Alabama Endures Shocking Crashing to Earth As CFP Berth Looks Unlikely

Kalen DeBoer is 5–2 for just the third time in his career, and the Crimson Tide need to win out to have a chance at the SEC title game or a playoff spot.

Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Nico Iamaleava runs the ball against the Alabama Crimson Tide. / Randy Sartin-Imagn Images

The goalposts had been toppled and the entirety of Neyland Stadium was wreathed in cigar smoke, which meant one thing: The Tennessee Volunteers had beaten the Alabama Crimson Tide again.

While that tumult was occurring outside in the aftermath of Tennessee's 24–17 win, Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer and several Crimson Tide players came into a small interview room under the stands in Knoxville, Tenn., and projected a calm resilience. Disappointed but undaunted. Everyone is still together. All goals remain attainable.

“There’s so much more football left,” quarterback Jalen Milroe said.

But a few minutes earlier, outside the Alabama locker room, body language told another story. With the team and coaches inside, a staffer pressed his forehead against the wall with his hands clasped above his head. If the wall weren’t there, he might have collapsed.

That was the portrait of the Tide’s distressing post–Nick Saban reality. They’re 5–2, and they aren’t used to it. Two losses by the Third Saturday in October hasn’t happened since Saban’s first season in 2007. And despite all the talk about every goal still remaining in front of them, the truth is this:

• Alabama has been pushed onto the College Football Playoff bubble.
• Alabama is unlikely to make the Southeastern Conference championship game.
• Alabama probably has to win out to make either of the two above goals reachable—and even then they might not be.

This is a blueblood program enduring an identity crisis. That might not be anyone’s fault.

It’s not DeBoer’s fault. Not the fault of the athletic director who hired him, Greg Byrne. Not the fault of the players. They’re probably all trying their best to come together and perform at peak capability. But monumental change is hard. It’s simply damn difficult to replace a legendary coach, a dominant personality and a monolithic program ethos in seamless fashion.

DeBoer is a huge winner himself—he’s only been 5–2 twice before as a head coach, in 2021 at Fresno State and ’22 at Washington. (Those teams ended up 9–3 and 11–2, respectively.) He didn’t get this job on a lark.

“This is not something I’m good at,” he said. 

DeBoer has only been 5–2 twice before in his coaching career. / Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The difference between the first 27 years of his coaching career and this one: DeBoer has never coached in the SEC. That’s something he’s going to hear again and again during this rocky transition period. Saban’s ability to dominate the best league in the country for a sustained period of time might have been his greatest accomplishment.

And now? Alabama is 2–2 in that league. Losing at Tennessee is not a great sin when that program is playing to its potential, which it is close to now. The original sin was losing to Vanderbilt, which compounds everything that has come afterward.

It has been a shocking deconstruction of the Tide since the giddy first half against the Georgia Bulldogs on Sept. 28. At halftime of that game, undefeated Alabama led the Dogs 30–7. Fourteen straight quarters of sub-Saban standard football has ensued.

Alabama held on (actually came back) to beat Georgia that night in Tuscaloosa. The next week, the Tide lost to Vanderbilt for the first time in 40 years, then barely squeaked by South Carolina and suffered an offensive collapse in the fourth quarter Saturday against Tennessee.

It’s been an abrupt crashing to earth after so many years of flying above the rest of college football. 

“We just can’t mesh right now, the offense and defense,” DeBoer said.

Indeed, a defense that had leaked badly in the second half against Georgia and throughout the game against Vandy and South Carolina threw a first-half shutout at Tennessee. But Alabama could mount only a 7–0 halftime lead, and its 17 total points were its fewest against an SEC opponent since 2017.

Star quarterback Milroe missed open receivers over and over while completing 25 of 45 passes for 239 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Milroe also was a limited running threat, with 14 carries for 11 yards. His pass efficiency rating of 98.6 was his lowest as a college starter, and it marked a fourth straight decline: from 225.7 against Wisconsin to 190.9 against Georgia to 188.9 against Vanderbilt to 142.9 against South Carolina to this mess of a game.

The passing game was incredibly dependent upon freshman wide receiver Ryan Williams. While an elite talent, asking a 17-year-old to carry everything was a bit much. Williams was targeted an astounding 19 times, coming up with eight catches for 73 yards and a touchdown. Several times, Milroe missed him in the open field.

Williams finished with 73 yards and a touchdown, but Milroe missed him in the open field multiple times. / Randy Sartin-Imagn Images

The running game was also largely ineffective, with 75 yards on 34 carries. Alabama’s longest run was for 11 yards, Milroe was sacked three times and he was under pressure much of the night. Part of that might have been due to not reading what was coming and adjusting plays or offensive-line protections.

“I’ve got to take full ownership of that,” Milroe said of the offense’s struggles in general. “When it comes to communication up front, communication to the guys around [me], I’ve got to do a better job.”

There are other areas of the Alabama operation that are not buttoned up, either. In both losses this season, Crimson Tide players have gotten personal fouls late in the game, displaying a startling lack of composure. 

Defensive back Malachi Moore had a temper tantrum, basically, in the final seconds against Vandy—something he apologized for after enduring a lot of criticism. And against Tennessee, receiver Kendrick Law was flagged on Alabama’s final possession for a confrontation with a Volunteer.

That forced Alabama into a fourth-and-22 play, which DeBoer elected to go for, despite having all three timeouts on the board and nearly two minutes remaining. The resulting play was a dump-off pass under heavy pressure that came up well short, facilitating a Tennessee field goal for the final score.

DeBoer was asked about the fourth-down decision not to punt afterward, but he was correct in pointing out that it wasn’t a game-deciding play. No matter what, Alabama needed a touchdown, and giving up a field goal wasn’t a disaster.

But this is the point where DeBoer now finds himself. He was second-guessed for his choice of T-shirt on the sideline earlier this season, and now a fourth-down decision that didn’t change the circumstances of the game was held up to scrutiny.

He’s finding out what it’s like to follow Nick Saban now. It’s hard as hell.