KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Malachi Moore, the emotional leader of the Alabama football team, started aggressively head-butting his helmet after Jalen Milroe’s second interception assured the No. 7 Crimson Tide of a stunning second loss which brought a charge of Tennessee fans onto the field at Neyland Stadium to celebrate another Third Saturday in October victory.
Moore, who had an emotional outburst after the Vanderbilt loss that he later apologized for, knew what this loss meant. He knew that upholding the “Alabama standard” this season as so many players love to parrot was dead.
Two losses in October? That’s not the Alabama standard, certainly not the one that Nick Saban painstakingly built over 17 seasons in Tuscaloosa.
In fact, it is the first time since 2007 — Saban’s first year as Tide coach — that an Alabama team has two losses before November. The last time Alabama fans experienced anything close to the feeling they’re forced to swallow after Saturday’s 24-17 loss to Tennessee, George W. Bush was still president and Soulja Boy had one of the hottest songs in the country.
Welcome to how the rest of the world lives, Alabama fans.
The days of ruthless domination over the rest of the sport are over. That’s as much about the changing nature of the game with the transfer portal and name, image and likeness making it beyond challenging to assemble the kind of super teams Saban built full of talented stars willing to wait years to get significant playing time. It’s a big reason Saban exited stage left for a spot on ESPN’s College GameDay rather than return for an 18th season in Tuscaloosa.
Still, it doesn’t seem like it’s simply talent this team is missing. On paper, at least, this is the most talented team Alabama has ever assembled, according to 247Sports’ talent rankings.
No, the bigger issue feels like any sort of killer instinct is desperately missing. Saban was the master of intensely and deliberately stoking that killer instinct as Alabama physically imposed its will on the rest of college football to the tune of six national championships. Opposing teams were scared of Alabama the minute it walked off the bus.
Now? No one is scared of Alabama. Even the Vanderbilts of the world, the schools Saban used to show mercy to, rightfully believe they can beat the Crimson Tide on any given day. Opponents realize they can push this undisciplined Alabama team into making dumb mistakes.
Even a downtrodden Kalen DeBoer seemed to recognize that after another gut-punch loss in his first year as the GOAT’s replacement.
“There’s times when we’ve got to be able to separate ourselves and have that killer instinct,” DeBoer said. “And right now, you know, we don’t do that. It’s not like they’re not trying. It’s just the execution needs to be better.”
Is DeBoer capable of actually getting that killer instinct out of his players? For months DeBoer said and did all the right things about replacing Saban, but the true test was always going to be how he handled his first loss as the Tide’s leader. The “nice guy” contrast to Saban’s maniacal taskmaster approach quickly loses its luster when the losses pile up and the solutions are hard to come by.
The signs of the pressure felt evident on DeBoer in the aftermath of a loss that makes a return to the College Football Playoff increasingly more difficult. He admitted he wasn’t good at giving speeches after losses and lamented how Alabama “just can’t play team football, can’t bring it together.” As a sullen DeBoer explained what went wrong against Tennessee, Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne, who made the big bet on DeBoer as Saban’s replacement, stood silent in the back of a cramped media room looking like someone had just run over his family dog.
He wasn’t alone. Watching Alabama football players, coaches and staffers react to Saturday’s loss was an intimate peek into a program that seemed truly shocked by what happened against Tennessee. There was anger, confusion and plenty of thousand-yard stares as the processing of a season quickly off the rails had only begun to set in.
The Georgia win that made Alabama fans everywhere feel like they had found their oasis in DeBoer? That was a mirage.
The victory lap after a win over Kirby Smart, the top dog in the SEC with Saban retired, propelled Alabama to No. 1 in the country was far too premature. The more time that passes, the more that 41-34 win over Georgia feels like a total aberration. Alabama has the look of a three- or four-loss team rather than one that deserves to make the playoff.
The defense has been a mess, quarterback Jalen Milroe has badly regressed since skyrocketing up the Heisman Trophy odds and this team looks sloppier and sloppier every time they take the field. Fifteen penalties for 115 yards, including a few backbreaking ones, can’t happen on the road against a good team when you have so many other deficiencies. Milroe’s endzone interception that took points off the board can’t keep happening nor can his hero ball tendencies. Those kind of poor decisions can turn a season that started so promising into an early Halloween nightmare.
Is Alabama’s season over? Of course not. The Tide has a win over Georgia in its back pocket with big opportunities against Missouri and LSU still to come. There is still a path — albeit one that has to go perfectly — for the Tide to still be playing come December playoff time. “The standard here is to win,” said receiver Germie Bernard. “We have to find ways to do it.”
But, perhaps more impactful, the days of expecting Alabama to win every game in which it plays are done with DeBoer running the show.
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