When Iron Bowl week rolls around for Alabama Football, talk sometimes precedes action. The Alabama Football program intentionally and usually skillfully tries to stay above the fray. That ‘let your play do your talking’ mentality was in Tuscaloosa long before Nick Saban arrived.
Paul Bryant demanded it. Nick Saban has perfected it. Under Bryant, players were afraid to say anything off the Bryant script. Nick Saban, being a master of message, has taken the approach further. Saban has more than preached. He has instilled in his players an aversion to outside influence from fans, media and especially future opponents. Saban calls all such distractions external factors.
This week, injured Auburn quarterback, Bo Nix took a different approach. Nix cannot play in the Iron Bowl. Instead, he is taking on the Alabama Crimson Tide with his mouth. Nix did not travel with his teammates to Columbia, SC. He watched the game on television, as well as watching some of the Alabama vs. Arkansas game. Speaking about controversial calls in the Alabama game, Nix said,
"Just a few of those, obviously, controversial calls in that game raises some questions, for sure, I guess unless you’re an Alabama fan"
Asked to elaborate on whether the Crimson Tide gets favorable calls, he said,
"I mean, legitimately, I think you can watch the game and anybody unbiased will think that something is different. It is what it is. It’s kind of how it’s always been.That’s just part of the game. We’ve discussed it over and over and over. That’s not going to change, no matter what happens."
What Nix said is not particularly inflammatory. But, it is a far cry from what any Alabama football quarterback would ever say. For instance, when asked about Nix’s statement, Bryce Young said,
"That’s an external factor. That’s something as a team we don’t look at. We don’t control (those). So, whatever happens, that’s out of our control, Coach Saban’s always talking to us about control what we can control and focus on what we can do."
The Tide’s offensive leader was talking about officiating while ignoring (and thereby refusing to comment on) what an opponent said.
The Nix and Young examples are the latest in a long line of proofs of why the Alabama Crimson Tide is college football’s greatest program. And why Auburn never will be.
Alabama Football: No Iron Bowl upset this season
Measuring the off-field, boldness of Alabama football quarterbacks is impossible until they leave Tuscaloosa. Joe Namath’s ‘guarantee’ of a Super Bowl win is legendary. He had some of the same bravado as a Crimson Tide QB but never dared to exhibit it beyond his teammates. Bryant would have kicked his butt down to the scout team.