He has had a lot of great moments as head coach of Alabama football, but this has been Nick Saban’s best teaching job with a young group.
Alabama endured offseason criticism and a loss to Texas, but it finds itself in the driver’s seat for a Southeastern Conference Championship opportunity. The Crimson Tide did not have a good first half versus Tennessee, but it found a way to refocus and punish the Volunteers for a 34-20 victory. Alabama shut out the Vols in the second half — forcing a fumble, pressuring Joe Milton, and scoring 27 unanswered points on offense. The Tide returned to the winner’s side of the rivalry and is now resting on its bye week. Alabama has a significant matchup next week in the SEC West as the LSU Tigers come to Bryant-Denny Stadium.
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The Alabama-LSU game has been important in the Saban era for three reasons: SEC Championship implications, national championship implications, and recruiting. Coach Saban has been able to go into Louisiana and pull any player he wants.
After beating the Tide last year, Brian Kelly believes he can keep the best talent in-state for Louisiana.
John Parker Wilson, a former Alabama quarterback, was concerned in the first half against Tennessee but was proud of how his Alma mater pulled out a victory. He was on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning via WJOX 94.5 FM in Birmingham, Ala.
Wilson said was not expecting Alabama to come out dominant in the second half against the Vols.
“We’ve seen that pretty frequently from Alabama this season with a tale of two halves,” Wilson said.
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Alabama did not have much energy in the first half. Tennessee’s offense did what it wanted, and the Tide’s offense struggled to establish anything. The Volunteers took a 20-7 lead into halftime, but Saban had a message for his team that shifted momentum.
“I felt like we kind of came out playing timid, playing shy,” Wilson said. “Then for whatever reason, Jalen gets us going in the second half and then it was off to the races where we just kind of woke up and got going. Just played better, more efficient football.”
Wilson is correct in his observation.
Tommy Rees’ play-calling was better in the second half. Alabama dove into the playbook of Lane Kiffin, Steve Sarkisian, and Michael Locksley — pulling out motions, misdirections, pop passes, and jet sweeps. Jalen Milroe got comfortable on deep ball routes, finding Isaiah Bond for a 46-yard touchdown, and short passes. The Tide even had success running the football.
Alabama is fine-tuning different things on its bye week, but Wilson wants it to focus on the small aspects.
“When Alabama struggles, it’s not glaring issues,” he said. “Earlier in the season, we were turning the ball over. We are getting better with penalties, We are getting more disciplined on offense. To me, it is about execution because even when we’re not being productive or successful, it’s just the little things that are just throwing us off slightly.”
If the little things are corrected, Wilson is very excited about what this Alabama team can do.
“This team can play with anybody when we are good,” he said. “We’ve got flashes. We have shown that we can be dominant. We can go out and dictate what we are doing to another team.”
The College Football Playoff Committee wants to see an elite Tide team. It wants to see if Alabama is truly one of the best four teams in the nation. Coach Saban is waiting for a complete performance from his team. It may happen against LSU next week.
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Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
