Monday in Tuscaloosa starts with the same thing every Crimson Tide fan had circled the moment the Georgia game ended: Tennessee. Hate week is here, and that means the annual revival of Irvin Carney’s blunt little prophecy.
“If this team has what I think it has, they will go to Knoxville and destroy that team.”
That’s where the conversation sits after Alabama’s loss to Georgia. The Tide didn’t come away with the win, but they also didn’t get buried, and the sense around the program is that the gap between Alabama and Georgia is no longer the chasm it looked like at the end of last season.
Even in defeat, Alabama showed enough to suggest it can still line up with the Bulldogs. The bigger issue now is cleaning up what Georgia exposed, especially in the middle of the defense, where Alabama got pushed around both on the ground and through the air.
That’s the part that has to be fixed before Saturday. Tennessee may not bring the most explosive offense Josh Heupel has had, but the Vols will still try to run it straight at Alabama between the tackles.
The Tide will also be dealing with a week full of injury watch, with Ryan Coleman-Williams, Racin Delgatty and Terrance Green all banged up. Coleman-Williams, in particular, appeared to be dealing with a concussion.
One person who doesn’t sound too rattled by the loss is Alex Scarborough, who isn’t especially concerned about quarterback Keelon Russell’s response.
I’m not terribly worried about Keelon’s psyche. That dude seems to be quite resilient, and I expect him to grow even more after dissecting the Georgia tape. Delgatty in particular would be a tough loss.
Russell had a rough opening stretch against Georgia before settling in, but he still didn’t finish the job. How he responds from here will be one of the biggest tests for this young Alabama team, especially with a road trip to Knoxville looming after the Bulldogs game. The trip has not been kind to the Tide in recent years, and this time they’ll walk into a Tennessee team that looks far less dangerous than some of Heupel’s earlier groups.
The standings and the polls didn’t do much to change Alabama’s situation. The Crimson Tide stayed put in the rankings, and the week around them shook loose plenty of movement elsewhere.
Texas slid six spots to No. 7 after losing the Red River Showdown to Oklahoma. LSU fell 12 places to No. 22 after a loss at Kentucky, and Florida dropped out entirely after losing at South Carolina.
Kentucky had the biggest jump of the week, climbing from unranked to No. 15.
UCLA wasn’t far behind, moving up nine spots after beating Oregon on the road. Oregon, meanwhile, fell out of the poll after dropping to 3-2.
In Creg Stephenson’s SEC power rankings, Georgia and Alabama sit at the top.
Eddie Timanus of USA Today sees Alabama’s position much the same way, even after Saturday’s loss. The reasoning is simple enough: with Georgia still the only unbeaten team in the conference, a narrow defeat doesn’t wreck Alabama’s resume.
And the rest of the schedule still gives the Tide a path. There’s no Ole Miss and no Texas left on the slate, even if Auburn is still Auburn and road dates at Tennessee and LSU are waiting. Ten wins would almost certainly be enough to get Alabama into the playoff, and 11 would likely set up a rematch with Georgia in Atlanta, with a first-round bye on the line.
The bigger-picture view is why this loss stings but doesn’t change everything. Back in August, the schedule looked much harsher at this point than it does now.
In hindsight, Alabama may have already gotten through the toughest stretch. If the Tide play to their standard, finishing strong is still there for the taking.
Saturday night also brought an uglier scene after the game, when some Alabama fans threw trash onto the field. On Sunday night, Alabama athletics addressed it in a statement to AL.com.
“We are disappointed by the unacceptable behavior exhibited by some of the game’s attendees last night and are in the process of gathering information,” UA athletics said in the statement. “Alabama takes matters of fan conduct seriously and expects everyone at our events to demonstrate respect to the student-athletes, coaches, staff, officials and visitors. Such conduct will not be tolerated.”
In Other News...
SEC Response To Alabamas Georgia Frustration Wont Ease Many Fans
The aftermath of Alabamas game with Georgia has turned less on the final outcome than on the officiating decisions that left plenty of Crimson Tide fans frustrated. Several calls were disputed during the game, including a no-call on a potential pass interference, and the conversation spilled into the public view as SEC commissioner Greg Sankey addressed how the league handles those kinds of controversies.
Sankey said the conference does not comment on judgment calls made by officials, while also stressing that officiating is difficult and that the SEC will review errors involving rule application. For Alabama fans still looking for clarity, though, that distinction is unlikely to calm much of the noise around a game that already had enough contentious moments to linger well beyond the final whistle. [Read more 🡒]
National Analyst Reignites Georgia Alabama Officiating Debate After Bulldogs Win
Joel Klatt has stirred the pot again in the aftermath of Georgias win over Alabama, using his podcast to revisit the kind of officiating debate that tends to linger long after the final whistle. The national analyst pointed to a non-called pass interference in the fourth quarter as the clearest example of what he felt went Georgias way, framing it as a moment that may have helped shape how the game played out.
For Alabama fans, the frustration is obvious because the loss already carried plenty of weight in a marquee matchup. Klatt did not go so far as to suggest the Crimson Tide were out of the national picture, though, making clear he still views Alabama as a legitimate College Football Playoff championship contender despite the controversy that followed the game. [Read more 🡒]
Nate Oats Signals Progress As Alabama Waits On Aden Holloway
Aden Holloways return to Alabama basketball is still on hold, but the situation around his suspension has moved in a more encouraging direction. Holloway is serving a five-game absence tied to a spring arrest on marijuana charges, a stretch that includes three exhibition games and two regular-season games, even though those charges were dismissed after he completed the Second Chance Program. He has already been reinstated to the roster, which at least gives Alabama a clearer path forward as it waits for the final green light.
Nate Oats and athletics director Greg Byrne have both spoken publicly about Holloways progress, a sign the program is tracking the situation closely rather than treating it as a distant off-field issue. For Alabama, the delay matters because Holloway is not just back in the system, he is still not allowed to play, leaving the Tide to manage the early schedule without him while the last step in the process plays out. [Read more 🡒]