Alabama Win Typical, But Not Normal On Day Filled With Mixed Emotions

From the anniversary of Sept. 11 to Bear Bryant's birthday, fans wanted to embrace the return of the Crimson Tide, but couldn't fully do so in half-full stadium.

Christopher Walsh | Sep 11, 2021

It was a win.

Maybe not the kind anyone really brags about, but a win nonetheless. Alabama didn't exactly play well, and the coaching staff will certainly have a lot of teaching points as the Crimson Tide jumps into Southeastern Conference play next week.

You take them and move on, mixed emotions and all.

There were a lot of them swirling about on Saturday and on many different levels.

This was Alabama's home opener, when the gates at Bryant-Denny Stadium were fully open for the first time in two years after attendance was severely limited last season due to the coronavirus pandemic.

It was supposed to be a day that we took a big step toward normal. Only we're obviously just not there yet. Too many funerals, and too much ongoing anxiety made that impossible.

It's not a question of whether everyone wanted to embrace returning (although many students did). Fans, bars, even this website count down the days until the football season begins every year.

However, the reality stood out.

The television cameras didn't show it much, but Bryant-Denny Stadium was a little over half-full, maybe 60 percent of capacity for the typical 48-14 victory.

The announcers and broadcasters talked a lot about it being an electric atmosphere and how nice it was to have fans back.

Normal? No. Not by a long shot.

Part of that was obviously due to the home team playing Mercer, the kind of team the fan base would have a tough time getting excited about under any circumstance.

The Bears play in the Southern Conference, in the Football Championship Subdivision. This was the fourth time they've played the Crimson Tide over the years and had yet to score a single point.

It's also the kind of opponent that Alabama didn't face last year while playing a Southeastern Conference-only schedule.

Saban has long said he'd like to have more conference games, and there aren't too many teams lining up to get pounded by the Crimson Tide, so it is what it is.

Nevertheless, with Alabama already having enjoyed a dominating win against No. 14 Miami last week, 44-13, it felt like a Broadway show holding a dress rehearsal after it opened.

The coach was left trying to make the best of the situation, and so were we. But it's understandable if such a victory wasn't quite what everyone hoped.

"Proud of our players for the way they played some of the time," Saban said. "We probably didn’t play to the standard that we like."

In the broader sense, this was also September 11, and there isn't a person in the country who doesn't know what that means. We all will never forget where we were 20 years ago, and even after two decades we're still dealing with the ramifications.

However, there are now students at Alabama who weren't alive when it happened, along with a generation that has no idea what life was like before the World Trade Center attack.

In terms of college football, September 11 was the Alabama-Penn State home-and-home series, which Saban had meant to be a tip of the hat toward Joe Paterno.

In a lovely moment, Bobby Bowden was on the field prior to the 2010 meeting at Bryant-Denny Stadium, giving fans a picture they'll never forget.

A year later, Alabama handed Paterno his final loss on this date. The legendary coach wound up resigning due a horrific scandal.

Also, today was Paul W. "Bear" Bryant's birthday. He was born on this date in 1913.

Then there's the elephant in the stadium, fans on top of one another and not wearing masks — although this was anything but unique to Alabama. One can't help but wonder about the potential ramifications, just to watch a game or feel a little more normal.

It may not even be someone in attendance, but an unaware friend or relative at home who has no idea that they're about to become the end of a contract-tracing line.

It's with this backdrop that Alabama returned home.

The Crimson Tide didn't practice well this week, which Saban made clear more than once, and the offense came out sloppy.

"We didn't have enough juice," right tackle Chris Owens said.

"If it stinks, it stinks," Saban said about the offense early on, and then listed a bunch of reasons why.

The defense was without both starting cornerbacks, as neither Josh Jobe or Jalyn Armour-Davis was in uniform, and linebacker Ryan Anderson Jr. left the game with an apparent knee injury. Alabama gave up 35 yards in the first half, but two touchdowns later on while playing a lot of younger players.

However, it took a special-teams play to get the Crimson Tide going, a blocked punt by Chris Braswell when the defender seemed to freeze. Jase McClellan subsequently scored a 33-yard touchdown on the return, and went on to add a couple more on offense.

That's probably the message that needs to be emphasized, especially on a day like this one — and not because a top-five team suffered an upset — just keep going.

Last year's team found a way. It probably dealt with the pandemic better than any other program, and subsequently won the national title.

It adjusted. It adapted. It found the necessary focus it needed and got the job done.

This team has to learn that all on its own.

"Try and keep your focus on the things that matter," linebacker Christian Harris said.

Sometimes the small steps are just as important as the big ones.

Christopher Walsh's column appears regularly on BamaCentral. This story will be updated following postgame press conference.

Published Sep 11, 2021

CHRISTOPHER WALSH

Christopher Walsh is the founder and publisher of BamaCentral, which first published in 2018. He's covered the Crimson Tide since 2004, and is the author of 26 books including Decade of Dominance, 100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die, Nick Saban vs. College Football, and Bama Dynasty: The Crimson Tide's Road to College Football Immortality. He's an eight-time honoree of Football Writers Association of America awards and three-time winner of the Herby Kirby Memorial Award, the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s highest writing honor for story of the year. In 2022, he was named one of the 50 Legends of the ASWA. Previous beats include the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, along with Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks. Originally from Minnesota and a graduate of the University of New Hampshire, he currently resides in Tuscaloosa.