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TUSCALOOSA, Al. – In the end, everything seemed to be going according to plan. Tua Tagovailoa scored touchdowns to extend his lead in the Heisman Trophy race. The defense has turned out to be a stone wall at the proper time. Alabama beat Auburn Saturday by a 52-21 win.
That was what everyone was waiting for. Dominance. Perfection. A well-oiled machine with a star quarterback and a defense that tightens like a snake. By the end of the night, the Crimson Tide had gone from pre-season to regular season, just like the No. 1 team in the sport and no one had blinked.
A victory next weekend against Georgia in the league match of the SEC would constitute a fifth consecutive stay in the playoffs of college football. Heck, a defeat might not even prevent Nick Saban's team from going into the semifinals in Dallas or Miami. Barring a strange turn of events, Alabama will be the best chance of winning everything again.
There have been some very good teams from Alabama who have won the championship under Saban, but this is the first time since 2009 to finish the regular season without defeat. The question of whether it is the "best" ever seen was asked months ago and nothing has since happened to support the opposite argument.
But in the process, the understanding of how we got here has fallen away. Because four months ago, there was no clear starting quarter, no star anchoring the defensive line that anyone was aware of, no lock to say that he It was a team dedicated to greatness. There were more questions than answers at the time.
Nothing has been more hotly debated in the summer than the one under QB1. Tagovailoa was an enigma, a hero for a football half and an overtime. He had won the Alabama national championship at halftime against Georgia, but the rest of his record was lean. Internally, the coaches were wondering how he would react to the pressure. He was the favorite to dislodge Jalen Hurts, who was SEC Offensive Player of the Year and 26-2 as a starter, was far from a guarantee.
Saban worried about the decision. In the spring and summer, he waited again and again. He was impatient for questions about the competition and had even launched the idea of a two – quarter system. And when he finally signaled to Tagovailoa during the opening match against Louisville, no official announcement was made, which meant it was not a decision engraved in the plate.
But finally, Tagovailoa made the choice easy. From the moment he launched this first touchdown pass like Houdini's to Jerry Jeudy against the Cardinals, it was over. The secret was unveiled. Tagovailoa could make shots that no one in an Alabama uniform ever had before. His sense of play, his improvisational skills were undeniable. A week-long process took only a part, and Saban named Tagovailoa as departing the following Monday.
With Tagovailoa under center and a group of talented receivers including Jeudy, DeVonta Smith, Henry Ruggs III and Jaylen Waddle, the offense has begun. The tight final position, a long black hole for production under Saban, became a threat with Irv Smith Jr. engulfing touchdowns. Damien Harris and a talented team of half-battles continued to do their job, but the speed at which Alabama scored was overwhelming. For the first time, a team trained by Saban was more identified by his attack than by his defense.
Part of that was the transition occurring on the defensive side of the ball, though. Their unity was changing, starting with a change at the top of experienced Jeremy Pruitt (Tennessee) to the first unproven coordinator, Tosh Lupoi. Da Ron Payne, the anchor of the team at the nose guard, was gone. Minkah Fitzpatrick, perhaps the best defender in the history of Tuscaloosa, had also left for the NFL. It was the same for the other three starters in high school.
Fortunately for Saban and Lupoi, the first half of the season left some time to develop. The offensive was right for Ole Miss, Texas A & M and Arkansas. A 58-21 victory in Tennessee revealed some flaws, but they were easily forgotten due to Tagovailoa's continued progression towards the Heisman Trophy.
When leaving the next week, something changed. Deionte Thompson and Xavier McKinney had quietly become one of SEC's best safety tandems and the nose guard Quinnen Williams made a name for himself among NFL fans and scouts. Payne's former double, Williams, has gone from a slightly under-sized reflection to the heartbeat of Alabama's defense and perhaps even the most prominent defender of college football.
In a top-five match with LSU coming out of the starting position, the defense had its declaration game. Feeling neglected and certainly annoyed by all the attention given to the attack, Williams and Co. dominated the Tigers at Baton Rouge. LSU had negative rushes in the fourth quarter race. The only time his attack sniffed the end zone was when the match was out of control, and even then, the linebacker, midfielder, linebacker, Mack Wilson, is done intercept.
Shyheim Carter, a neglected DB in a neglected high school, seemed to speak for everyone when he wrote "NUMBER 1 DEFENSE" on his black eye. And after launching a white game, who was going to argue with him? The only piece allegedly missing from the Alabama puzzle had fallen into place.
There have been some small scares since, of course. The Citadelle was well beaten for a half and Auburn even made some nice plays early in the Iron Bowl, but they were no match for Alabama. When the defense weakened against its rivals, Tagovailoa and the offensive inevitably parried to score a goal – once on a superb Tagovailoa run and once again on a quick pass for Ruggs, who took it put on the ground to pay. Out of half-time, with only 3 points in advance, Tagovailoa handed a dagger in the form of a touchdown pass to Jeudy.
The 75-yard throw at Jeudy was like a Heisman proverbial moment, but Tagovailoa's entire season featured plays that seemed to be a big success for New York. On the ensuing possession, he slipped a pass into Joshua Jacobs' bread basket that ended in six points and many, many more jaws released.
The reaction was extreme: Alabama, a team that presents itself as an avalanche and overwhelms everything it comes into contact with. It was late Saturday night that beating Auburn by 31 points seemed like an understatement.
There is no guarantee that Alabama 's championship race will continue, of course, but nothing will be announced for it to stop anytime soon. The questions that have been asked before have received a brilliant response, a quarter to the defense and so on. This is the point where the only thing that is asked these days is where this team is added to the list of all times.
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