The No. 7 Alabama Crimson Tide entered Saturday with everything in front of them, controlling their own destiny after a tough loss to Vanderbilt earlier in the season, a defeat many had labeled the worst in program history.
However, despite facing a 5-5 Oklahoma Sooners team that was just 1-5 against SEC opponents, Alabama squandered their opportunity. They didn’t just lose-they were dominated, failing to find the end zone in a 24-3 defeat that eliminated them from the SEC title race and potentially the College Football Playoff.
The loss marked an unprecedented and unfortunate milestone for first-year head coach Kalen DeBoer, who took over for the legendary Nick Saban. Saban led the Crimson Tide to six national championships during his 17-year tenure.
For the first time since Saban’s fourth season in well over a decade, Alabama has lost three games in a season. Occurring in DeBoer’s inaugural year at the helm.
Following in the footsteps of a coach like Nick Saban is a nearly impossible task. While winning ten games is considered a success at many programs, it’s not at Alabama.
The biggest issue for the Crimson Tide this season is that they’ve lost to teams they simply shouldn’t have. Losing to two five-loss teams-Vanderbilt, a team that hadn’t beaten Alabama in decades, and Oklahoma, which is having a down year-does not meet the standard for a program that thrived under Saban’s consistency for so many years.
In the first year of the expanded 12-team playoff, you’d think that Alabama, with an experienced quarterback like Jalen Milroe, would have no problem securing a spot. Even with two losses, they seemed well-positioned to make the playoff, but now it looks like they may miss out entirely. If that happens, it will be a very cold winter for Kalen DeBoer, whose expectations will only grow in year two.