Who's Back as a Legitimate CFP Contender? That Would be Alabama

The Crimson Tide 26-20 victory at Texas A&M was anything but pretty, yet another Nick Saban team is finding a way to be the title picture.

Welcome back Alabama.

It’s not that the Crimson Tide went anywhere per se, yet for a brief time period it wasn’t in the college football spotlight like usual. That’s what happens when you lose a high-profile Week 2 showdown, endure a quarterback competition that goes into the regular season, have new coordinators and young players in key places, and an offensive line that has struggled to gel. 

No one's used to seeing a Nick Saban team that needed time to establish itself, at least not like this, at Alabama. 

So of course, from Sept. 9 to Oct. 7, the time period between losing to Texas and beating Texas A&M, the critics, the naysayers, and the ignorant, with emphasis on the latter, were quick to write off the Crimson Tide even though the season was still in its infancy stages. They were all silenced Saturday afternoon along with the 108,101 fans at Kyle Field, one of the toughest venues to visit in sports.

You’d think in the 17th year of Saban masterfully leading Alabama football that more people would know better, but they didn’t. Part of that was the program has had so much success they couldn't help themselves. Also, we still don’t know how good this team may be. The coach himself joked after the 26-20 victory that "This might be a record game for me in terms of messing up and still winning,” and everyone watching between College Station and Tuscaloosa could only nod their heads. 

Overall, the defense has been pretty great. Period. Lane Kiffin's offense didn't do much against it a couple of weeks ago, and Jimbo Fisher had brought in Bobby Petrino to call plays for a veteran offense, only to see a familiar result (yes, second-string quarterback Max Johnson took the snaps, but at age 22 the former LSU player has had a lot of playing time).

Similarly, the Crimson Tide's special teams have been mostly outstanding and have begun blocking kicks and punts on a pretty regular basis. However, it is October, so both units are dealing with some key injuries, and Alabama has two more games to get through before enjoying some down time on the bye week. 

Naturally, the second-guessing has been all about the offense, which is still coming together, especially the line. Different players have stepped up at various times, however that's not unique to just those in the trenches. For example, senior Jermaine Burton's 197 receiving yards were obviously a season high for the Crimson Tide, but he was also the sixth different player to lead the offense in receiving yards in a game this season. 

While the optimist would say it all makes things harder on the opposing defense, the pessimist could declare it means the Crimson Tide offense still doesn't have an identity. Maybe so, expect that Alabama keeps finding ways to win, which is what Saban has obviously decided to latch on to. 

Winning back-to-back games at Mississippi State (cowbells) and Texas A&M (crazy, swaying crowd) would boost any team’s confidence, and while neither victory could be considered truly complete, we can at least proclaim that yes, Alabama, at the midway point of the 2023 season, is a serious, and legitimate challenger for both the conference and national titles.

Is it the favorite? No. But a week into October it doesn't need to be. 

Is there a favorite? Yes. Georgia has earned that status regardless of this year's lackluster schedule. Obviously, Alabama's win in College Station puts the two league powers on yet another collision course, with another possible meeting in Atlanta in two months. However that’s way down the line. 

October is when the contenders really start to separate themselves, and the pretenders are often exposed and fall by the wayside. It often looks like a version of survivor, or demolition derby in this division, while in reality it’s the teams that are continue to improve that stand out and succeed in the end.

That may be the biggest point of optimism with this Crimson Tide team, which knows it can’t take anything for granted. It still has to get better. A lot better. The thing is, though, it obviously can. And if it does …

"I think we can have a really, really good team,” Saban said. “I just think self-inflicted wounds are something we can resolve, and we certainly need to do that to be able to compete at a high level."

In addition to the way Alabama’s defense nearly shut out the Aggies in the second half, yielding only a field goal, this team scrapped and found a way when so many things went wrong. 

The 14 penalties were ridiculous, with more than half of them being pre-snap mistakes that should almost never happen, and yes, another touchdown was nullified by a flag. The sacks allowed and 23 rushing yards were also horrendous, although give some credit to the Aggies for a well-devised plan and their terrific defensive line. Although Alabama had threatened to take control in the first half, it lost its composure, let the crowd back into the game and put itself in a hole. Consequently, the Crimson Tide was more than stuck in the mud at halftime, down 17-10.

The run, run-again, run-some-more, and throw-deep offense had to adjust against the Aggies and it did. Texas A&M wanted to make quarterback Jalen Milroe beat it in the air, and he answered by topping 300 yards in front of his home-state crowd. It wasn’t just with the long ball, he was proficient with the short- and immediate-level throws as well during the second half when he had a little more time, a clear sign of improvement. 

Mix that in with the defense, and one can see why Saban was smiling so much on his way out the door. Moreover, freshman safety Caleb Downs might have saved the season with his timely interception, linebacker Chris Braswell’s blocked field goal should have resulted in a touchdown, and when it got Texas A&M backed up against its own end zone the Crimson Tide came through with the safety.

We all know that formula: Play great defense and do enough on offense to notch another victory. Both Alabama, and Saban, have won a lot of games that way. Cut the sloppy mistakes and undisciplined play as well, and there's the potential for something special to happen.  

So rough win? Absolutely. But it was also a big win for a still-developing team, and put Alabama (5-1 overall, 3-0 SEC) back in the College Football Playoff picture.

A lot of things still have to go right for Alabama, however yes, the Crimson Tide is a contender. 

Christopher Walsh's column regularly appears on BamaCentral.com

Jalen Milroe Proves Alabama Can Win with Passing Game