It should be a scary proposition for the rest of college football that Alabama has yet to play its best football. That's in spite of winning six consecutive games, the last four of which have come against ranked SEC opponents with a combined record of 23-5. That record is 23-1 if you discount losses to Alabama.
Alabama is the only blemish on the resumes of Georgia, Vanderbilt, and Missouri.
And yet, Kalen DeBoer knows Alabama has yet to play its best football. They can still get a lot better. There's still a step from being really good to great that the Crimson Tide has yet to take. And if and when it does, this team would be a fully-formed machine capable of winning the National Championship.
"I still challenge the guys, and they believe it, that the world hasn't seen Bama's best yet," DeBoer said on Monday. "That's really what we're striving to do."
Kalen DeBoer believes the best is yet to come for Alabama this season
Alabama will be in a fight with complacency this week against South Carolina. It'll be a tell-tale sign of progress with DeBoer's ability to get the team ready to face perceived lesser opponents. We'd all like to believe he and the players have learned that lesson enough times by now, but we'll find out this weekend.
DeBoer has made a name for himself as a big-game coach. He deserves credit for getting Alabama to focus for four consecutive weeks against ranked SEC opponents, winning all four. But before a much-needed bye week, the Tide has to face a tough road challenge against a capable South Carolina team that is more talented than its record indicates.
Alabama has proven it can handle adversity. It has proven that it can respond to the doubts. But can it prove that it can when games when the whole world expects it to? Because there's plenty of rat poison out there about this team now. They are the perceived SEC favorite, a shoe-in for the College Football Playoff, and a real contender to win the National Championship.
Staying focused and blocking out the outside noise is key. It appears this team has the right leadership to keep the main thing the main thing.
They've been getting better every single week. They'll need that to continue this week against South Carolina. A road win over the Gamecocks may not seem like a key victory, but I believe it will tell us more than the last four weeks have.