Going into their game against Florida State, Alabama was expected to handle the Seminoles, but instead, the Seminoles handled the Tide.
On the opening drive, the Tide and new quarterback Ty Simpson looked masterful, marching down the field to take a 7-0 lead. After that, it was downhill for Alabama.
Former Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn, who is now the offensive coordinator for Florida State, made the Alabama defense look inept. In short, the Seminoles ran the ball down the Tide’s throats, and when they needed to make stops, they couldn’t. Even when the Tide cut the lead to seven, the Seminoles went back to the formula that had worked all day, which was running the football.
The Tide’s offense didn’t look bad, but they aren’t the type of offense that is explosive. Ty Simpson looked good at times, but other times he looked slow, and some of his decision-making was called into question.
This is not the Alabama we are used to seeing. We are used to seeing a disciplined defense and an explosive offense; today, we saw neither. What we saw is a coach who still hasn’t figured it out yet, and it may appear that the bright lights of the SEC may be too much for him.
Furthermore, the team didn’t look prepared. This is not Alabama football. Not the type of play Tide fans are used to seeing after 17 years of having Nick Saban.
But this started before Saban left; the only difference is that in 2023, the Tide was able to pull itself together and get better as the season went along.
If you want to know when the dynasty died, it died on January 10, 2024.