Alabama Football: More questions than answers after two games against Texas

Alabama Football has struggled in road games for two straight seasons. The Crimson Tide have gone 6-3 in true road games over the last two years, and have struggled even more than this suboptimal record suggests. Four of those six wins came in one-possession games, including three that were decided by two points or less.

In road games, Alabama Football has had a difficult time staying focused. It has blown assignments, committed untimely turnovers, and been penalized at obscene rates. Bama fans were looking forward to that trend ending in 2023.

Unfortunately, the program and the fan base could be facing something even more concerning. If its most recent game is any indication, the Crimson Tide’s road woes could be bleeding over into home contests.

Alabama Football unable to flip the script on Texas

In 2022, Alabama Football went on the road to face the Texas Longhorns, a once-prestigious program that had largely disappointed for well over a decade.

With the projected no. 1 team in the sport, many Bama fans expected the Tide to make an example of Texas on their home field, but it never happened. Alabama struggled throughout the entire game, only just managing to narrowly escape a catastrophic early season defeat.

Texas and its fan base were able to put together a phenomenal road environment that afternoon, one that the Crimson Tide struggled mightily with. This game was a sign of things to come, as Bama would go on to have trouble in hostile environments all season, ultimately losing two road games.

In 2023, Alabama Football was supposed to return the favor. Texas was slated to come to Bryant-Denny Stadium to play under the lights in front of a frenzied crowd of over 100,000 Tide faithful. Bama and its fans were supposed to generate an environment that the Longhorns, long deemed as underachievers, simply couldn’t function in.

Instead, it was the Alabama Football team that couldn’t function. In the most highly-anticipated non-conference home game of the Nick Saban era, Bama looked like the away team.

The Crimson Tide reverted back to the undisciplined football it played in 2022, committing two costly turnovers to go with 10 penalties for 90 yards en route to a 34-24 loss. Meanwhile, the visiting Longhorns looked comfortable and confident, executing their game plan without a hitch.

How did this happen? And can it be quickly fixed?

It seems as though there has been a culture shift that has changed the fabric of the Alabama Football program, one that has done more harm than good.

Vulnerability is not a word often associated with Alabama Football under Saban, but it feels fitting at the current moment. If the Crimson Tide cannot find a way to restore the hunger that it once played with, it will have a difficult time competing at a championship level.