When asked whether this Alabama needed to get to the Bye week, defensive back Malachi Moore answered with an emphatic “yes.”
But what may have been viewed as a blessing could morph into a curse for this Crimson Tide team, who will be preparing for LSU next Saturday in a game with major SEC West division implications.
In years past, opposing teams feared giving Nick Saban extra time to prepare whether it was free weeks like this before playing the Tigers or the gap between the BCS National Championship Games. However, the 2023 version of Alabama is far different from years past.
Although the dominant defense is largely there, Alabama has gotten into a bad habit of starting off games slow.
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Over the course of the past four games, the Alabama offense has begun with a three-and-out on each of its first possessions and has scored just 19 total first-half points. The second halfves have been night and day as the Crimson Tide has put up 63 points over that same stretch but that’s simply not the way anyone wants to play on Saturdays, especially Nick Saban.
And if Alabama continues its ways of sleepwalking through the first two-quarters of play, it’ll be in for a rude awakening because mustering up a comeback against this LSU team could prove difficult.
For starters, Brian Kelly is already coming off a win over Saban and Alabama from a year ago, and unlike the Tennessee offense which returned depleted from the NFL Draft this season, the Tigers still have its top player back in quarterback Jayden Daniels.
Daniels also happens to be playing the best football of his career at the right time as he is responsible for 30 total touchdowns on the year and a second win over Alabama could punch his ticket to New York this winter. The offense has also scored over thirty points in seven of its eight games this season with its only outing under the benchmark coming during the Week 1 loss to Florida State.
Taking full advantage of the Bye Week is a must when facing this level of offensive firepower, but even dating back to last year Alabama proved it wasn’t capable of it.
The Crimson Tide offense came out completely flat against the Tigers with Bryce Young playing one of the worst games of his career at Alabama and the defense appearing to be woefully unprepared for the attack of Daniels.
So far this Alabama team hasn’t proved that it is able to play a full four quarters for even one week, so why would it start now?
Maybe the Bye Week turns out to be all the team needed to get things straight and become what it needs to be, but the previous eight games haven’t proven that one bit which is why Alabama will surely be upset alert once again next Saturday.
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
