Alabama's Season Was One to Remember, That's What Hurts the Crimson Tide the Most
PASADENA, Calif. — As the maize and blue confetti began raining down on the field in Pasadena, offensive tackle JC Latham slammed his helmet down on the turf.
Moments later, you could hear a pin drop in the Alabama locker room. The silence was the sound of reality setting in. After a four-month rollercoaster of a season that included an early home loss and a game-winning Hail Mary, the Crimson Tide fell short of its ultimate goal of a national championship.
However, it felt like Alabama has been playing with free money since September. After an embarrassing fourth-quarter collapse against Texas and a poor result at USF the week after, the players vowed to be better. And they were.
The Crimson Tide rolled through Ole Miss and Mississippi State. Then, Alabama went on the road and held on to beat Texas A&M at a jam-packed Kyle Field. The Crimson Tide got its revenge against both Tennessee and LSU at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Alabama avoided the physical rat traps en route to a 28-point victory at Kentucky.
At Jordan-Hare Stadium, the Crimson Tide's season was all but over. In fact, I moved towards the Alabama locker room to avoid an inevitable field-storming. Then, Jalen Milroe found Isaiah Bond for as dramatic of an ending the college football world has ever seen — and on the 10-year anniversary of the Kick Six.
Then, the Crimson Tide went to Atlanta as a near-touchdown underdog against the two-time defending national champions and pushed them off the line of scrimmage for a complete, 60-minute effort. Alabama broke the hearts of Florida State fans across the globe, upending the Seminoles to reach the College Football Playoff.
Over the last few months, it's felt like nothing would stop the Crimson Tide from hoisting the trophy at season's end. Until Monday night in Pasadena.
"Everybody's gonna look at this Rose Bowl loss and be like, 'Oh, Alabama did this, Alabama did that.' But if you look at the course of our progression, I don't think a team has improved more than us," offensive guard Tyler Booker said.
All good things come to an end. Even if Alabama won the title, the dream season would have come to an end. Even though the hardware will be missing from the crowded trophy case, "LANK" will live on forever in Crimson Tide lore.
"One thing that I told them in the locker room after the game, this is one of the most amazing seasons in Alabama football history in terms of where this team came from, what they were able to accomplish and what they were able to do, winning the SEC Championship, and really, really proud of this group," head coach Nick Saban said.
"I just think that I don't look at it necessarily from winning and losing, you won the championship, you can't win the championship. As a coach, you're always trying to get your team to improve and be the best that they can be, and I think this team probably improved from the South Florida game and the Texas game early in the season as much as any team I've ever coached."
Cornerback Terrion Arnold was one of the main leaders on the team this season. The loss hit him exceptionally hard.
"I love this group unconditionally," Arnold said. "I went to battle with them, I went to war with them and I’d put my life on the line with them. I wouldn’t do this with anyone else, and I mean that, wholeheartedly."
"Cried, cried, cried. Me and Kool-Aid grabbed each other, embraced each other. It’s one of those things in life, where you take it and use it as motivation. We know how it feels to come out on top, we know how it feels to lose. [...] At the end of the day, the sun is gonna rise the next day, and you’ve got to keep pushing, keep living."
Arnold considers Jalen Milroe his best friend. Regardless of the result, he has his back.
"I love [Milroe], and we’re gonna keep LANK’ing, bro," Arnold said. "[Milroe] battled a lot, [he] came through a lot. Anybody who wants to criticize him, criticize anything he did, they can take it up with me."
Milroe will be back in Tuscaloosa next season. Arnold's future is still undecided. One thing is for sure, Alabama isn't going anywhere anytime soon. With the new rules, college football is more competitive than ever before. The Crimson Tide is absolutely still a player in the national scene, and this season was a strong reminder of that.
