Has the Bama dynasty ever been this vulnerable under Saban?
Think back to November. They basically had a massacre of injuries to their LB core and that was the first time I noticed the sports media start to be critical of Bama's dominance. Then Auburn whacked them hard in Jordan-Hare. They got their sweet revenge against Clemson but then needed a miracle heave in overtime by a true freshman backup QB to beat the real SEC champions in the NC. Keep in mind Saban not only was undefeated against former assistants like Kirby Smart but had won every game by at least two touchdowns before then. Then they lose most of their defense including all of their elite secondary. Not to mention they only finished #5 in 247 sports recruiting class rankings. Mind you, I still think this year they are heading to the Playoff, but I'm not seeing this as vintage Bama dynasty anymore and can definitely bleed now. What say you?
August 17th, 2018 at 2:43 PM ^
They had major OL problems, from what I recall. Surely that gets better in year 3? I just think Petrino is good for 21+ if things are functioning decently.
August 17th, 2018 at 2:59 PM ^
Better? Maybe. Better enough to deal with Alabama's perpetually dominant DLs in their first game? Nope. They scored a lot last year because they had Lamar Jackson, but without him they're dead in the water. How vital was he? Last year Jackson rushed for 1601 yards. The rest of the team, combined for the season, rushed for 1496 (the most prolific was Malik Williams, with 531). Jackson, of course, also passed for 3660 yards.
Not to mention, the Louisville defense was pretty bad, giving up an average of 27.4 points per game. They gave up 47 to Clemson, 39 to NC State, 42 to Wake Forest, and 45 to Boston College.
They're going to get crushed. Bama might look a little sluggish in the first half, as they often have in early games like this, but by the middle of the 3rd quarter the doors will be blown off.
August 17th, 2018 at 4:05 PM ^
I honestly don't have much in response to that. I was going by some vague Petrino offense magic, but it sounds like you're right.
August 17th, 2018 at 2:02 PM ^
They'll be vulnerable to the same extent that Charbonnet will be a Viper.
August 17th, 2018 at 2:25 PM ^
Have you seen their schedule this year?
This is a Louisville team that just lost Lamar Jackson. They may not play a ranked team until November. They could very easily go 12-0 this year. Wake me when they are an underdog to literally a single team on their schedule, in any year.
Edit: Didn't mean for this to be a specific reply to you, just a comment on the OP.
August 17th, 2018 at 2:42 PM ^
We should rename all positions after vicious snake species. Cobras, mambas, pythons, etc...
Except kickers. Kickers will be referred to as garter snakes. Hiss
August 17th, 2018 at 3:45 PM ^
Holder = trouser snake
August 17th, 2018 at 2:15 PM ^
Saban reloads with players and coaches. I do think that Georgia and maybe Florida getting better may pose a challenge but that was not a big issue when Meyer was at Florida and LSU was successful.
August 17th, 2018 at 2:15 PM ^
Bama is loaded, I freaking love our team, we have maybe 4 players who could start for Bama.
August 17th, 2018 at 2:30 PM ^
4? Defense, Gary, lavert, bush, maybe khaleke? offense, maybe shea, gentry, dpj, black, ruiz or bredeson? im not sure bama's players exact but all those guys listed very good players, very high recruits, that's possibly 10 guys.
August 17th, 2018 at 2:39 PM ^
Interesting concept.....who could start at Bama? Without taking a detailed look at their roster, I'd go with:
Gary
Bush (although Bama always has LB's)
Bredeson
Hill or Long (surely one of them could start!)
Black or DPJ (see above)
It's possible that Patterson is more polished than either QB fighting for the job at Bama. Yes, Hurts is 26-2 as a starter and Tua won the NC game....but it isn't necessarily the QB who wins all of those games for Bama. We still need to see what Shea can do.
August 17th, 2018 at 3:32 PM ^
The responses to this are perplexing. Bredeson promises to be good, and I like Shea, but... I don't think there's a single player on our offense (which, remember, was AWFUL last year) that could start for Bama to begin the season. I have high hopes for our receivers, too, but they need to prove it on the field.
Defense is a different story. A cursory glance at some Bama chatter suggests that they're nervous about their corner situation, not a problem we have; one or both of Long and Hill could probably get a nod there. Gary would seem to be a no-brainer, and perhaps Winovich and Bush, too, though I don't know the Bama roster situation.
But it makes sense, since our defense has been nearly the equal of Bama's over the last two seasons. Brown is a good schematic coach, but so is Saban--we have great players. It's possible that four is too low a number, but only because our defense is so talented.
August 17th, 2018 at 4:48 PM ^
I would say our TEs and that's about it. Shea and Tua would be a good competition though. Imagine what Shea could do behind that OL
August 17th, 2018 at 2:26 PM ^
Alabama's dynasty will be secure for quite some time for the following reasons.
1) Talent disparity. If you have the better talent then you will win the bulk of your games in college football. This is much of the reason Michigan has the best winning percentage and overall victory lead. A program like Rutgers may have been around longer but Michigan has had the better talent throughout the years.
2) Clever scheduling. Alabama always schedules a bye or a cupcake right before a tough test. This effectively gives them two weeks preparation for the LSUs and the Auburns of the world. They are also aided by the fact that the SEC only plays eight game schedules whereas the Big 10 plays nine game conference schedules. This allows Alabama to work in those weeks off prior to big matchups.
3) No road games. The last time Alabama played a true road game against a traditional powerhouse team out of conference was 2011! You read that right; seven years ago. Alabama will play difficult games out of conference but it is always in neutral territory (IE: Dallas, TX against Michigan).
4) Alabama is offered advantages that other teams are not. They won the National Championship last year despite not winning their conference. A previous national championship was won against LSU despite losing to LSU in the regular season. This same opportunity was not offered to #2 Michigan in 2006 after losing to OSU on the road by three points. So Alabama has won two of their five national championships without winning their conference. I don't know of any other team in the modern era that has won a single national championship without winning their conference let alone two.
Remember Nick Saban was a failed NFL coach and a middling Big 10 coach. It was only after he started gain advantages that weren't available to him in those leagues that he started rising to the top of his profession. Alabama's AD and the SEC work hard to keep them on top. Our athletic director does a good job but we have higher standards at Michigan and the Big 10 commissioner is not working to give its conference a competitive advantage.
Look at it another way; do you think the SEC was going crazy over Harbaugh's camps and trips for no good reason? They realized quickly that if he were to continue this effort it would give Michigan an advantage in the recruiting battle. So the SEC furiously petitioned the NCAA and effectively worked to put an end to most of it. We have a brilliant coach.
August 17th, 2018 at 2:51 PM ^
It's hard to complain about Bama's OOC scheduling (regardless of where the game is played). In recent years, they've played Penn State (2010 and 2011), Michigan (2012), Virginia Tech (2013), West Virginia (2014), Wisconsin (2015), USC (2016) , Florida State (2017), Louisville (this year). It's not like they're really ducking anybody.
August 17th, 2018 at 4:28 PM ^
They most certainly are ducking quality teams in a road atmosphere.
August 17th, 2018 at 2:30 PM ^
I don't think it's vulnerable at all, unless I am missing something? They are 2 to 3 deep with 4 and 5 stars at every position. They are two deep at QB with championship level QB's the most important position. In my opinion the SEC overall has a much larger gap in quality from top to bottom then in previous years which makes things easier for them. The only team that should worry Saban is Georgia which is not in its division, and Ill take them 3 out 4 times against them every year. Im not a bama fan at all, but that guy saban has built something that is almost unbeatable to a point where your shocked if they are not in the playoff its just expected.
August 17th, 2018 at 2:31 PM ^
Saban is the best cheater ever to coach a football team.
August 17th, 2018 at 2:32 PM ^
Alabama still dominates, but I think they are returning to earth a bit since they put a stop to those bogus 'grayshirts' and injury redshirts. Haven't seen a chart on that in a while, but Brian used to track it and Alabama was exorbitantly ahead of everyone in their use. Of course, 'coming back to earth' is still damn good.
August 17th, 2018 at 2:34 PM ^
Has the defending national champion, winner of 5 in the last 8 years, stocked with talent from multiple consecutive #1 overall recruiting classes plus star transfers, opening the season with their best QB situation of the Nick Saban era, ever been this vulnerable?
Probably.
August 17th, 2018 at 2:38 PM ^
They won a national championship with a true freshman QB last year and despite losing to their rival Auburn. I don't think Saban is sweating.
Competition is the SEC East is picking up with Georgia, but the SEC West is getting worse. LSU and Ole Miss are running their programs with interim, turned permanent head coaches. That usually does not turn out well (Carr and Dabo Swinney are obvious exceptions). Texas A&M, Arkansas, and Miss St. are all going through coaching transitions.
And nationally, Urban Meyer and OSU's reputation have been tarnished with the current domestic violence case and lying at Media Days. The Florida schools are extremely weak with both going through coaching transitions. USC can't get out of their own way. Texas is still rebuilding. Who is really threatening Alabama nationally?
August 17th, 2018 at 2:43 PM ^
This is going to be Alabama's best offense, bub.
Defense will still be great.
Wake me when they dont make the playoff...
August 17th, 2018 at 3:05 PM ^
Without college football dominance the state of Alabama can return to being good at nothing again.
August 17th, 2018 at 3:05 PM ^
If anything they are as strong as ever .
August 17th, 2018 at 3:16 PM ^
Some uncomfortable facts:
1. Bama doubtlessly cheats, but not particularly more or better than the teams around them. Players go to Bama because, all things being equal, they expect to play for and win national titles and to go to the NFL. And they do.
If someone were to snap their fingers tomorrow and institute a completely level playing field for all power 5 schools, Bama would still get whomever they want every year, because the players know they'll be supported by their fans, well-trained by their coach, victorious in the postseason, and well-paid in the NFL.
2. The grayshirt/medical redshirt thing was an issue, but that's not the reason Bama is so much better. It had receded from view as more programs operate in similar ways, and we need look no further than our own team to see what heavy Bama-like roster turnover does. If they had any advantage it's not there anymore.
3. Bama does have get decent scheduling breaks on occasion, but the only real advantage they have over B1G schools is that SEC teams typically schedule a body bag game the week before Thanksgiving rivalries are played. The B1G is free to do this, but chooses not to because we like our body bag games early in the season. I guarantee you that if we played, say, EMU the week before Thanksgiving, when the extra reps to backups tell us nothing new and we're just waiting for OSU, we'd be unenthused.
Bama doesn't play road non-conference games, and that's cheesy, but few teams are more willing to go out and play big-name opponents at neutral sites than them. They have a big opener virtually every year, and they invariably win. Then they have to negotiate the SEC west, which is weak this year, but still often a minefield. It's not their fault that their consecutive road trips to Tennessee and LSU (followed by a home trap game against Mississippi State, were Mississippi State actually good enough) are against teams that aren't expected to be good this year. Those are two of the hardest environments in the country when the teams are good.
4. Nick Saban is really, really good at his job. Yes, it's easier when you have good players, but good players don't want to play for a bad coach. Even teams loaded with talent can have down years or get outsmarted, but Saban doesn't, and when there's a strategy that causes problems for him, he adopts it and uses it against everyone else.
I loathe Alabama. I want them to lose. They cheat and they get away with it, and it stinks that northern schools get scrutiny while SEC big-shots get free passes on scandal.
But they are also good, and for good reasons.
August 17th, 2018 at 3:31 PM ^
Easy fix. Strait cash Homey. If Saban is so great what happened at State? Not enough bag men.
August 17th, 2018 at 3:43 PM ^
Uh, did you see the team they fielded in the 2nd half of the national championship? 5* true freshmen quarterback comes in to win the game, 3x5* true freshmen wrs played and caught passes, 5* true freshmen rb (Najee Harris) was looking like maybe the best back on the field by the end of the game, and when their best olinemen, their senior LT, went down with an injury, a 5* true freshmen LT came in without a noticeable drop off. Maybe the D is reloading a little, but I think Saban has more than proved that he’ll have the D ready, and that offense is gonna be lethal. I think the better question is, will they lose a game over the next 2 seasons.
August 17th, 2018 at 3:44 PM ^
That team's domination isn't ending anytime soon, unfortunately. That football program is more corrupt than OSU's.
August 17th, 2018 at 3:49 PM ^
Does not matter. This is our year.
August 17th, 2018 at 4:15 PM ^
REALLY BAD TAKE-GIVER SAYS WHAT?
August 17th, 2018 at 4:23 PM ^
Sure. When you finally get the most dynamic QB they have had in recent history they are sure vulnerable..............
They are also adding 600 million to their facilities.
https://www.si.com/college-football/2018/08/17/alabama-bryant-denny-stadium-coleman-coliseum-renovitions-10-years-600-million
August 17th, 2018 at 4:59 PM ^
Dude, they have had the #1 class for like ever. They just won the National title last season. I think they are okay.
August 17th, 2018 at 5:02 PM ^
Should probably just skip past any posts that end with, “what say you?”
August 17th, 2018 at 5:04 PM ^
I view Saban/Bama in the same way I view Wooden/UCLA. In the history books the records will look awesome, however, true sports fans will also be aware of the cheating and therefore won't give them full credit for their "success".
August 17th, 2018 at 5:29 PM ^
I am pretty sure Alabama is still far better at making others bleed....
I would totally like to be this kind of "vulnerable".
August 17th, 2018 at 5:32 PM ^
i don't think i would worry about bama very much right now.
August 17th, 2018 at 7:18 PM ^
We should all be scared - They may actually have a QB who can light it up. Remember at the end of the game last year the offense had no less than 5 freshman on the offensive sode of the ball playing on the final drive. They are loaded on both sides of the ball
August 17th, 2018 at 9:33 PM ^
Sad thing is, Alabama fans are a 2 loss season away from exploding.
August 18th, 2018 at 2:12 PM ^
This is the first time they've had a game changer at QB under Saban. If anything, they are more dangerous now than ever. They won all those titles with QB's who weren't more than game managers except for McCarron (he deserves more credit, he was pretty good) and now they have a star in the making at QB to go along with the studs that litter the rest of their roster.
Going out on a huuuuge limb here but they're winning it all again this year.