Before the 2024 college football season begins, Nick Saban has chosen Georgia And Texas to play in the SEC finals.
Saban, who retired in January after 17 seasons and six national championships at AlabamaHe now works for ESPN as a member of the “College GameDay” team. He attended SEC media days in July, where he made his conference championship prediction. And that immediately caught the attention of his former players.
“He always said, ‘Don’t let some guy who lives in your mom’s basement decide how you feel,'” the Alabama offensive lineman Tyler Booker said at the time with a hint of sarcasm. “I’m not going to let a guy who plays golf all day decide how I feel.”
“I don’t deal in hypothetical problems,” Booker later added.[Saban] taught me that, so you’ll be glad to hear me say it.”
While Booker’s quotes are fun and quickly went viral, this Alabama team still needs to improve a few things if it really wants to prove Saban wrong. New Look Crimson Tidecurrently coached by Kalen DeBoer, are coming off a 42-16 win over South Florida in which they scored 28 points in the final 10 minutes to win.
This week, No. 4 Alabama is looking to put that game behind it and look ahead to Saturday’s showdown with Wisconsin in Madison (12pm ET on FOX and the FOX Sports App).
“This isn’t a wake-up call or anything like that,” DeBoer told reporters after the USF game. “Nothing like that. Just continuing to raise the bar. I think last year’s game was a big game that pushed them last year, and maybe this year as well. That’s my hope.”
That’s the question. A year ago, after a disastrous home loss to Texas, Alabama traveled to Tampa to play South Florida. The Tide defeated The bulls 17-3, but the midfielder Jalen Milroe did not play after a shaky performance in a loss to the Longhorns. Instead, Saban opted to play quarterback Tyler Buchner and Ty Simpsonwho had difficulty in attacking.
Milroe learned from that experience and used it as positive motivation. He regained his starting job the following week and led Alabama to a win over then-No. 15 Ole Miss. The Tide went on to win the rest of their regular-season games (including upset victories over Tennessee, LSU and Auburn), beat No. 1 Georgia in the SEC finals and earned a spot in the College Football Playoff. Milroe became one of the hottest names in the sport and a Heisman Trophy candidate.
Milroe and the Tide are off to a 2-0 start this year. The Tide crushed Western Kentucky, 63-0, to open the season, but were exposed by USF in Week 2, despite winning. Alabama committed 13 penalties for 120 yards, surrendered the ball, and held a narrow 14-13 lead entering the fourth quarter before going on a scoring frenzy to end the game.
Give the offense credit for finishing strong, but that strategy might not work on Sept. 28 when No. 1 Georgia visits Tuscaloosa. Or later in the season when Alabama visits No. 7 Tennessee and No. 16 LSU, or when DeBoer’s team hosts No. 6 Missouri.
That might not work against the Badgers on Saturday, at a noisy Camp Randall Stadium. That’s why this week could be a big one for DeBoer’s team. Alabama made a run to the CFP under Saban last year and has been able to bounce back from a slow start. Can this team correct its mistakes and do the same under a new coach?
Alabama: Can Kalen DeBoer lead the Tide to their first away win as HC?
Alabama didn’t lose in the first two weeks of the season, but the team endured adversity. When Saban announced his retirement, many of his top players entered the transfer portal. Those who remained developed relationships, and leaders like Milroe and quarterback Malachi Moore boosted the group’s morale during that period of unrest.
At a press conference in July, the players explained how they got through that time.
“The unity really helps stabilize the locker room during times of change,” Booker said. “This is the tightest group I’ve been here in the three years I’ve been here because we’ve been through an experience together. We can look at each other no matter what we’re going through and say, ‘Okay, this guy stayed when things were tough. We’ve looked at each other in the locker room and said, ‘This is my brother. He stayed here for me.’”
That unity will be tested on Saturday.
Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball, and soccer for FOX Sports. She has previously written for Sports Illustrated, USA Today, and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of “Strong Like a Woman,” which will be published in spring 2022 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Act IX. Follow her on Twitter @LakenLitman.
[Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily.]
Learn more about College Football Follow your favorites to get game info, news and more
