'People get upset that we get criticized - but why wouldn't we get criticized if we don't play well? People call me and say, 'Man, this guy's a jerk for saying this about you.' No, he really isn't. 'I think we didn't play great,' Saban said Wednesday. Instead of striking back at critics in the wake of the Crimson Tide's home loss to Texas in Week 2, however, Saban hit a tone of acceptance with regard to the heat his program is receiving. © 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc.Alabama coach Nick Saban is notorious for using press conferences as a pulpit to impart messages to his team and fanbase, often taking his chance in front of the microphones and cameras to alter unfavorable narratives and motivate players. Tennessee has only one loss, albeit an ugly one at Georgia on Saturday, but would the committee take a team that failed to win its division over a one-loss Big 12 or Pac-12 champion? Oregon is now firmly in play if it wins out, particularly with a Pac-12 championship game win over USC. But that’s no lock considering the Horned Frogs may be road underdogs the next two weeks. If TCU finishes undefeated it will get in. Right now, there are two safe bets to reach the last four: Georgia and the Michigan/Ohio State winner. The Tigers’ only path was by going undefeated, and that ended in a humiliating 35-14 loss at average Notre Dame. Getty Images Toothless Tigersįor the first year in the history of the playoff, Clemson and Alabama won’t be in it.

Alabama quarterback Bryce Young (9) is sacked by LSU’s Mekhi Wingo (92) during the second half on Nov. Imagine that sentence in August or early September? Then again, this season hasn’t played out how anyone, even the most die-hard Alabama haters, could have expected. The result is this underwhelming season that could result in a third-place finish in the SEC West if Alabama can’t win at Ole Miss on Saturday. There were nine infractions for 92 yards on Saturday and a whopping 17 for 130 yards in the loss at Tennessee. Alabama has been far too mistake-prone all season, a team that commits stupid penalties at the wrong times.

The offense has lacked a big-play receiver all year, asking Young to do everything.

Quality offenses have exposed the defense. Had Alabama escaped LSU, and somehow run the table to earn a trip to the SEC title game, it would’ve only been setting itself up to get destroyed by the far better and deeper Bulldogs. That high-scoring loss at Tennessee doesn’t look as good after the Volunteers were manhandled by Georgia on Saturday. It nearly lost at home to three-win Texas A&M. It was outplayed by mediocre Texas, sans starting quarterback Quinn Ewers in a narrow road win. Really, Alabama is fortunate it only has two losses. Alabama football coach Nick Saban reacts during a loss to LSU on Nov. “I’m responsible for all this stuff,” he said. It raises questions whether he has lost his fastball at the age of 71, Saban admitting Saturday night this was on him. It is unequivocally the low point of his dynastic tenure at Alabama. This is, without question, the most disappointing season of Nick Saban’s dominance in Tuscaloosa, the earliest his team has been eliminated from the playoff since the system began eight years ago. Alabama won’t even sniff the playoff this year, with two conference losses in the same season for just the second time since 2011. Instead, this loaded group’s season ended Saturday night in Death Valley, on a gutsy two-point conversion in overtime, LSU taking over the lead of the SEC West in dramatic fashion.

The regular season was supposed to be a series of scrimmages. The College Football Playoff was the baseline for this team. It had the two best players in the country, reigning Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young and defensive dynamo Will Anderson Jr., added impact transfers like Jahmyr Gibbs of Georgia Tech and Eli Ricks of LSU, and had Nick Saban, the best coach in the sport’s history, patrolling the sideline. It received 54 of a possible 63 first-place votes in the Associated Press poll. Miami's Mario Cristobal wasn't alone in Saturday full of coaching malpracticeįlaws put Georgia's three-peat hopes in grave dangerĪlabama wasn’t just the preseason favorite. Washington-Oregon classic shows Pac-12 legit title threat in ironic twist Lincoln Riley now making excuses as USC wastes Caleb Williams' talent with 2023 flop Big East faces key season with ever-changing college landscape

Saban press conference today