By: Robert Craft

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

I’d have a hard time saying anything positive about Alabama.

In fact, that debacle against Florida State reminded me a lot of that FSU-Georgia Tech game last year, when a team didn’t just lose but also got dominated along the lines.

This was not a result you could blame on a first-time starting quarterback. Ty Simpson was fine when he wasn’t running for his life. The Noles looked like a better team in every aspect of the game.

Could it be that FSU will go on to win the national title, and Alabama’s loss makes more sense in context? Perhaps. Could the Tide look much better three weeks from now against Georgia, especially if they get back top running back Jam Miller and proven defensive tackle Tim Keenan III? Of course.

But there’s not much recent precedent for a ranked team getting humiliated in its opener, then turning around and having an amazing season.

A few recent examples, in reverse chronological order.

2023: No. 8 Florida State 45, No. 5 LSU 24. Though Jayden Daniels went on to win the Heisman, LSU went 9-3 in the regular season and would have missed a 12-team College Football Playoff.

2023: Duke 28, No. 9 Clemson 7. Dabo’s team finished 4-4 in the ACC.

2021: No. 1 Alabama 44, No. 14 Miami 13. The Canes went 7-5, and Manny Diaz got fired.

2018: No. 25 LSU 33, No. 8 Miami 17. The Canes went 7-6, and Mark Richt retired.

Alabama fans looking for a ray of optimism might recall 2016, when the top-ranked Tide destroyed No. 20 USC 52-6. The Trojans went on to win the Rose Bowl.

But there was a clear spark to that run: At 1-2, Clay Helton benched QB Max Browne for redshirt freshman Sam Darnold, who went 9-1 from there. Again, QB was not the problem for the Tide in Tallahassee last weekend.

I do believe Nick Saban got out at just the right time. The ability to sustain that level of year-in, year-out dominance, particularly in the SEC, seems next to impossible in an age when everyone can leave at any time.

Ohio State could become an exception, simply because it’s long recruited at a higher level than anyone else in the Big Ten. (Michigan included, thought that’s starting to change.) The razor is much thinner between Alabama/Georgia/LSU/Texas.

After week one FSU is playoff contender, and Alabama is definitely a pretender.

That’d be poetic, but no, only the first part seems feasible at the moment.