The Sugar Bowl loss to Ohio State means an elite Urban Meyer is back in the mix, but an extra motivated Nick Saban can lead to even better results down the road for Alabama.
Despite Meyer’s reputation taking a hit as a result of how he departed the Florida football program, Saban knows that Ohio State’s head coach is essentially the other top coach in all of college football.
The Sugar Bowl result was evidence that a healthy and engaged Urban Meyer can be every bit Nick Saban’s equal.
The two coaches have now met four times since 2008 and are now all square, tied up at 2-2.
In 2008, Meyer got the best of Saban while Meyer’s team was peaking, and Saban was just getting his Crimson Tide machine up and running. Tim Tebow and Urban Meyer beat the Crimson Tide 31-20 in the 2008 SEC Championship Game, and the Gators would go on to beat Oklahoma in the BCS Championship Game.
Alabama crushed Florida the following two times starting with the 2009 SEC Championship Game rematch which officially ended Florida’s run in college football. After beating the Gators 32-13 on Dec. 5, 2009, Alabama went on to win its first national championship under Saban. Alabama also beat a Meyer-led Florida team during the 2010 regular season.
Meyer soon left Florida, and the SEC was conceded. Saban’s reign was official.
Saban has quality opponents in the conference. Les Miles and the magic he brings on the field has regularly been a thorn in the side of Saban’s Alabama teams, and the new crop of offenses led by Sumlin and Malzahn certainly have made Saban adjust his style and perspective. But few consider these SEC coaches to be the equal of Saban.
When Meyer returned to Ohio State, it wasn’t clear which Meyer the Buckeyes were getting. Was it 2005 Urban Meyer or 2009 Urban Meyer?
Back in the spring of 2005, I had the pleasure of hearing Meyer speak on campus at the University of Florida mere weeks after his arrival to Gainesville. He spoke with a combination of intensity and confidence that left everyone in the room in awe. There was no doubt that success was on the way to Florida football under Meyer’s leadership.
But that Meyer was gone after his second national championship was secured. He was exhausted. He had health problems both physically and mentally. He had climbed the mountain and struggled to get motivated to rebuild and regroup for another summit attempt. He began to focus on the sacrifices his family had made to help propel him up the mountain more than the achievements that resulted. Also, he likely took an honest assessment of what Saban was building in Tuscaloosa and compared it to the talent he was about to lose to the NFL. He was done.
Since arriving in Big Ten country, Meyer has dominated. But it was still difficult to judge the strength of his team due to the Buckeye’s strength of schedule and other factors. Despite two very good regular seasons, the nation was still not yet on high alert for Urban Meyer’s Ohio State.
This changed with the Alabama win. The 2015 Sugar Bowl made it evident that the elite version of Urban Meyer is back.
Saban lost last year’s Sugar Bowl to Oklahoma in disappointing fashion, but whether fans want to agree with it or not, that Alabama team wasn’t fully motivated. That game was a let down for a Crimson Tide team used to playing for championships and still in shock over the “Kick Six” Iron Bowl fiasco.
But Ohio State embarrassed a motivated Alabama team last week. Unlike the previous Sugar Bowl loss, this loss is quite meaningful. The loss means several things.
First, an elite coach matched with a powerhouse program such as Ohio State is absolutely a worthy competitor to Saban’s Alabama program. With recent departures of Chip Kelly and Pete Carroll from powerhouse programs, the closest thing to an elite coach at a powerhouse program in recent years was… Bob Stoops at Oklahoma? Brian Kelly at Notre Dame? (With Jim Harbaugh heading to Michigan, this adds yet another Big Ten program to this mix.)
Additionally, Saban’s defenses are getting roughed up by elite offensive teams. In the recent Iron Bowl, Auburn gained 630 yards. Last week, Ohio State piled up 537 yards behind its third-string quarterback.
While the dominant defense is evident against the SEC’s rank and file squads, they’re getting throttled in the big games against elite offensive teams. Perhaps in light of the SEC’s recent bowl performance, the regular season defensive production was more about a lack of offensive talent across the SEC rather than Alabama’s defense?
In the four seasons from 2009 to 2012, Alabama had four games total in which they gave up more than 400 yards of offense, and none for more than 450 yards. Early in 2013, Manziel’s Aggies dropped 628 yards against Alabama, and later, Oklahoma gained 429 in the Sugar Bowl.
This season was the first that Saban’s defenses had three games giving up over 400 yards of offense, and two other opponents came quite close to the number (West Virginia, Tennessee).
The numbers would seem to fit the narrative that the game is becoming more quarterback driven and that Saban’s bulky, powerful defenses are struggling against the fast, spread-you-out attacks that are becoming more popular in college football.
It’s not as if Saban isn’t adjusting, however. Once a leader speaking out against the up-tempo offenses in college football, he turned last offseason to Lane Kiffin as Alabama offensive coordinator.
Saban was motivated to get his offensive production up realizing more points would be needed to outscore teams like Texas A&M and Auburn. Need an example? How about a 2014 Iron Bowl in which Alabama won by a score of 55-44. 99 combined points! This was laughable just a few years ago in the SEC.
The Kiffin hiring a year ago was bold, and it worked. Alabama’s offense was excellent this season (third in the SEC in yards per game).
Of the head coaches leading the four College Football Playoff teams, Saban was the sole defensive-minded head coach. The two victorious teams of the semifinal games were offensive minded head coaches running an up-tempo, spread attack.
Saban is smart enough and self-aware enough to see the trends. He’s shown he will take bold action in response to such realizations. Expect Saban to continue to evolve and evaluate his overall process in light of the Sugar Bowl loss.
My guess is that the loss to Meyer in the Sugar Bowl will motivate Saban even more. The two elite coaches would never admit it publicly, but beating or losing to a rival, elite coach like Saban or Meyer is a big deal. Winning is great, but losing a big game is even more impactful for an elite head coach. They’ve reached their positions by being the best, and being the best means being intensely motivated to beat the best.
The loss was heartbreaking for Alabama fans, but the loss might result in even better football at Alabama in the years ahead.
A graduate of the University of Florida and founder of Saturday Down South, Kevin is a college football enthusiast.
