Alabama Football: Georgia site claims Crimson Tide fears the Dawgs
By Ronald Evans
Being associated with a back-to-back college football National Champion must carry some side effects that have been previously unknown. I don’t remember it happening when Alabama Football went back-to-back in 2011 and 2012. Apparently, circumstances have changed and the result is similar to the delusions that befall high-altitude mountain climbers.
What the above has to do with the SEC Championship game is explained below. First, let’s consider an advisory for all Alabama football fans. Be careful about where you place your attention this week. There’s a lot of nonsense out there.
One milder example is what Colin Cowherd said about Jalen Milroe. Cowherd, pontificating on the Playoffs, categorized Jalen Milroe as a weak quarterback. Maybe Cowherd does not watch much college football and does not know that ‘weak’ Jalen Milroe is CFB’s third-highest-rated QB.
A louder, though predictable assessment came from Danny Kanell.
Georgia is gonna boat race Bama next week. Thankfully I snatched up UGa -4.
— Danny Kanell (@dannykanell) November 26, 2023
Back in September, after Alabama Football lost to Texas, Kanell stated,
"We need to be honest about Bama instead of trying to sugarcoat this game and talk about them getting to the playoffs. They just got pushed around at home. They have issues at QB. They are not disciplined. Their days of dominating are done."
In fairness to Kanell (who may or may not deserve it), the Crimson Tide has not been its usual dominating self this season. But a 10-game winning streak, with a strong resume of wins over ranked teams, beats the resumes of some other Playoff contenders.
Alabama Football and Fearing Georgia
Dawn of the Dawg is a Georgia fansite. It is part of the same network of sites as Bama Hammer. The site does a good job covering the Georgia football program – and like us, it does so without the burden of having to pretend to be objective.
Like the harsh claims I have made about the Auburn, Tennesse, LSU, Texas A&M, and Ole Miss (when Freeze was the coach) programs, any contention made by Dawn of the Dawg about the Crimson Tide is within bounds.
In a Monday post, Dawn of the Dawg stated,
"… the Saban era at Alabama is going to end soon. The man is 72 years old; he might have five years left in the tank…The erosion of time is starting to show as well. The coaching staff is not as good as it once was, and the players are not as disciplined as they once were. Alabama is in decline."
That is fair enough, even if all Alabama fans disagree. A few sentences later was an outlandish claim that cannot go unchallenged.
"The simple fact is that Alabama fears Georgia now."
It is nonsense to suggest that fear will have anything to do with which team wins on Saturday. No Alabama player, like no Georgia player, will compete in the game fearing anyone. Sure, there will be many instances when players get the upper hand physically or mentally against the opponent. But fear will not be a factor. Perhaps it is in the rosters of lesser teams but not among regular playing contributors from Tuscaloosa or Athens.
It is possible Dawn of the Dawg was commenting about Alabama football fans and not players. I would have accepted that and moved on except for one other claim in the same post.
"Kirby Smart once again proves he is a genius."
No doubt, Smart has become an outstanding coach who has made the most of learning from and copying the GOAT. But ‘genius’ is so overblown to be laughable. If I wanted to equally distance an observation from reality, I could say, that without Nick Saban’s influence, Kirby Smart would have been fortunate to have become the head coach at Valdosta State.
