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It’s hard to believe that it’s already Week 6 of the college football season. So much has happened already, but there might not be anything as important to the Alabama Crimson Tide’s season than how the schedule has played out so far.
It might not be easily recognizable, but the schedule has been set up to let them smoothly transition into the season with the perfect setup of games.
First on the list, the preseason AP Top 5 juggernaut, Florida State. The Seminoles were actually listed as a Top 3 team, but that’s beside the point.
Alabama has opened against a Power 5 foe eight of the past 10 seasons; six times that opponent was ranked in the preseason AP poll.
Playing a team such as Florida State in the opening week gave Alabama’s offseason purpose. Head coach Nick Saban even said as much on the Dan Patrick Show in August.
“At first, when we were here because we didn’t really have a good program, I thought it was important to get a lot of exposure,” Saban said “But what I learned from those games is when you play a really good opponent the first game, the players are much more interested in the offseason, the spring practice, the summer conditioning, all camp preparation … everybody has their attention because of who they’re playing against in the first game.”
The concept is brilliant, and it proved why Saban is playing chess while most others are playing checkers.
That type of game is early enough in the season where the team can overcome a loss (if it happens), it means Saban keeps the team interested throughout the offseason, and it lets him see exactly where his team stands early on in the season — things he needs to correct and so on.
Then, Alabama faced a run of sub-par opponents from the Mountain West Conference — Fresno State and Colorado State.
Following a physical, draining game against the Seminoles, the Tide could take a couple of weeks to get their feet back under them by playing lesser opponents before SEC play began in Week 4.
The plan worked to perfection.
Alabama had lost five of its linebackers — Christian Miller, Terrell Lewis, Anfernee Jennings, Rashaan Evans and Dylan Moses — early in the season, but the schedule allowed three of those five to get healthy before it really started to matter.
The Tide also got a lot of true freshman valuable game reps during the two weeks versus Fresno State and Colorado State.
When Alabama traveled to Nashville to take on Vanderbilt in Week 4, it’s not known whether Saban knew he would be able to continue the formula of keeping his starters fresh while also letting younger guys see significant reps.
The Tide absolutely destroyed the Commodores 59-0, and several key players from the freshman class — including Najee Harris, Tua Tagovailoa, Jedrick Wills, Dylan Moses and more — played against an SEC opponent on the road, continuing to build their confidence and experience in the process.
In Week 5, the Ole Miss Rebels rolled into Tuscaloosa. They were considered Alabama’s toughest opponent since Week 1, yet the Tide crushed them as well (66-3), and depth players were in the game by the end of the third quarter in most cases.
The value in how things have shaken out so far cannot be underestimated.
Jalen Hurts has 71 pass attempts and 40 rushes in Bama’s past four games combined; freshman backup Tua Tagovailoa has 28 passes and eight runs.
For example, Alabama’s quarterback room coming into the 2017 season was vastly different than it was heading into 2016. Blake Barnett, David Cornwell and Cooper Bateman were all gone, leaving the Tide with only two true freshmen backing up true sophomore Jalen Hurts.
Now heading into Week 6, freshman phenom Tagovailoa has played the majority of the second half in four of Alabama’s five games this season. That experience could play a crucial role down the road if something were to happen to Hurts.
That’s only one example, however. One could make a similar case for multiple positions or for specific players.
The schedule has let Alabama keep its starters fresher than most teams to this point of the season, and has helped the Crimson Tide build depth across the board.
It can be argued that so far it has been … the perfect storm.
Clint helps cover the SEC West for Saturday Down South. His work can also be found on USA TODAY Sports, The 'Bama Beat podcast and The Bullpen with TonyMac and The Lamb. Previous stops include SEC Country, 247Sports and Touchdown Alabama Magazine.
