Wasson: It's a win, but did Alabama do anything to change your mind about its ceiling?
So this is what the rest of the college football world feels like?
That sentiment is among the ones that was wafting through a sun-drenched Bryant-Denny Stadium throughout a goodly portion of Saturday – as Alabama fans were surely casting nervous glances at each other and wondering what the heck happened to the Joyless Murderball they had grown to love.
Just a year ago, their beloved Crimson Tide was beating the absolute snot out of all non-USF/non-Texas teams that had the misfortune to step in their paths. And now? A limping Missouri team that had absolutely no business ever being in the top 10 this season was stymieing the home squad.
Nope, this ain’t the Alabama the nation has feared for the better part of 2 decades now. Then again, didn’t Vanderbilt (!!!) already expose this fact on a similarly sun-drenched Nashville day?
This almost feels like a broken record-version of previous works here, simply because we have already explored the whys and wheres of Alabama’s shift away from said Joyless Murderball under former coach Nick Saban to whatever this Kalen DeBoer-coached Alabama program will end up becoming.
So a lot of this feels like previously trod ground – but bear with us, a’ight, because it helps Alabama fans process what they are seeing in real time.
Yes, 15th-ranked Alabama shut out No. 21 Missouri 34-0 to move to 6-2 and remain in theoretical contention for a spot in the College Football Playoff.
Yes, Alabama piled up 486 total yards to survive, advance and – as a bonus – dismiss the Tigers as the preseason poseurs that they clearly were.
Yes, those who didn’t watch Tide-Tigers are glancing sideways at the score and mumble to themselves “Well, Alabama has clearly found its mojo again.”
And no, precisely no one wearing any crimson/houndstooth combination feels altogether thrilled by the manner their Crimson Tide got there.
Alabama’s offense was mostly toothless in a first half that was at times painful to watch. The Tide seem to lose bits of identity on a weekly basis when they have the rock – going from force-feeding talented freshman wide receiver Ryan Williams (have you heard that he is only 17 years old?) nearly 20 times in a road loss at Tennessee to disregarding him for large portions against Mizzou.
9 first downs. 1 short-field TD …
If this is what Alabama's offense looks like without going through Ryan Williams … maybe the Tide should go back to running everything through the 17-year-old freshman wide receiver.— Saturday Down South (@SatDownSouth) October 26, 2024
Conspiracy theorists out there have opined that Tide QB Jalen Milroe has to be nursing some sort of injury – one that is keeping DeBoer and the coaching staff from unleashing the potential that at an earlier juncture had him in the Heisman conversation. Don’t believe that jib-jab, though, as it seems more and more clear that Saban and his staff squeezed more out of Milroe than DeBoer’s staff has so far.
Matriculating the ball down the field on the ground was a little more successful, as Justice Haynes barreled his way to 79 yards and Jam Miller scored twice as the Tide did manage to finish with 271 rushing yards in a balanced effort. (That included a 62-yard run from freshman Richard Young.)
Still, and especially on third down (Alabama was 0-for-7 there through the first 3 quarters), it still felt like Alabama boarded the struggle bus every time Missouri surrendered the football.
Fortunately, Alabama’s defense was more than capable of fleecing Missouri of said football all afternoon. Quarterback Drew Pyne, who replaced a busted-up Brady Cook in the first half, uncorked 3 interceptions coming off the bench to allow the Tide plenty of opportunities to figure things out on offense in real time and with short fields.
Missouri was inept when they managed to hold onto the football, too, racking up only 239 total yards to prove the “was the blowout loss to Texas A&M a fluke, or a sign” thesis correct in the latter sense. Mizzou suffered its first shutout loss since 2019, and first under Eli Drinkwitz. At least now we know why Alabama scheduled the hapless Tigers for homecoming …
In the final analysis, both from punditry here and from the sidewalk alumni in the Bryant-Denny cheap seats, Alabama feels so much more like a work in progress than they should heading into November – and with 2 more losses before Halloween than anyone expected when 2024 began. The first half Saturday felt like a true representation of what Alabama really is, and the second half felt like a handful of fool’s gold.
Alabama nevertheless has all its true goals still in front of it – courtesy of the expanded College Football Playoff, which was helpfully expanded to 12 teams and now has about 73 teams (not Mizzou, alas…) still in the running for those spots.
Beat LSU in 2 weeks in Death Valley and manage to keep from getting tripped up by fading Oklahoma and arch-rival Auburn, and voila – the Tide will be playing meaningful football in December.
What that looks like, though, is still anyone’s guess after Saturday’s display.
This is what the rest of the college football world feels like?
No. The dynasty is dead and it’s not coming back. That’s a ceiling never to be reached again. Pac 12 Alabama cannot abide in the SEC.
What is you mom/sister gonna do for work now that Wesley’s has closed?
Wesley’s boobie trap? Lmfao
Dare I say the best part of Walker county seeing the Green Top BBQ closed down the street a,while ago?
You never had one. Even in the Glory Days of the 90s the Gators owned you and you only got the train to the station once. Manning…no titles. Boy talk about less with more lol.
Kind of like Bama owns the doggies and always has.
Yes, you can live vicariously through your rival. Still, we managed 2 titles through all that.
Vols?
And in the 90’s we certainly owned the puppies
You did. Along with everyone else. But that was last century. Here in the now, not so much
Wasson is such a tool. They beat a ranked Mizzou team 34-0 and he is still ragging on Bama. SDS writers almost get offended when a team provides evidence to refute their narratives. What a dork.
I do get his point, though: Mizzou was extremely limited and Bama should’ve had their way with them…which they did after they quit derping around.
My hope is we are seeing a return to the Bama mindset of dominating the opponent. No way we hang with LSU if we play soft. RTR!!!
Unfortunately DeBoar’s improvements will still take time…. But his staff gets’s a lot of credit for the things they did well today. They can improve on this also…. But they engaged in a lot of unsportsmanlike conduct today and this ref crew was to junior high to catch them.
One of those unsportsmanlike penalties was due to a non-existent whistle on a late hit to the QB. Clearly a mistake by the ref responsible for the delay of game penalty. The other was a hip move by Law that was unnecessary but nothing like a punch to the face for sure. We can agree that SEC refs are pretty bad at their jobs.
Yes. The refs have stolen Alabama’s dynasty from them. Squirreled it away in their den where they keep dead dynasties for winter.
It appears the pain Bama has caused you has not been relieved yet. Therapy would help.
Look at the season’s points scored against Mizzou and the season points Missouri has scored? You can have as long a list of improvements as you want but you can’t say DeBoar didn’t make program progress today.
Drew Pyne was better throwing to Alabama players than Milroe was today.
Sadly, Bama was able to assert itself only after it became obvious that the Mizzou offense could not move the ball thereby leaving their defense totally dispirited.
Finally, someone who actually watched the game it seems. Pyne did more to get Bama moving than Milroe did. And it was obvious that the playbook wasn’t open for Cook even before the hand injury. Mizzou was never going to win, but even when Cook went out, the defense kept playing until it was obvious there was zero hope with Pyne. No D can play forever when the offense can’t do more than 3-and-out. If Cook is truly out, Mizzou has already won its last game this year.
They still play with a lack of discipline, though they did play with more passion. The O-line should be better by this time of the season.
Cute little team you got there
Arkansas fans say the same thing out your Vils.
“Just a year ago, their beloved Crimson Tide was beating the absolute snot out of all non-USF/non-Texas teams that had the misfortune to step in their paths.”
If you are stupid enough to write that you should retire from sports writing. Bama beat Georgia, Auburn and Arkansas by 3 points and beat A&M by 6.
Alabama is doing what should be done. Getting better. Win at LSU and finish 10-2. Not being in the worthless conference championship game in the era of a 12 team CFP and 10-2 is looking pretty good. I’ll take 10-2 for a down year.
Did a Bama player kick sand in this writer’s face in front of everyone at the beach?