It's only the second weekend in September, and it's already been a wild ride for Alabama football through the season's first two weeks.
Alabama fell flat on its face in a disheartening season-opening loss to Florida State on the road in Week 1. It bounced back with a vengeance in Week 2, dominating a solid G5 program in UL Monroe, 73-0 in Tuscaloosa.
The roller coaster two weeks has caught the attention of ESPN national writer Bill Connelly, who wrote this about the Crimson Tide in his Week 3 preview:
"I wanted to highlight that the Crimson Tide have been maybe the single-most volatile team in the country through two weeks, first underachieving against SP+ projections by 28.3 points in a dismally unprepared loss to Florida State, then winning nearly every play and overachieving by 41.4 points in a 73-0 win over Louisiana-Monroe."Bill Connelly
That's an insane difference from Week 1 to Week 2. The numbers bear out what everyone saw with their eyes.
In Week 1 against FSU, Alabama looked like a team completely unprepared to play a football game. They looked woefully outmanned and outcoached against a hungrier football team.
In Week 2 - with the obvious caveat that the quality of opponent took a sharp dip - Alabama looked like a team ready to play, and hungry to prove a point. What transpired was a dominant victory beyond what anyone figured was possible against UL Monroe. It's largely ignored that Alabama was only favored by 35.5 points - they doubled the point spread. That's impressive, no matter the opponent.
The key against Wisconsin - and moving forward - is if Alabama can sustain its Week 2 performance
We are going to learn a lot about the quality of this Alabama team tomorrow against Wisconsin. The Badgers are good enough to expose any lingering flaws that the Crimson Tide has yet to work out. They should not be good enough to beat - or even really scare - Alabama.
The scoreboard is a lot less important than the process it takes to get there. Will Alabama sustain that hunger and fight it displayed last week? Will it fly to the ball defensively? Will the offensive line get a push and play angry?
This feels like a potential watershed type of game for the 2025 Crimson Tide. With Georgia waiting in two weeks, Alabama needs to find consistency across the board to ensure it is ready for the daunting task that awaits it in Athens on the other side of a bye week.
Alabama immediately lost part of its margin for error with a lifeless performance in Tallahassee. The remaining schedule is far too challenging to abide another.