The Alabama Crimson Tide’s defense had no fight in them on Saturday during a 31-17 loss to the unranked Florida State Seminoles. Two-time national champion A.J. McCarron, one of Nick Saban’s favorite quarterbacks during his time in Tuscaloosa, saw the issue first-hand on the sideline.
What McCarron saw was a Kane Wommack-coached defense under Kalen DeBoer’s leadership that felt the offense needed to bail them out.
“There's just no – there's no excitement. It was weird. I just didn't understand it, when Bama scored. It was a quick excitement, but it was just dead. It wasn't like, hey, we're going out and we're proving something right here. It was, ‘Hey, kickoff team and defense.’ There was just no excitement. It was such a weird, weird vibe,” McCarron said on The Dynasty Podcast.
“Especially when they go down and score quick on their first series -- [the defense] comes to the sidelines and it's like, I hope the offense saves us and gets some momentum back. It was almost like the defense just lost all confidence and faith, and they had this mindset of 'Oh no, they're just gonna score at will.' It was a weird, weird deal.
“No nastiness up front whatsoever. We're just getting pushed around. Then you go to the defensive side – same thing. Just getting pushed around. They can do whatever runs they want. It was just – it was ugly."
There are seven players from the 2023 recruiting class, and Deontae Lawson is still starting from the 2022 class. Cracks were starting to show in the foundation of the “Bama Standard” during the latter Nick Saban years under Pete Golding and Kevin Steele, but that’s only the conversation because of six particular losses: in 2021 to the Texas A&M Aggies and eventual champion Georgia Bulldogs, in 2022 to the LSU Tigers and Tennessee Volunteers, and in 2023 to the Texas Longhorns and eventual champion Michigan Wolverines.
DeBoer already has four worse losses than that, to the likes of FSU this past weekend, a far less talented 2024 Michigan squad, an injury-depleted Oklahoma Sooners last November, and, of all teams, the Vanderbilt Commodores last October. He has five losses overall in 14 games.
These players are not responding as they used to under the previous regime. Accountability, or the lack thereof, is the prevailing narrative for the program right now.
Crimson Tide receiver Germie Bernard was asked about it, and he alluded to players not having enough pride to contend with their opposition.
“Y'all gotta have that pride when y'all go out there and play. This dude is trying to stop you from feeding your family. You’re fixing to let this dude stop you from feeding your family? Nah. I can’t let that happen,” Bernard said.
Bernard wasn’t there for the Saban era. DeBoer brought Bernard with him from the Washington Huskies. But even he understands there’s a problem.
Saban’s guys know it. DeBoer’s guys know it. There’s a malaise in Tuscaloosa that needs to be addressed one way or another.