Alabama Football: Who buckles first Monday night loses

Alabama Football: In a shootout, score reversals surprise with no outcome assured. Rather than blinking at each score, look to see which team buckles first.

Oddsmakers predict Monday night will be an explosion of offense between Alabama Football and Ohio State. The game may well be a shootout, meaning lots of points with a last scoring drive winning the game. Neither head coach wants that, despite only one of them having a defensive focused football mind.

Nick Saban hates shootout games. Ryan Day is comfortable with them, but even Day has to worry if his Buckeyes’ defense can make enough stops to allow his offense to win a shootout.

Much more than offensive wizardry will be going on Monday night. An abundance of supremely talented athletes will fight, scratch, even claw to achieve team goals. At some point, the collective will of one team will be greater than the collective will of the other. That is more likely to happen on the last play than the first play, but a tipping point could come early.

An argument can be made the semi-final contest between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish was over after one play.

The game was still tied after the opening kickoff, but immediately the tone changed. The Fighting Irish got a major gut-check on toughness and physical play. They did not quit or fail to fight, but in the minds of some of their players and coaches, they must have questioned if they were tough enough to hang with the Tide.

Despite trying, they were not, and their appetite for returning kickoffs soon went away. It was a perfect example of one team imposing its will over another.

Will is imposed mentally as well as physically. When schemes and tactics repeatedly fail, human nature can lead to acquiescence. Nick Saban has a simpler and doubtless more effective way of communicating such battles of will to his players. He implores his guys to “make their asses quit.”

Hammer away at a large stone and eventually, it cracks. It is similar to how a structure buckles when its foundations become unstable. The result is a collapse.

One team will not collapse Monday night. Under Nick Saban, the Alabama football program builds teams that rarely collapse. Is it because Nick Saban’s guys are tougher than opponents? That’s part of it, but Saban has learned to use more than toughness. He has learned to use togetherness. Nick is quick to admit he loves the 2020 Alabama football team. Speaking after winning the SEC Championship game.

"This is the absolute best because I absolutely love this team. I love all the adversity that they had to overcome, and the resiliency that they went through to be able to do this. I appreciate it."

Throwing no shade at the Buckeyes, the Alabama Crimson Tide team is a tight family. One reason they care so much for each other is that they know how much their head coach cares for them. Quoting Saban again,

"I think the relentless sort of competitive spirit that this team has is something that you don’t really make or develop. It’s just the kind of people that they are."

That depth of unity is foundational. On Monday night, it will likely be the most important reason the Crimson Tide is not the first team to buckle.

For many years Nick Saban has told players to not think about winning a National Championship. Instead, they are to focus on dominating their opponent. On Monday night they can do both.