Seconds after quarterback Diego Pavia kneeled to safe Vanderbilt’s first win in opposition to Alabama since 1984, Nick Saban appeared on the jumbotron at FirstBank Stadium.
“The one place you’re going to play within the SEC that’s not onerous to play is Vanderbilt,” mentioned the legendary coach turned ESPN persona, in a clip from his look on “The Pat McAfee Present” on Sept. 20. The stadium performed the clip on a loop, trolling Saban and this system he led to 6 nationwide championships.
That line might have been true for Nick Saban’s Alabama. However this isn’t Nick Saban’s Alabama anymore, and that needs to be essentially the most worrying a part of Saturday’s beautiful 40-35 loss for Tide followers. This wasn’t a one-off upset. It was a welcome again to mortal life.
NO WAY#Vandy performed this quote from Nick Saban after the upset over Alabama:
“The one place that’s not onerous to play within the SEC is Vanderbilt.” pic.twitter.com/QDfGufSQol
— Billy Derrick (@billyderrick10) October 5, 2024
DeBoer took the Alabama job to be The Man After The Man, inviting the comparisons to the best faculty soccer coach of all time, and he was at all times going to be raked over the coals by followers every time his first loss got here. However his first loss wasn’t presupposed to be this, a setback arguably worse than any loss Saban suffered with the Tide.
After his first season, this by no means occurred to Saban. He went 123-4 in opposition to unranked groups, successful 100 in a row at one level. The streak led to 2021 in opposition to a Texas A&M crew that started the season ranked No. 6.
This by no means occurred in opposition to Vanderbilt, which scored 13 factors whole in 4 video games in opposition to Saban’s Alabama groups and scored 40 in opposition to DeBoer’s first crew.
However Vanderbilt didn’t fluke its solution to a victory on Saturday. Alabama didn’t commit a ridiculous variety of turnovers, and Vandy didn’t want an unlikely sequence of occasions. By the fourth quarter, Vanderbilt’s offensive line was pushing Alabama’s defensive entrance off the ball and opening working lanes.
That actually by no means occurred beneath Saban in opposition to an opponent like that.
GO DEEPER
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The aura of Alabama beneath Saban was usually sufficient to scare opponents into the fetal place. That psychological edge at all times felt it was value a landing or so. However right here was Pavia, a former junior faculty quarterback at New Mexico Army Institute who starred at New Mexico State final 12 months, who didn’t worry the Tide one bit. We’ve seen groups grasp round with Bama, solely to crumble. Vanderbilt by no means did. Future groups received’t be scared, both.
For Alabama followers who’re unfamiliar with DeBoer’s profession past his ridiculously good win-loss file, a efficiency like Saturday really isn’t all that new.
In 2022, DeBoer’s Washington crew misplaced to an Arizona State crew that completed 3-9 en path to an 11-2 end. Final 12 months’s Huskies that performed for the nationwide title barely escaped one other 3-9 Arizona State crew and wanted a fourth down conversion to beat a Washington State crew that completed 5-7. DeBoer’s final Fresno State crew went 10-3 in 2021 however misplaced to a .500 Hawaii crew. The Bulldogs additionally misplaced to unhealthy New Mexico and Nevada groups the 12 months earlier than.
This simply … occurs with DeBoer groups, for no matter cause. He’s 41-10 as an FBS head coach, however he loses some video games to unhealthy groups. The thought was that with such a expertise benefit now, he wouldn’t in Tuscaloosa.
Sure, Saban’s first Alabama crew in 2007 went 7-6 and misplaced to Louisiana-Monroe, however he took over a program that had gone 6-7 the 12 months earlier than. DeBoer inherited a crew coming off a Faculty Soccer Playoff look.
As Alabama raced to a 28-0 lead on Georgia final week, all of us thought DeBoer had probably unlocked a degree of Bama that even Saban didn’t attain. However then Alabama blew that lead, solely escaping with a win because of the heroics of freshmen Ryan Williams and Zabien Brown.
Maybe that second half ought to’ve been the lesson. Now, Alabama has allowed 67 factors throughout its final six quarters. Now, a CFP bid doesn’t really feel like a assure with the Tide’s remaining schedule.
DeBoer’s Alabama goes to win massive video games, because it did in opposition to Georgia. However it’s additionally going to lose video games that Tide followers are usually not accustomed to dropping, and it’s that uncertainty that may grasp over the whole lot now. Nothing is certain to be prefer it was.
The excellent news is the chaos of Saturday didn’t solely hit Alabama. Tennessee misplaced at an unranked Arkansas crew, leaving just one undefeated SEC crew (Texas). The unhealthy information is Alabama nonetheless has to journey to Tennessee, LSU and Oklahoma and play Missouri and Auburn at residence. Its margin for error to make the 12-team CFP went down considerably with this loss: The Crimson Tide’s probabilities to make the sector dipped from 94 p.c to 80 p.c, in response to Austin Mock’s mannequin.
It was pure to count on a drop-off after Saban left. It really hasn’t occurred on the recruiting path but, the place DeBoer has been proving doubters incorrect. None of this implies Alabama will vanish from relevancy. There’s an excessive amount of expertise, an excessive amount of tradition for that to occur.
However there’s a cause Saban was the best of all time. He by no means oversaw one thing like Saturday. Strolling into virtually each sport with no less than an oz of doubt is the brand new regular for Alabama followers. Welcome again to feeling like everybody else.
(Picture: Matthew Maxey / Icon Sportswire through Getty Pictures)