Alabama's loss to Texas this past weekend cued plenty of fan overreactions, but what if those overreactions were spot on? What if Alabama football as we know it is truly going away?
Nick Saban was handed his first double-digit loss at home since 2003 when he was at LSU still. It's also Alabama's first double-digit home loss since 2004 when the Crimson Tide fell to South Carolina. The unseemly blemish on his 2023 record could be just that -- a forgettable blemish -- but it also could be a precursor of darker days of Alabama football to come.
Saban turned the Crimson Tide's football program into an immortal beast for the last 15 years with 10 SEC titles and six national championships, and now, finally, time could be catching up to him.
Alabama offensive lineman Tyler Booker spoke about the comparisons he gets to older 'Bama teams and noted that in 2023, "it's just a different generation of guys."
For extra context, Booker said, "We get compared to a lot of the older 'Bama teams, and it's just -- time has passed. Now me saying that, we're still playing to the 'Bama standard. We still want to play the same way those teams have played. But it's just a different generation of guys."
Alabama's invincible era of football could be coming to an end
Booker made the crucial distinction between two different generations of 'Bama squads but still wanted to drive home the point that they're "still playing to the 'Bama standard." As he says, "The 'Bama standard is the goal, week-in, week-out."
Considering the ridiculously high and cultivated 'Bama standard, one may argue the 2023 team doesn't quite meet the bar.
Saturday's defeat to the Longhorns wasn't a fateful stroke of bad luck. Texas looked like the better team across the field, and it was Alabama that got exposed particularly at the quarterback position and offensive line. Quarterback Jalen Milroe threw two picks and got sacked five times. The Crimson Tide's secondary also looked vulnerable all game and ended up allowing 349 yards in the air.
Year after year, Saban has continued a glittering tradition of developing Heisman Trophy-winning talent and top NFL draft picks, but at some point, legacies have to end. Maybe this year is the year it doesn't necessarily come to a full stop, just merely begins to fade.
Keep in mind the last time Alabama won the national title was just three years ago in 2022, so the football program could hardly be called irrelevant. It's just not the same as it once was.
