Alabama Has to Learn to Sustain Success after Dominant Win

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— There isn't much to complain about after a 73-0 win in which you outgained your opponent by 435 yards. And Alabama wasn't complaining after its first victory of the season over Louisiana-Monroe inside Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday night, but the Crimson Tide isn't content either.

"I’ve still got a chip on my shoulder," Alabama defensive lineman LT Overton said after the game. "A little win like today means nothing to me. I’m going for a national championship.”

No margin of victory would make Crimson Tide players or fans happy after what happened in the season-opening loss to Florida State, but Alabama dominated the Warhawks from the opening kickoff to the final whistle.

The first half could not have gone much better for the Crimson Tide. Alabama scored on all six offensive possessions. The quarterbacks (Ty Simpson and Austin Mack) were a perfect 20 for 20 on pass attempts. On defense, Alabama only allowed two first downs the whole half and forced five punts and one turnover.

It continued into the second half with the defense playing with intense passion that kept Louisiana Monroe off the scoreboard. Even with backups and walk-ons in, the Crimson Tide offense kept clicking to the tune of 31 second-half points.

The response is nice to see, especially after how Alabama looked against Florida State, but there are much, much bigger tests still to come that will prove what this Crimson Tide team is really made of.

Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer said he liked the response from the team starting with the plane ride back from Tallahassee last weekend.

"They made their minds up at some point that led into Sunday, because by Sunday, they were ready to roll and get on the football field," DeBoer said. "And you know, that carried through the whole week of practice."

Starting quarterback Ty Simpson said it was a "different type of vibe" on the plane ride back as players were shell shocked at what happened in the 31-17 loss to Florida State.

"I could kind of tell on Sunday that it was going to be a different type of week, different type of vibe," Simpson said. "The coaches really pushed us, the leaders on the team, me included, and just was really great to see. We’re going to keep going. We understand this means nothing and just play our brand of football.”

There were a lot of positive signs on Saturday. Alabama improved in areas of weakness from a week ago. The Crimson Tide was able to effectively run the ball, averaging 5.9 yards per carry on 36 attempts. The offense didn't allow a sack, and the defense racked up negative plays with 12 tackles for loss and three turnovers.

There was no visible loafing on defense. The defenders were flying to the ball and making plays. Conor Talty also made his lone 46-yard attempt after missing from 53 yards out against Florida State.

But DeBoer said it himself. Can his team sustain this effort and intensity with a long season ahead?

"All we could control is what we have in front of us," he said. "Sucks to learn lessons, or whatever you want to call it. It is what is. These guys did it, and now they've got to do it again. They've got to have the discipline to do it over and over and over again. The resiliency is probably the thing I'll take from them because their response was not timid in any way. It was with power. It was with aggression and with pride. That took a hit last week, and again, all that was something that really came into play tonight in how they responded."

As Alabama's first Heisman winner Mark Ingram, shutting out an opponent while putting up 73 points is impressive no matter the opponent. The win over ULM was a step in the right direction and showed the type of fight Alabama can play with.

I don’t care who you play 73-0 is crazy. Way to respond fellas!! One day at a time, fall in love with the process!! #RollTide https://t.co/HY8J3A2Fx0
— Mark Ingram II (@markingramII) September 7, 2025

In the context of a long SEC season with College Football Playoff aspirations, Saturday's win over Louisiana Monroe is like passing a pop quiz or turning in a homework assignment with tests, midterms and final exams still to come.

"Going 1-0 every week" is a cliché used across college football, but it is the reality for this Alabama program at the moment. The Crimson Tide got off to a rocky start in Year 2 under DeBoer, but a home matchup with Wisconsin next week and a bye week after that gives Alabama an opportunity to fix things.

Saturday was a good win over a not so good team. Alabama did what it was supposed to do with the next team on the schedule Moving forward isn't about dominating, but sustaining.

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