Like 2021, Alabama football hopes Iron Bowl lesson, reality check lead to SEC title
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama won an iconic game on Saturday night at Auburn , but Nick Saban is looking at things more holistically. Yes, Alabama survived to win the game 27-24, but it required some late-game magic to win.
“I can’t tell you how proud I am of the guys and how good I feel about winning the game,” Saban said. “But as a coach, you always look at things like how did you play? Because we’re going to have to play at a higher level on a more consistent basis if we’re going to have success in the future, and that’s what you always evaluate. That’s the reality check that we all have to make.”
Saban’s hope is that his Alabama team’s reality check at Auburn sets the stage for a strong performance against top-ranked and undefeated Georgia in Saturday’s SEC Championship Game, which is shaping up to be an unofficial College Football Playoff elimination game. And there’s a recent precedent that Alabama (11-1, 8-0 SEC) can lean on.
Saturday’s win at Auburn is similar to Alabama’s 2021 win at Jordan-Hare Stadium, which came a week before an SEC championship showdown against Georgia. As a heavy favorite, Alabama largely struggled throughout that game before Bryce Young ’s 98-yard drive late in the fourth quarter was the catalyst for a 24-22 win in four overtimes.
This year, it took a muffed punt recovery late in the fourth quarter and one of the most improbable plays imaginable — a fourth-and-goal conversion from the 31-yard line for a touchdown to propel Alabama to a win and set up a heavyweight matchup in Atlanta.
The 2021 result against Georgia was an emphatic 41-24 win by Alabama in its best performance of the season. Can that experience be helpful in this week’s preparation?
“We didn’t, sort of, channel all of the passion into great execution (on Saturday night),” Saban said on Sunday’s SEC championship teleconference. “I think that was very similar to (the 2021 Auburn game). To get our players to have a good perspective on building on the things they did well and improving the things that we didn’t do well so that we can channel passion into positive execution on a more consistent basis. I think that was the focus a couple of years ago and certainly will be the focus in this game.”
There’s a possibility that Alabama’s offense could be short-handed against Georgia. Starting running back Jase McClellan left Saturday’s game in the fourth quarter with a foot injury and left the stadium in a walking boot and on crutches. Saban said McClellan tweaked an existing foot injury that he has been playing through and is considered day-to-day, and the next 48 hours will determine if McClellan can progress enough to practice in some capacity and ultimately play.
The Georgia offense is dealing with injury issues of its own: Starters/contributors Brock Bowers (tight end), Ladd McConkey and Rara Thomas (wide receivers) and Tate Ratledge (offensive line) are considered day-to-day as well after none of them played in Georgia’s regular-season finale against Georgia Tech .
On Sunday, Saban acknowledged the challenge ahead, regardless of who’s available, describing Georgia as “the best team in the country” with an SEC record 29-game winning streak, which was set in its 31-23 win over Georgia Tech. The last team to defeat the Bulldogs was Alabama in that 2021 SEC championship, but what happened several weeks later in the national championship, a 33-18 win by Georgia, could lead to another lesson this week: the importance of finishing games. That has been a trademark of Alabama’s team this season, and it’s paramount that it carries over to the most important game of the season.
“I think we were ahead 18-13 with 10-11 minutes to go in the game, and they just outplayed us tremendously in the last minutes,” Saban said of that championship loss. “There’s always things that haunt you when you don’t have success, and they outplayed us the last 10-11 minutes of the game, so you always want your team to be able to finish.”
(Top photo of Nick Saban: Kevin C. Cox / )
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