Following Alabama’s loss to Texas at Bryant-Denny Stadium last season, it seemed the cracks in the Alabama dynasty were ever so present. Alabama had question marks at the quarterback position as Jalen Milroe was not effective to deliver the win. It also seemed the secondary had no answers for the Texas wide receivers.
Former Alabama head coach Nick Saban said following the game, “This was a test for everybody. It was a test for the coaches, it was a test for me, it was a test for all the players, and we obviously didn’t do very well. But it’s the midterm, not the final.”
In a lot of ways, Saban realized he needed to shake the foundation of his team and give it a wake up call.
This is where South Florida enters.
Did Saban underestimate the ability of South Florida or overestimate his quarterback depth chart? Neither are mutually exclusive but it was the appropriate fire alarm Saban could call.
After South Florida played even and had a field goal advantage after the first quarter, it seemed the job of South Florida head coach Alex Golesh had transformed the program to give it a signature win for the first time since the Jim Leavitt era.
While Alabama held South Florida in check, in the same vein it wasn’t pulling away from them. The Crimson Tide was effective on the ground, but through the air it seemed Alabama quarterbacks Ty Simpson and Tyler Buchner were ineffective. The two combined for 4.7 yards per pass attempt, on the day Alabama would gain 4.8 yards per carry.
As the game progressed, Alabama refused to lose, something Saban would acknowledge, "The way they competed in the game. They didn't play great. They had a lot of adversity to overcome. They kept answering the bell when we needed to do it.”
Alabama got the win, but I felt the reality check Saban gave Milroe was invaluable. Saban would say he went with the quarterbacks that practiced best and that he promised to evaluate Buchner and Simpson.
The message Saban wanted to convey to Milroe is his job isn’t secure and the work he had to put in was paramount. Milroe even realized what he had to do to be a better teammate, "Yeah, he did a great job. He really has been supportive of his teammates. I was happy to see that. Hopefully we'll all learn lessons from the experiences that we have and move forward in a positive way."
The adversity Alabama faced at South Florida paid dividends later in the season when it was up against it against Auburn on 4th and 30 and then the SEC Championship Game against Georgia.
If anything, the turning point against South Florida may have been one of Saban’s greatest lessons. This week, we will see how current head coach Kalen DeBoer translates a dominating win against a program that is looking to challenge the national elite.
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