The ultimate goal of Nick Saban's "process" oriented approach at Alabama is to produce a team that plays exactly the same game week-in, week-out, regardless of opponent, and it's a testament to his success that Bama's ongoing reign over the rest of college football is so easily taken for granted. On an average weekend, the assembly-line quality of the Crimson Tide's success just makes them that much safer to ignore. Last year's final score against Arkansas? 52ā0, and could have been a lot worse. This year's final score against Arkansas? 52ā0, and could have been a lot worse. Why even bother watching?
Beginning with the last game of 2007, Saban's first season, Alabama has won 42 in a row against unranked teams, the last 23 by at least 17 points. Of its seven losses in that span, all but one (at South Carolina in 2010) came at the hands of a team that went on to finish in the top ten. When you flip away from a random Alabama game with the score 14ā0 early in the second quarter, you can pretty much guarantee you're not going to wind up flipping back an hour later, wondering what you missed after the game you're watching breaks in with an "Upset Alert." You're not going to miss anything you haven't seen a couple dozen times before.
You know all that, of course, but it's worth mentioning in light of a weekend that drove home just how rare that kind of consistency really is. Aside from Alabama, the other five favorites in SEC games all lost, every single one of them in potentially season-crippling fashion. Florida, presented with a golden opportunity to take control of the SEC East, limped through the motions in a 36ā17 flop at Missouri, a team starting a redshirt freshman quarterback in his first extended action. Georgia, ravaged by injuries on offense, finished with just 221 yards and blew a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter at Vanderbilt, effectively eliminating any goal the Bulldogs would have considered worthwhile two weeks ago. South Carolina, having just watched UGA narrowly escape an upset bid at Tennessee, walked right into a 23ā21 ambush in Knoxville itself, dropping the Gamecocks two games behind Missouri in the East Division. LSU committed three turnovers in the first half at Ole Miss and couldn't climb out of a 17ā0 hole in the second, dropping the Tigers two games behind Alabama in the West. Texas A&M couldn't stop Auburn, effectively eliminating the Aggies from any next-level goals with their second conference loss.
Outside of the SEC, Central Florida knocked Louisville from darkhorse to also-ran in the AAC by rallying from a three-touchdown deficit in the second half, UCLA showed no signs of life offensively in a 24ā10 loss at Stanford and Clemson fell flat on its face against Florida State on its biggest stage of the season. That's seven of the top 15 in the Associated Press poll, all losers on the same day, all but UCLA in a fashion that instantly lowers the ceiling on the rest of the year.
Occasionally there's a glitch in the system that suggests Alabama is vulnerable in some fundamental, replicable way. Last year it was Johnny Manziel's unpredictability; this year, it was Manziel again, inflicting unprecedented damage on a Saban defense in the most un-Saban-like victory in his entire tenure. A few weeks before, Virginia Tech held the Bama offense to its worst output in terms of total yards in the Saban era. But then here we are again, eight weeks into the season, and while the sky is falling on the rest of the conference Alabama is meeting every quota with room to spare. Even with the A&M shootout on their resumĆ©, the Tide are fifth nationally in total defense and first in scoring, having yielded just two touchdowns and 26 points to their other six opponents combined. Even with the Virginia Tech debacle, the offense is averaging 40 points per game -ā up from the average in last year's championship run, which was up from the average in the 2011 championship run -ā and ranks eighth nationally in yards per play. In the most recent F/+ ratings, Bama's special teams come in at No. 2. It's almost automatic. And if there's a lapse in this team's future prior to the BCS title game, it is automatically the upset of the year.
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Beginning with the last game of 2007, Saban's first season, Alabama has won 42 in a row against unranked teams, the last 23 by at least 17 points. Of its seven losses in that span, all but one (at South Carolina in 2010) came at the hands of a team that went on to finish in the top ten. When you flip away from a random Alabama game with the score 14ā0 early in the second quarter, you can pretty much guarantee you're not going to wind up flipping back an hour later, wondering what you missed after the game you're watching breaks in with an "Upset Alert." You're not going to miss anything you haven't seen a couple dozen times before.
You know all that, of course, but it's worth mentioning in light of a weekend that drove home just how rare that kind of consistency really is. Aside from Alabama, the other five favorites in SEC games all lost, every single one of them in potentially season-crippling fashion. Florida, presented with a golden opportunity to take control of the SEC East, limped through the motions in a 36ā17 flop at Missouri, a team starting a redshirt freshman quarterback in his first extended action. Georgia, ravaged by injuries on offense, finished with just 221 yards and blew a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter at Vanderbilt, effectively eliminating any goal the Bulldogs would have considered worthwhile two weeks ago. South Carolina, having just watched UGA narrowly escape an upset bid at Tennessee, walked right into a 23ā21 ambush in Knoxville itself, dropping the Gamecocks two games behind Missouri in the East Division. LSU committed three turnovers in the first half at Ole Miss and couldn't climb out of a 17ā0 hole in the second, dropping the Tigers two games behind Alabama in the West. Texas A&M couldn't stop Auburn, effectively eliminating the Aggies from any next-level goals with their second conference loss.
Outside of the SEC, Central Florida knocked Louisville from darkhorse to also-ran in the AAC by rallying from a three-touchdown deficit in the second half, UCLA showed no signs of life offensively in a 24ā10 loss at Stanford and Clemson fell flat on its face against Florida State on its biggest stage of the season. That's seven of the top 15 in the Associated Press poll, all losers on the same day, all but UCLA in a fashion that instantly lowers the ceiling on the rest of the year.
Occasionally there's a glitch in the system that suggests Alabama is vulnerable in some fundamental, replicable way. Last year it was Johnny Manziel's unpredictability; this year, it was Manziel again, inflicting unprecedented damage on a Saban defense in the most un-Saban-like victory in his entire tenure. A few weeks before, Virginia Tech held the Bama offense to its worst output in terms of total yards in the Saban era. But then here we are again, eight weeks into the season, and while the sky is falling on the rest of the conference Alabama is meeting every quota with room to spare. Even with the A&M shootout on their resumĆ©, the Tide are fifth nationally in total defense and first in scoring, having yielded just two touchdowns and 26 points to their other six opponents combined. Even with the Virginia Tech debacle, the offense is averaging 40 points per game -ā up from the average in last year's championship run, which was up from the average in the 2011 championship run -ā and ranks eighth nationally in yards per play. In the most recent F/+ ratings, Bama's special teams come in at No. 2. It's almost automatic. And if there's a lapse in this team's future prior to the BCS title game, it is automatically the upset of the year.
Continue reading more here...
