Kalen DeBoer’s Alabama Crimson Tide suffered one of the most surprising defeats in recent college football history this past Saturday, falling to the unranked Vanderbilt Commodores 40-35. It was Alabama’s first loss to Vanderbilt in 40 years and the first loss in the tenure of their new head coach. The Crimson Tide were previously riding high off a hard-fought victory against the Georgia Bulldogs, one that ended Georgia’s 42-game regular season win streak. Now with October 5th’s humbling defeat, how will Alabama respond in the coming weeks?
The State of the Tide After the Loss
Alabama’s 41-34 victory over Georgia had propelled them up from No. 4 to No. 1 in the AP Poll, leapfrogging the likes of Texas and Ohio State. Fast forward one week later and the Tide have now slipped all the way down to No. 7, behind still unbeaten teams like Oregon, Penn State, and Miami. They were even surpassed by the Georgia team they beat just a week and a half ago. Ripple effects were seen elsewhere, including in the Heisman Trophy odds of Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe, who dropped from being the betting favorite, all the way down to having the 4th-best odds at +1100.
The majority of the blame for the defeat should be placed on the Crimson Tide defense, which surrendered 40 points and 418 total yards to a team that had previously lost to Georgia State just three weeks prior. Alabama’s defense had also been gouged against Georgia, giving up 519 yards and 34 points in an offensively-led winning effort. That performance was obviously more forgivable since it was against one of the best offenses in the country. Nevertheless, having two poor defensive games in a row is undeniably concerning for a team that has aspirations of winning a national championship.
A Tough Schedule Ahead After South Carolina
Looking ahead, the Crimson Tide will have plenty of opportunities to rebound from this embarrassing loss, but there will also be many roadblocks that could potentially cause another slip-up. The Tide are currently three touchdown favorites in this Saturday’s home tout against South Carolina, a matchup that looks like a perfect opportunity for Kalen DeBoer’s squad to bounce back. However, Alabama will have a particularly tough stretch of games following this week’s matchup. The Crimson Tide will play three straight games against ranked teams: at No. 8 Tennessee, vs. No. 21 Missouri, and at No. 13 LSU. They also have another tough road test against No. 18 Oklahoma later on in November.
It appears quite obvious that the Crimson Tide will have to make some serious adjustments if they are to make it through the rest of the schedule unscathed. They might have to win out in order to make the SEC Championship Game. The race is currently bloated with razor-thin margins with Alabama being joined by teams like Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, Ole Miss, and more in hopes of earning the coveted conference title, which also earns a top-four seed in the College Football Playoff. Time will tell if Kalen DeBoer can keep the Crimson Tide in a position of perennial championship contention like his predecessor Nick Saban had done.
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