Urban Meyer delivers blunt verdict on Alabama after Florida State loss

While many in college football will defend Alabama's Week 1 performance against Alabama by noting that it's only one game, Urban Meyer isn't among them. The former Florida and Ohio State coach made clear that he was very disturbed by the Crimson Tide's performance and that Kalen DeBoer may need to resort to drastic measures to get his team back on track. Meyer made his impressions clear on The Triple Option podcast.

Meyer speaks out

We're at an inflection point in my mind for Alabama. I went back... and I watched some snaps, very un-Alabama-esque. And I'm not talking about strategy. That has nothing to do with this. Think about what Mark just said... 11 guys weren't running to the ball. They're not coming screaming off the line of scrimmage. They're not hitting you square in the jug on defense.... So I would have said something like, 'I'm going to rip this team apart, bit by bit, and we're going to put this thing back together.' Because I think they're at that point.
Urban Meyer

Issues for the Tide

Meyer's points were certainly borne out by Alabama's performance in their 31-17 loss to Florida State. Florida State outrushed Alabama 230-87. Additionally, Florida State was 7 for 14 on third and fourth down conversions, while Alabama was 8 for 22. Furthermore, Florida State had seven tackles for loss in the game, while Alabama posted only three.

Between the talent that DeBoer inherited from Nick Saban and the additional players he recruited, there's more ammunition for suggesting that the issues at Alabama now are cultural and not based around talent. Alabama was outrushed by its opponent six times in DeBoer's first season and lost three times as a double-digit favorite. The Tide lost only twice as a double digit favorite between 2007 and 2023.

Meyer went on to clarify that Alabama "better have some grown ass men in that locker room." He further indicated, "I don't say they're done, but they're close to done." It's a very different outlook than most former coaches would described after Week 1.