Takeaways from Alabama Football's Embarrassing Early-Season Loss to Texas
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — It's not every day that the Alabama Crimson Tide loses at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
On Saturday night, the Crimson Tide simply looked like the worse team in its 34-24 loss to No. 11 Texas. It was the first double-digit home loss for Alabama under Nick Saban — who has been leading the program since 2007.
So — what went wrong?
Is the Historical Run Coming to an End?
Prepare yourself to hear plenty of national writers and commentators declaring the end of the Alabama dynasty this week. There have been many instances of Saban and the Crimson Tide being counted out — but after the Longhorns took over the playing field, it may actually finally be happening.
Saturday night wasn't a normal loss. There was no Kick Six, no game-winning field goal — Texas just imposed its will on Alabama in the second half. It used to take perfection to take down the Crimson Tide — especially at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The Longhorns were nowhere near perfect in the first half but capitalized down the stretch. Two quarters of good football wasn't enough to beat Alabama in the past — Saturday night it was.
And this didn't happen overnight. Alabama used to increase its level of play in big games. Over the last two years — and Saturday — the Crimson Tide has failed to play to the standard in important games, with the exception being the 2021 SEC Championship win over Georgia.
Penalties, mental errors and turnovers were a rarity years ago — now it's the regular. Alabama can still be a competitor in the SEC. But the Crimson Tide isn't the force in college football that it used to be.
QB Situation Back to Square One
Jalen Milroe was the talk of the Crimson Tide's Week 1 victory over Middle Tennessee — and rightfully so.
All of that progress came to an abrupt stop on Saturday night. All of Milroe's struggles from last year's appearances resurfaced. He threw two bad interceptions — and probably should have ended up with a few more.
It definitely wasn't all his fault, but Milroe showed his inability to perform under pressure again in his third career start.
Nick Saban said he considered replacing Milroe during the game but eventually decided against it. There's no reason to believe things would have been any different with Tyler Buchner or Ty Simpson in the game — but when does one of them get a chance?
Bryce Young's heroics led Alabama to 11 wins in 2022-23. Without him, two losses almost seems like the ceiling in 2023-24.
Where's the Accountability?
All offseason, the Crimson Tide talked about how it was going to dominate teams in the trenches, playing a hard-nosed style of football.
You've got to actually walk the walk.
Alabama got bullied by Texas on the offensive and defensive front. It seemed like every time Jase McClellan or Roydell Williams got the ball, they were immediately swallowed up in the backfield. The Crimson Tide's giant offensive line allowed Milroe to get sacked five times.
On the defensive side, Alabama never really came close to generating any sort of pressure against the Longhorns' front. It doesn't help when you're only sending three defensive tackles at the quarterback. If you have Dallas Turner and Chris Braswell, why aren't you using them? When rushing only three still doesn't help you in the secondary, why continue to do it?
Alabama said it wanted to be different this year in terms of physicality and toughness. It didn't appear that way on Saturday night in its biggest game of the year.
Losing the Turnover Battle
Remember when the Crimson Tide used to score touchdowns on defense? Well now, Alabama struggles to even turn opposing teams over. Which, if you don't turn the ball over yourself, isn't the end of the world.
But when your quarterback is struggling to protect the football, you have to make up for it on the defensive end. The Crimson Tide desperately needed to force a couple of turnovers to win last night's game — it had two chances on fumbles but didn't recover either of them.
Alabama has been emphasizing forcing turnovers for two seasons now. It kind of goes hand-in-hand with pressure, though. It's very unlikely that a quarterback like Quinn Ewers is going to force throws when he is completely comfortable in the pocket.
Final Thoughts
Saturday night was an ugly look for the Crimson Tide program. In a game with the hype and buildup that Saturday's had, you would think Alabama would have been ready to go. That's the way it used to be. Nick Saban and his staff used to impose their will over opposing teams on the big stage.
However, on Saturday night, the Crimson Tide looked unprepared — which is becoming the regular for Alabama in its most crucial games on the schedule.
See Also:
Is Alabama Football Slipping From Standard It Created for Itself?
Alabama Fails to Correct Painful Mistakes from Last Season in Loss to Texas
Texas Executed in the Fourth Quarter, While Alabama Unraveled
