Another Road Game, Another Failure of Execution for Alabama

The effort was there, but with help from penalties and other mental miscues, Crimson Tide drops second road game of the season.

Edwin Stanton | Nov 6, 2022

BATON ROUGE, La. — Does any team fear Alabama anymore?

According to Mike Leach, Mississippi State is afraid of the Alabama jersey.

Anyone else? It doesn’t look like it, not after LSU won 32-31 in overtime Saturday. It’s only the second time since 2010 Alabama has two regular-season losses.

Over the past decade, Alabama teams walked into an opponent’s house and had their way for four quarters. The lack of confidence from opposing teams was almost palpable.

This season, Alabama is the team that looks lost and out of sorts. Particularly on the road. Texas didn’t back down against Alabama. Neither did Arkansas. The nation saw what happened at Tennessee.

And Saturday against LSU? The Tigers were the aggressor, and while it wasn’t a dominant performance, LSU didn’t shy away from the challenge of playing a Nick Saban-coached Crimson Tide.

“It was a tough loss, and nobody feels worse about it than the players,” Saban said. “They work their tail off, but they just came up a little bit short. You have to be successful on the road if you want to win the (SEC) West. Our (division) has some really good teams.”

Linebacker Will Anderson stepped to the podium following the loss and delivered a heart-felt message regarding the team’s work ethic.

“Monday through Friday we work our ass off. There is no bull----, all the guys are locked in,” Anderson said. “Effort is not the issue. It’s just mental. I’m proud of those guys and I wouldn’t want to go to war with anybody else but those guys.”

It should also be noted, LSU is the one team that hasn’t really flinched when facing Alabama in the Saban era. Although Alabama’s bested the Tigers most of the time (12-4 record), the games have usually been competitive.

The effort may be there—as Saban and Anderson assured it was—but end results for road games have been lackluster. The play-calling Saturday was pedestrian, the execution was hit-and-miss, Bryce Young and receivers weren’t on the same page, and there was no discipline—Alabama was flagged for nine penalties, which makes 51 penalties for the Crimson Tide in road games this season.

It wasn’t the type of result folks have come to expect from an Alabama team fighting for its SEC and playoff future. In years past, a regular-season loss served as a wake-up call, and Alabama responded in dominating fashion.

Instead, LSU responded with the two-point conversion walk-off.

“It comes down to execution,” Saban said. “If you don’t, you pay for it against good teams, and that’s what happened tonight.”

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