Alabama Football: Complacency can make Tide turn Clemson

The Clemson Tigers suffered their first upset loss to Syracuse, putting their playoff hopes in jeopardy. Will complacency do the same to Alabama football?

ICYMI: Anxiety can be Kryptonite to a super team like Alabama

It has the same kind of stink, doesn’t it? The odor of upset.

Alabama’s Homecoming week game against the Arkansas Razorbacks smells more like a pig roast than a competitive matchup. Clemson likely smelled fresh orange juice to go with this weekend’s feast, as they got ready to play Syracuse Orange football, last night.

That is, until Clemson was handed their first loss of the season, 24-27.

Three days ago, Brad Shepard of Bleacher Report wrote an article about when all of the undefeated teams in college football would finally lose. He stated that the Tigers’ first loss would be “vs. Alabama in the national championship game, Jan. 8, 2018. Everybody knew head coach Dabo Swinney could recruit, but it’s still difficult to believe the Tigers aren’t missing a beat after losing generational talent Deshaun Watson at quarterback and all those playmakers.”

Shepard also stated, “If you’re looking for a loss for this Alabama team, look again.”

To be fair to Shepard, almost nobody would have predicted the upset that followed, last night. ESPN had Clemson at 90.9% favorites to win the game. Instead, Syracuse outscored Clemson for two of the four quarters, a field goal more in total. Syracuse controlled the ball over nine minutes more than Clemson for 440 yards of offense to Clemson’s 317.

It was a close matchup that should never have been close.

How does Clemson lose to a team that was playing .500 football for the season? It’s simple: Syracuse looked like they wanted it more. Syracuse played tough from the opening whistle, while Clemson looked more like they were still recovering from last week’s game against Wake Forest.

Things just got worse for Clemson “when quarterback Kelly Bryant suffered a concussion in the final minute of the first half. He was knocked down hard by defensive tackle Chris Slayton and lay on the turf for a couple of minutes before being helped to the locker room.” However, Bryant was not lighting up the sky with an aerial assault before the injury, as he only mustered 116 yards passing and minus eight yards running.

“The Tigers tried a trick play with time winding down, but Will Spiers threw an incompletion on a fake punt.” The mighty Clemson Tigers, defending national champions of college football, resorted to running a fake punt play to salvage the game and, possibly, their playoff hopes.

Is that Alabama football’s fate? Are they taking Arkansas too lightly? Is it possible that the herd of the Crimson Tide will be swept away by a struggling Tennessee or LSU? Will Mercer come out of nowhere and knock off the national champions of two years ago?

If it was not for the Texas A&M game, last Saturday, one might have said it was possible. Instead, complacency was replaced with anger and desire for vindication.

Last week’s game against the Aggies was the wakeup call that Alabama needed. Texas A&M completed miracle big plays just like Orange football did last night, but the Crimson Tide still came out on top. While Alabama’s defenders flushed the opposing quarterback out of the pocket multiple times, the secondary looked like they were still under some jet lag as they tried keeping up with the Aggies receivers breaking routes to help out their QB. Alabama’s offense put points on the scoreboard, but they had a hard time moving the ball consistently with Texas A&M defenders playing smash-mouth football from the opening whistle.

Much like Syracuse did to Clemson.

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Clemson looked like they were going through the motions to start the first quarter, but it was only after the quarter ended with Syracuse winning by a touchdown did the Tigers realize that they were in a real fight. By then, it was too late and they lost their starting quarterback for the rest of the game, by the end of the half.

If complacency was going to make Alabama football a victim, it would have happened last Saturday. All it has done now is refocused the Crimson Tide players to play each play like it is their last. Homecoming could not have come at a better time. Instead of the players going through the motions and taking the Razorbacks lightly, Alabama now has a clear purpose: beat Arkansas to a bloody pulp on every down to make a statement to the rest of college football that the Crimson Tide are the best team in the nation.

However, Alabama better remember that Clemson thought the same thing last night, thinking that Syracuse was ripe for beating the blood-orange pulp out of them. Confidence is good, but it can lead to complacency. Never take an opponent lightly, especially one that’s felt disrespected and overlooked. Those are the teams that have nothing to lose and everything to gain by putting up the fight of their lives. They play loose, with no fear of failure. No anxiety. Just determination.

Next: Crimson Tide v. Arkansas TV/Radio and Info notes

The Razorbacks, and many other teams on Alabama’s schedule, have nothing to lose. However, Alabama’s possible fear of failure has been replaced with the determination to shove a national championship down many doubters’ throats and ask them how it tastes. No complacency here, anymore.

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