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All season, we’ve been trying to label this team, trying to figure out its identity. “Murder Ball” was Nick Saban’s self-label, but that really didn’t fit. It didn’t really describe the versatility this team would evolve into. Maybe that came as much of a surprise to Saban as to the rest of us. But Alabama has proven through September and October to be much more than anything 1-dimensional.
And while we’re on the subject of The GOAT, is this his best coaching job? Has he taken what some were calling a ragtag bunch — especially after losing by double digits at home to Texas — and turned it into the SEC West frontrunner once again? Sure looks like it. Not many were giving him or this team much of a chance at that back in early September.
But here they are, back on top in their division, needing just a victory next Saturday at Kentucky or a loss by Ole Miss at SEC East frontrunner Georgia to punch their ticket to Atlanta. One or both of those things is likely to happen.
How have they done it? How have they gone from the edge of disaster to return to the top of the heap all in a matter of a few short months? Well, you begin with superior talent. But putting it all together has been the key — slowly but surely working into their respective roles and letting that natural talent take over from there.
The continued development of quarterback Jalen Milroe hasn’t hurt, either. Some are even including him in Heisman conversations. I don’t know about that, but this kid has certainly improved his game since the start of the season.
The Houston-area pipeline of quarterbacks seems to be working for Saban and the Alabama program. From Jalen Hurts, a product of Channelview — a suburb just east of Houston — and now Milroe, from Katy — a suburb just west of Houston — it’s a hotbed of talent for sure, and the Tide sure is taking advantage.
But what is setting this team apart from the others is its ability to win games in whatever situation it finds itself. Facing a team with a solid defense, like a Texas A&M? No problem. The Tide has proven to be up to that challenge, turning away the Aggies, 26-20.
It shut out both Tennessee and LSU in the 2nd half of those games en route to impressive victories. It can beat you with defense.
Getting into a shootout with an offense like LSU’s? No sweat. The Tide is equipped to take on that task as well, outscoring the Tigers, 42-28, on Saturday at Bryant-Denny. It has scored 40-plus points in 3 games this season.
Alabama has made it very difficult to place a label on it. It can beat you in so many ways. That’s why it has become a formidable foe in the SEC West, and that’s why it will give the SEC East champion — likely Georgia — all it can handle when the 2 meet on the 1st Saturday in December.
It is certainly no foregone conclusion that Georgia will run through the SEC with little to no resistance. Because Alabama — now 8-1 on the season, 6-0 in SEC play — is back, and back in a big way. This team is prepared to take on any opponent anywhere, at any time. The Tide can play and be successful in any style of game necessary to come out on top.
That’s a tribute to the coaches and the players for sticking to the process when things looked a little bleak back at the start of the season. Back when they had not established themselves as the team to beat in the strongest division of the strongest conference in college football.
So check off another defeated opponent on the schedule. Kentucky and Chattanooga, you are next, and then the Iron Bowl. Then things get interesting with the SEC Championship Game and the College Football Playoff definitely on the radar in the 1st week of November. That wasn’t much of a thought just a couple of months ago.
Glenn Sattell is an award-winning freelance writer for Saturday Down South.
