating players after a setback.

“He does a terrific job of getting them back and utilizing what everybody states– all you guys saying the dynasty’s over and they are

n’t any great anymore,” he said. “He utilizes that all week and the guys come out playing actually well.”

Whether Saban pushed all the best buttons or players pushed themselves coming out of that players-only conference, the Tide have been a different team. After beating Ole Miss, they took care of business at Mississippi State(40-17 )and after that went on the

roadway to Texas A&M and returned from down a touchdown in the 2nd half to win 26-20. Later, Saban lauded his group’s poise late in the game– which is not something he could have stated

the first three weeks of the season. He said he “could not be more happy “of the way they contended.” For guys to pull themselves up, to get rid of difficulty and [program] resiliency, this is a terrific win for our team. … It was an opportunity for this team to sort of program who they are in terms of what type of group we have, and I think we can have an actually, truly great team.” After an early season loss, Jake Coker led a less-than-perfect Alabama team to the national championship in 2015. Tom Pennington/Getty Images SABAN ATTEMPTED TO caution everyone. Before the offensive train wreck at USF– 5-of-15 on 3rd down, 4.7 yards per pass, one overall goal– he harkened back to the group’s offensive

battles in the 2015 season, when Jake Coker and Cooper Bateman completed for the starting quarterback task. “We were sort of having a hard time on offense, could not discover an identity, eventually found an identity and had a really good season, “Saban recalled.”So you keep browsing.”

At the time, the comparison looked like a stretch. For one, Milroe appeared more turnover prone than Coker, and for another, he didn’t have the same quality line Coker did( see: future pros Camera Robinson and Ryan Kelly ). However most importantly, the male Milroe was handing the ball off to was Jase McClellan, not Derrick Henry. No disrespect to McClellan, who is a strong player, but Henry won the Heisman Trophy that season.So possibly there was some wishful thinking on Saban’s part

. But a minimum of a single person saw where he was coming from: Coker. Like this season, Coker was reminded of the 9 beginners they changed in 2015 and the early problems that triggered. Like this season,

Coker was reminded of his own struggles while completing for the starting task– the feeling of examining your shoulder.Coker recalled the Sunday night when, after watching movie of the loss to Ole Miss and his two interceptions, then-offensive coordinator Kiffin told him he needed to go see Saban. Coker was too angry to be frightened about getting called to Saban’s office without a reason. Get your favorite live sports, stories and originals with ESPN +, Disney +and Hulu. Upgrade to a Disney Bundle strategy and begin streaming something for everyone today! After the two shared their thoughts on the group, Coker stated Saban told him he was the starter and,”You require to make this thing work.””

I stated,’Let’s do it, ‘”he remembered.”I was delighted. It was a way to just progress. It was a freeing feeling knowing that I wasn’t going to get pulled.”And that feeling extended throughout the team. “It’s like a judge throwing the gavel down,”Coker said of Saban’s decision,

“it’s over with and everybody falls in line and believes that’s the guy. “Alabama came out the following week and throttled Louisiana-Monroe 34-0. Then came the huge test: at No. 8 Georgia.Coker smiled on the back of the field in Athens when a pregame scuffle broke out. “Oh, hell yes,”

he believed.” Thank you. You do not understand what you just did. “Offered sufficient inspiration, Alabama controlled Georgia in a 38-10 rout.”

The Georgia game is when the tone was set that’OK, we’re back,'” he said.”I don’t think anyone really appreciated the rankings whatsoever. I think we understood we ‘d be there if we just took care of business.”Perhaps it’s not an apple-to-apples comparison, but Coker sees another through-line in between 2015 and this season. Simply as Georgia’s smack talk lit a fire under his teammates, he believes Kiffin’s suggestion that Kevin Steele wasn’t actually calling the defense got up this year’s team. “I understand it bothered the group,

but I guarantee you it really bothered the training personnel a lot, “Coker stated.

“I got a feeling that week of practice they were absolutely just dialed in– if you screwed anything up, you were getting simply torn apart.”Alabama’s defense, which had fallen back the past few years, is looking like its old self again, ranking 12th in scoring(16 points per game), 3rd in sacks(26 )and eighth in interrupted dropbacks (54). The offense may not be great yet, but it has been good enough. Milroe, who stated he’s improving every week, has established himself as a big-play danger. Roughly one-fourth of his pass attempts have actually taken a trip 20 or more lawns through the air; his 19 such conclusions rank third nationally. Considering that getting benched against USF, he has actually scored 9 goals(6 passing, 3 rushing )and turned the ball over twice.”It kind of felt like we weren’t there in the start of

the year, but we’re finally getting that confidence and understanding of how to play together and really how to be simply malicious on both sides of the ball,” Coker stated. Jalen Milroe completed an effective 17 of 21 passes for 225 backyards in an equally effective 24-10 win over Ole Miss this year. Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images TO BE CLEAR: Alabama’s still far from perfect.Just take a look at Saturday’s 24-21 win over Arkansas. The Crimson Tide sleep-walked through the 11 a.m. kickoff, struggling to run the ball, having a hard time to stop the run, having a hard time to do the easy things, like get

the timing down on the center-quarterback exchange. By the time they got up, they were down 6-0. And no earlier than they rattled off 24 unanswered points to take total control of the game, they let their foot off the gas and gave up back-to-back Razorbacks touchdowns to make it a one-score game late.Afterward, an upset Saban drew a difference between winning the game and beating the other group. While he stated he was happy with the development the team had actually made from the start of the season, he wasn’t pleased with a lack of execution and discipline. A face mask penalty by safety Jaylen Key felt

symbolic– in a bad method. It was a circumstances of a player, he said,”putting himself ahead of what’s finest for the group and putting yourself in harm’s way of having a possibility to win.”Could they gain from a close call? Saban stated noncommittally,”I hope so. “Offending lineman Tyler Booker wasn’t pleased with the team’s lack of consistency. What it comes down to, he said, was them losing strength in the 2nd half and not ending up.” When you lose attention to detail,” he discussed,”you do not carry out as frequently

.”Advised of the resemblance in tone to the USF win and the reaction it triggered, Booker acknowledged a” typical style”because they”shouldn’t have remained in that kind of game”in the first location. Versus Arkansas, he said,”We let them back in the game.” “We need to put groups out, “he said.But Booker wasn’t striking the panic button yet. In general, he felt the team was heading in the best direction in recent weeks. The skill’s there. There are flashes of a team that can discover a way in a down SEC to make it to Atlanta and play for a conference championship.If they can complete for 60 minutes, Booker stated,”That’s how we get to playing Alabama football.””Which’s dominating,”he included.