TerryP
Staff
Alabama's surprising rout of Clemson rocks college football landscape
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Over the years, the three most overused words in the lexicon of Alabama football have been "Bama is back!"
Alabama was back under Mike DuBose, only to see the train run off the track. The same was true under Dennis Franchione, only to see him jump on the track and take the Midnight Train to College Station. Even Sports Illustrated dug up the phrase on a now infamous cover following Alabama's shredding of Florida in 2005.
As a result of countless false alarms, the national media has belittled the Tide faithful as a collection of hopeless fools, willing to grasp at any straw and blindly follow any new and improved leader. For long-time chroniclers of college football, it has been agonizing to witness the devastation of the Alabama dynasty — once among the proudest in the lore of the sport.
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Don't look now but the phrase has been uttered again — about 18 million times since the Tide's laser-like evisceration of Clemson Saturday night. Only this time, the college football world isn't snickering or sneering at Alabama. Instead, the sense being picked up is more like a tremor, a twitch, an uneasy and uncomfortable pit at the bottom of their collective gut.
It's like the rest of college football is saying in unison: "I don't believe this. Alabama was supposed to be down for the count. The NCAA nearly gave them the death penalty. I mean, they lost to Louisiana-Monroe and can't beat Auburn. This can't be happening again. Can it?"
In other words, the sleeping giant is beginning to shake off some cobwebs and is about to be a major player again under the bright lights on the national stage.
One game, albeit a near night of perfection, doesn't automatically make Alabama a national championship contender. The unemployment lines are littered with ex-head coaches who have a big win or two on their résumé. However, on the largest stage of the weekend in college football, in front of the game's most important and influential trio — ESPN's GameDay crew — this program made an earsplitting and echoing statement.
The Tide made ground dog food out of a top 10 team and in the process seemed to be saying: "One down. We're coming after you next!"
If there has been a more complete physical beat-down of another highly regarded football team in the past five years, I would like to know when and where. Immediately, the experts started scratching their heads, recalibrating their thinking caps, trying to figure out what this means and where this season is going. Who knows? Most of the national geniuses picked Clemson to compete for a national title and Alabama to have a mediocre year. Could they have gotten it backward?
Perhaps for a clearer understanding, the experts should ask the Alabama fans who did see this one coming. All week long, there was a buzz building about an upcoming masterful Alabama performance. Everyone knew someone who had heard how great the Tide was looking in practice and how much confidence seemed to be oozing out of Tuscaloosa for the opener. However, the experts laughed at the annual preseason mania from the Tide fan base. Been there, done that. This time, the fans got it right. So the obvious "what does it mean?" question has been asked and will continue to be repeated early and often not only this week but for several to come.
Alabama fans now point to the Sept. 27 "game of the century" encounter at No. 1 Georgia.
So what does it mean?
Nick Saban is doing what he's supposed to be doing. He is building a team to compete for SEC and national titles. And yes, for nearly four hours on Saturday night, it looked like he was considerably ahead of schedule.
Can Alabama sustain greatness this season? Possibly. Still, it might be prudent to hold back a little before ordering BCS championship tickets in Miami. On Saturday night, Alabama looked like a top 10 team. I dare say the Tide could have competed with any college football team in America. But things happen over the course of a season. Injuries pop up at key positions. Attitudes can shift and luck can flounder.
One thing seems clear. Saban has raw talent across the board on this football team. It's not up to me to throw caution to the wind; to tell fans to take a chill pill. Not at all. Alabama has had too little to celebrate in recent years, too few monumental victories to cherish. Enjoy the moment. Savor the sweetness of the substantial victory.
Alabama fans can be realistic some other day, some other week, some other time. For now, all Tide fans should revel in what this program accomplished against Clemson and rightfully beam with confidence and enthusiasm of what will still come down the road under Nick Saban
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Over the years, the three most overused words in the lexicon of Alabama football have been "Bama is back!"
Alabama was back under Mike DuBose, only to see the train run off the track. The same was true under Dennis Franchione, only to see him jump on the track and take the Midnight Train to College Station. Even Sports Illustrated dug up the phrase on a now infamous cover following Alabama's shredding of Florida in 2005.
As a result of countless false alarms, the national media has belittled the Tide faithful as a collection of hopeless fools, willing to grasp at any straw and blindly follow any new and improved leader. For long-time chroniclers of college football, it has been agonizing to witness the devastation of the Alabama dynasty — once among the proudest in the lore of the sport.
Advertisement
Don't look now but the phrase has been uttered again — about 18 million times since the Tide's laser-like evisceration of Clemson Saturday night. Only this time, the college football world isn't snickering or sneering at Alabama. Instead, the sense being picked up is more like a tremor, a twitch, an uneasy and uncomfortable pit at the bottom of their collective gut.
It's like the rest of college football is saying in unison: "I don't believe this. Alabama was supposed to be down for the count. The NCAA nearly gave them the death penalty. I mean, they lost to Louisiana-Monroe and can't beat Auburn. This can't be happening again. Can it?"
In other words, the sleeping giant is beginning to shake off some cobwebs and is about to be a major player again under the bright lights on the national stage.
One game, albeit a near night of perfection, doesn't automatically make Alabama a national championship contender. The unemployment lines are littered with ex-head coaches who have a big win or two on their résumé. However, on the largest stage of the weekend in college football, in front of the game's most important and influential trio — ESPN's GameDay crew — this program made an earsplitting and echoing statement.
The Tide made ground dog food out of a top 10 team and in the process seemed to be saying: "One down. We're coming after you next!"
If there has been a more complete physical beat-down of another highly regarded football team in the past five years, I would like to know when and where. Immediately, the experts started scratching their heads, recalibrating their thinking caps, trying to figure out what this means and where this season is going. Who knows? Most of the national geniuses picked Clemson to compete for a national title and Alabama to have a mediocre year. Could they have gotten it backward?
Perhaps for a clearer understanding, the experts should ask the Alabama fans who did see this one coming. All week long, there was a buzz building about an upcoming masterful Alabama performance. Everyone knew someone who had heard how great the Tide was looking in practice and how much confidence seemed to be oozing out of Tuscaloosa for the opener. However, the experts laughed at the annual preseason mania from the Tide fan base. Been there, done that. This time, the fans got it right. So the obvious "what does it mean?" question has been asked and will continue to be repeated early and often not only this week but for several to come.
Alabama fans now point to the Sept. 27 "game of the century" encounter at No. 1 Georgia.
So what does it mean?
Nick Saban is doing what he's supposed to be doing. He is building a team to compete for SEC and national titles. And yes, for nearly four hours on Saturday night, it looked like he was considerably ahead of schedule.
Can Alabama sustain greatness this season? Possibly. Still, it might be prudent to hold back a little before ordering BCS championship tickets in Miami. On Saturday night, Alabama looked like a top 10 team. I dare say the Tide could have competed with any college football team in America. But things happen over the course of a season. Injuries pop up at key positions. Attitudes can shift and luck can flounder.
One thing seems clear. Saban has raw talent across the board on this football team. It's not up to me to throw caution to the wind; to tell fans to take a chill pill. Not at all. Alabama has had too little to celebrate in recent years, too few monumental victories to cherish. Enjoy the moment. Savor the sweetness of the substantial victory.
Alabama fans can be realistic some other day, some other week, some other time. For now, all Tide fans should revel in what this program accomplished against Clemson and rightfully beam with confidence and enthusiasm of what will still come down the road under Nick Saban
