"Who do the Tide have this week?"
"South Carolina."
"That'll be easy."
I heard that at least a dozen times this weekend from fans and spent way too much time explaining to them that Alabama usually plays down to its competition and that this was a perfect trap game. It will be closer than you think, I kept replying—way too close. Kalen DeBoer and the Tide are susceptible to losing to unranked teams as double-digit favorites. Remember .500 Oklahoma last year? Alabama fans haven't forgotten, as everyone else has.
After the initial Alabama pick-six, I expected the Alabama team that played Georgia to show up and dominate the game, but I was quickly reminded of the fact that Alabama and Kalen DeBoer have a history of not showing up against unranked opponents. Ty Simpson had an off day, missing some of his receivers as they won on their routes. The receivers returned the favor by dropping some of his passes. The running game could not get anything going all game until the game-tying drive. The defense could not seem to get off the field in the second half and was exhausted. Nothing seemed to be going in the Tide's favor. It seemed as if the 2024 Tide that showed up on the road to Vanderbilt and Oklahoma last year was rearing its head again.
Yet, the Tide did not fold and ended up winning the game in the final minutes that they had no right to win. If this were the 2024 team against Oklahoma and Vanderbilt, which is what this game had the feeling of as fans were watching, they do not get the game-tying touchdown and two-point conversion, the strip of Sellers on the Gamecocks' ensuing drive, and the Germie Bernard rushing touchdown to seal it.
This is a new Alabama Crimson Tide team that is playing up to its old regime's standard. Win the games you are supposed to win. Alabama showed so much resiliency to overcome the deficit and turn things around in the final minutes to pull off the comeback. Ryan Grubb got into his bag of tricks, and the offense executed well with their backs against the wall. It wasn't pretty, but a win is a win. Fans may be upset and expect more as the team gets into its well-deserved bye week, but they should be appreciative that DeBoer and his team fought back to keep their playoff hopes alive and didn't tank them like the Vanderbilt and Oklahoma games last year, where they got down and stayed down.
This is the 2025 Crimson Tide, finding ways to win games and fighting back in the face of adversity instead of folding. Winning despite playing your worst. That's a quality of a championship-caliber team.