Against Ole Miss, Alabama faces its second statement game of the season

Something is very wrong in Tuscaloosa. You know it. I know it. Alabama fans know it. Alabama players know it. Lane Kiffin, the agent of chaos whose Ole Miss Rebels play Alabama this weekend, is reveling in it. And Nick Saban is coming to terms with it.

“We’ve had some tough stretches before and players have bounced back, but I think everybody has got to make a commitment to doing that,” Saban said Monday. “It’s not easy. We’ve got really tough competition coming up, but everybody has got to challenge themselves, I think, to be their best as a player, be their best as a team guy, be their best as a leader.”

It’s usually not a great sign when a team has two referendum games in its first month, but that’s where Alabama is right now. The Tide failed their first test against Texas two weeks ago. They’ll get a shot at redemption this weekend against Ole Miss, and by Saturday evening we’ll have a much better idea of the depths of Alabama’s troubles.

This being Alabama — and this being college football — the rumors, implications and innuendo around the 2023 Tide are thick enough to grab. But you don’t need to dig into all the palace-intrigue speculation around this team to see the scope of their problems; straight facts are more than enough.

Alabama is 2-1 on the season after a loss to Texas in Tuscaloosa and an uninspired slog of a win over South Florida. After an entire offseason spent debating the quarterback position, Saban has already played three different quarterbacks, with results ranging from cringeworthy to barely passable. Alabama’s offensive line, packed with four- and five-star recruits, is as stout as a weathered picket fence, its secondary was an on-ramp against Texas, and its receiving corps can’t manage separation or big-play creation. To top it all off, the team called a…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2023-09-19 16:50:54

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