Why Alabama's season fell apart -- and what Nick Saban can do about it

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  • Alex ScarboroughESPN Staff Writer

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    • Covers the SEC.
    • Joined ESPN successful 2012.
    • Graduate of Auburn University.

BATON ROUGE, La. -- It was excessively large and excessively chaotic wrong Tiger Stadium to perceive the clang of Alabama's play precocious Saturday night. The autumn happened truthful rapidly and truthful unexpectedly it was hard to comprehend successful existent time. LSU manager Brian Kelly wouldn't situation spell for two, would he? After taking a timeout to deliberation it implicit immoderate more, surely he'd reconsider, footwear the other constituent and play for a 2nd overtime. Right?

But helium didn't. Kelly thought helium had the cleanable play to exposure an erratic Alabama defense, and helium went for it. Quarterback Jayden Daniels rolled to his close and recovered an unfastened people successful choky extremity Mason Taylor, who tumbled into the extremity portion for the score.

What happened adjacent was a country Alabama has go acquainted with this season: an eruption of noise, followed by fans rushing the tract by the thousands. Nick Saban and his players, erstwhile again, were near to navigate the bedlam and retreat to the information of the visitors locker room.

Three weeks earlier, Tennessee fans had done the nonstop aforesaid happening erstwhile the Vols won connected a walk-off tract extremity successful regulation. But alternatively of the cigar fume that was hanging successful the aerial successful Knoxville, it was fog encircling the stadium successful Baton Rouge. And, acknowledgment to immoderate well-placed security, the goalposts weren't uprooted and thrown into the Mississippi River.

When Saban sat down with the media to effort to explicate however his squad had mislaid to LSU 32-31, it felt akin to the Tennessee loss. That aforesaid resigned prime was successful the 71-year-old's voice. He strained to perceive the questions being asked; alternatively of "Rocky Top" blaring done factual walls, it was chants of "L-S-U!" And helium had the aforesaid explanations: excessively galore antiaircraft lapses, mode excessively galore penalties, nary consistency successful the tally game, not capable discourtesy astir prima backmost Bryce Young.

The astir noticeable quality from Saban was a deficiency of hope. Because it was gone. In bid to scope the SEC title game, Alabama would person to bushed No. 11 Ole Miss and Auburn AND anticipation for an LSU illness with losses astatine unranked Arkansas and Texas A&M.

"Look, I can't blasted the players," Saban said. "I'm liable for each this stuff. So if we didn't bash it right, that's connected me."

Credit Saban for not throwing his violative oregon antiaircraft coordinators nether the autobus -- oregon immoderate of his assistants for that matter. But, frankly, they're each accountable for what has been a nonaccomplishment successful coaching this season.

Alabama had the endowment to triumph a nationalist championship, fto unsocial bushed a two-loss LSU squad that's inactive uncovering its mode aft a coaching change. Young and extracurricular linebacker Will Anderson Jr. are 2 of the apical 3 to 5 players successful assemblage football. Recruiting has remained beardown acknowledgment to much than a twelve consecutive top-five signing classes, truthful the extent should beryllium there. What's more, Saban owned the transportation portal this past offseason, signing all-conference players and Power 5 starters astatine aggregate positions.

Saban said it himself: Last twelvemonth was the rebuilding season, not this one. Complacency -- that aged saw -- couldn't beryllium to blasted aft the Tide came up abbreviated successful the nationalist title crippled against Georgia successful January. Veterans Young, Anderson and information Jordan Battle were convinced during the summertime this squad was different. They said players were focused and paying attraction to the small things successful a mode they hadn't before.

So what precisely was missing if not buy-in oregon talent?

Development, that's what.

The drop-off astatine receiver of precocious has been striking. After producing a flurry of first-round NFL draught picks (including existent stars Jerry Jeudy, DeVonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle), Alabama struck golden successful the portal with Jameson Williams past season. But the infinitesimal Williams was sidelined -- archetypal against Auburn, past successful the nationalist rubric crippled -- the passing crippled cratered.

Maybe it was excessively overmuch to inquire for Jermaine Burton to beryllium different savior similar Williams. But region Burton from the equation (and chap transportation Tyler Harrell) and it's a wonderment that among Isaiah Bond, Ja'Corey Brooks, JoJo Earle, Traeshon Holden and Kobe Prentice, nary 1 has been susceptible of becoming a playmaker. What's more, they've been unreliable arsenic a team, with 21 dropped passes -- 5th astir among Power 5 schools.

Jahmyr Gibbs, a moving back, rapidly became Young's astir reliable receiver. But for arsenic bully and versatile arsenic Gibbs has been, on with his backup Jase McClellan, neither has proven to beryllium the benignant of between-the-tackles runner Alabama desperately needs. Roydell Williams, who does tally with power, has lone 38 carries this season. As a team, 22.9% of Alabama's rushes person gone for zero oregon antagonistic yards.

So without the quality to play smashmouth shot and without a receiver to agelong the tract vertically, the discourtesy has go one-dimensional and opposing antiaircraft coordinators person been capable to blitz astatine will.

The effect has hardly been the benignant of discourtesy Young signed up for -- the benignant of dynamic onslaught that benefitted his predecessors astatine quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones. Playing down a shaky violative line, Young has had to tally for his life. He has been contacted connected 22% of his dropbacks this play and was pressured connected 44% of his walk attempts against LSU.

Remove drops and throwaways, past set for aerial yards, and Young's adjusted completion complaint of 78.0% is the champion successful the SEC. In different words, he's playing up to -- and possibly adjacent surpassing -- his play from past season, erstwhile helium won the Heisman Trophy.

But adjacent helium can't flooded a flawed squad similar this one. He can't marque up for a defence that has made a wont retired of giving up large plays, whether it was successful the adjacent telephone astatine Texas oregon losses connected the roadworthy to Tennessee and LSU -- not to notation a adjacent nonaccomplishment astatine location against unranked Texas A&M (albeit without Young). And helium decidedly can't flooded a squad that is tied for the astir penalties (78) successful the FBS.

Let that descend successful for a moment. Saban, a stickler successful each consciousness of the connection who rages connected the sideline against self-inflicted errors, has overseen 671 yards successful penalties, an mean of 74.6 yards per game. There's nary mode to picture this Alabama squad different than sloppy and undisciplined. Even coming retired of a bye week successful which Saban said helium thought his squad was sharp, the Tide committed 9 penalties, including 2 pivotal pass-interference calls successful the 4th quarter.

After the loss, Saban called it an "understatement" to accidental his players were disappointed. This is the archetypal clip since 2010 that Alabama has 2 losses earlier facing Auburn successful the Iron Bowl. Saban said they were susceptible of much but "sometimes we bushed ourselves and it's benignant of hard to overcome."

Saban asked his squad to "check their spread card" arsenic they look to decorativeness the play strong. Players had their ain banal to consider, helium said, arsenic good arsenic reaching the extremity of winning 10 games.

That past remark was odd. Alabama talks a batch astir playing up to the standard, but that usually means championships, whether SEC, nationalist oregon both. While winning 10 games would beryllium a bully feather successful the cap, it's hardly what anyone successful oregon astir the programme has travel to expect. Remember, this is simply a programme whose spot manager erstwhile destroyed the title runner-up trophy.

Crimson Tide fans volition privation thing little than to get backmost to the playoff adjacent season. But is that adjacent possible? Young, Anderson and a fistful of NFL draught hopefuls are apt to determination on. And unit departures look likely. Saban hasn't specifically called retired violative coordinator Bill O'Brien, but helium has been asking for much equilibrium for a portion present and hasn't gotten it. Saban said helium wouldn't second-guess the violative crippled program against LSU, but past added, "Whatever we did, we enactment ourselves successful a presumption to bash that and conscionable came up short." That's not precisely a ringing endorsement.

Regardless of who goes and who stays, thing has to change. Georgia is threatening to triumph a 2nd nationalist title and go the powerfulness subordinate of the SEC, and Tennessee and LSU look to beryllium superior contenders again aft going done coaching changes. To get backmost connected top, Alabama indispensable recapture what made it truthful palmy implicit the past decade-plus: being a squad that not lone refused to bushed itself, but a squad that prided itself connected going beyond beating opponents and making them quit.

Maybe that means dialing backmost connected what has go a pass-happy discourtesy successful bid to reestablish a carnal benignant of play successful the trenches. Maybe that means a civilization displacement connected defence wherever the hard-nosed borderline that defined the epoch of Rolando McClain, Ryan Anderson and Mark Barron is each but gone.

During his vigor amusement successful September, Saban hinted astatine however the mentality of this squad shifted of late, which was evident astatine Tiger Stadium.

"We utilized to play amended connected the roadworthy than what we played astatine location due to the fact that we had immoderate hateful competitors connected our team," helium said. "And erstwhile they played connected the road, they were huffy astatine 100,000 radical and not the 11 guys they were playing against. And they wanted to beryllium thing to everybody."

Not lone does this existent incarnation of Alabama shot let itself to beryllium affected by 100,000 screaming fans, alternatively than the different mode around, it has made a wont of losing and giving those aforesaid radical a crushed to unreserved the tract and celebrate.

The information for Alabama is that losing volition go specified a mean occurrence, fans won't fuss to permission their seats to spell anyplace but home. That's erstwhile you'll cognize the dynasty is over.

We're a agelong mode from that, but this play should service arsenic a informing that the instauration is eroding and enactment indispensable beryllium done.

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