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Paul Finebaum insists he feels ‘a lot better’ about Alabama after Iron Bowl win
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Paul Finebaum has been on a personal roller coaster this season when it comes to his takes on Alabama.
First, it was all wonderful in Tuscaloosa after that epic victory over Georgia in late September. Alabama was off and running in its first year without Nick Saban on the sidelines and Kalen DeBoer was going to be just fine.
Then, October came and the losses started coming, too. Alabama fell at Vanderbilt and then at Tennessee a few weeks later. There was a lot of talk from Finebaum during those weeks about Alabama being on the brink and what a train wreck DeBoer’s first season was turning into. Disaster struck again in November when Alabama laid an egg in a loss at Oklahoma. The Crimson Tide had 3 losses and it seemed like they could kiss the CFP goodbye.
But not so fast. Alabama took care of Auburn in the Iron Bowl on Saturday and some things elsewhere fell the Crimson Tide’s way.
On Monday, during his weekly appearance on the McElroy & Cubelic In The Morning show, Finebaum was in a much better place (again) regarding Alabama.
“I definitely felt better about Alabama, and how are you going to bounce back from your worst showing,” said Finebaum. “It wasn’t a perfect game, but it was a good game in many respects, especially from Jalen Milroe. And listen … the object is to win the game, and that’s exactly what Alabama did, and it really wasn’t that close, so I felt a lot better about Alabama than what we had previously seen.”
As for the Tide’s rival, Finebaum was less enthused. The Tigers finished the season 5-7 after falling to their rival – here’s what he had to say about Auburn:
“Auburn, (I) came away with an empty feeling,” said Finebaum. “Just really have to wonder about this program’s future. Recruiting is one thing and that’s essential, and I know the hype machine is going crazy there. But in 2-3 weeks, we’ll have a better look at the portal and recruiting and try to figure out what Hugh Freeze needs to do next year to save his job because I think he’s clearly on the hot seat.”
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
