Rivals, media moving the goalposts on Alabama Football following Georgia win

Rivals and members of the media praying for Alabama Football's downfall is nothing new. Throughout Nick Saban's dynastic run at the Capstone there were plenty of premature obituaries written following a rare Tide loss or a string of games that weren't as dominant as we'd grown accustomed to.

It was always wishful thinking. That wishful thinking got a shred of hope upon Nick Saban's retirement announcement in January. There was a lot of uncertainty in the 49-hours between Saban's retirement and Athletic Director Greg Byrne hiring Kalen DeBoer as the successor. That uncertainty didn't stop amid poaching of the Alabama roster during the 30-day portal window that opened with the coaching change.

Saban was gone, Alabama was finished. ESPN Radio's Matt Moscona out of Baton Rouge was one of the main culprits, going on a radio rant proclaiming that Alabama was burning in February and the run of terror was over. It makes sense that an LSU homer would be hoping for that considering the Tide have bested the Tigers in 11 of the past 13 meetings.

Moscona may have been among the louder and more obnoxious voices, but he was far from the only one. Rival fans and affiliated media from other SEC towns were all hoping that Alabama would stumble back to the DuBose/Franchione/Shula days, ignoring the unique set of circumstances that put the Crimson Tide in that position.

In the wake of Alabama silencing those critics on Saturday night with a dominant first half against Georgia and subsequent 41-34 win over the big, bad, unbeatable Bulldogs, the goalposts have started to move, as expected.

Georgia's comeback in the second half that led to them ultimately taking the lead for about 20-seconds provided all the fuel that was needed to bring doubts about Alabama.

Of course, one of those happily moving the goalposts is Moscano, who went on the radio this week and proclaimed that DeBoer would be Alabama's Les Miles.

Miles took over for Saban at LSU in 2005 when Saban left to become the head coach of the Miami Dolphins, compiling a 114-34 record in Baton Rouge from 2005-2016. He led the Tigers to the BCS National Championship in 2007 and national runner up in 2011. Miles' LSU was consistently the biggest SEC West threat to Saban's Alabama during that run, but LSU fans soured on Miles in large part to his inability to beat Alabama post-2011.

Of course, aside from a flare-up in 2019 that was a perfect storm of Joe Burrow transferring in to throw to two generational wide receivers, LSU hasn't consistently performed as well post-Miles as they did during the peak of his run. Most Tigers fans are probably longing for the Miles era, and will more so if Brian Kelly's team suffers another two or three losses this year and misses the expanded playoff.

The SEC Network's Peter Burns, another noted LSU fan, immediately wanted to ponder the alternate reality of what the landscape might look like this week if Ryan Williams doesn't score a 75-yard touchdown and Georgia wins the game after the Tide blew a 28-0 lead.

Fox's Joel Klatt, infamous in Alabama circles for his "Alabama has a Nick Saban problem" take from back in 2015 following the home loss to Ole Miss, gave more credit to Georgia for almost beating Alabama than he gave the Tide for actually winning the game.

If there is anything that should make you feel good about Alabama's standing in college football right now, it is takes like these. Talking about Alabama still gets the views and the clicks, and opposing fans and media are sick of the Crimson Tide being on top.

They are ready to write the obituary for real. The goalposts won't stop moving, even if Alabama goes on to win the national championship this season. DeBoer will get compared to the likes of Les Miles and Larry Coker, winning big with someone else's players. They won't think he'll be able to sustain it long term, and despite Alabama holding the No. 2 recruiting class in the country right now, they'll still doubt whether DeBoer can recruit well enough to keep the talent stockpiled in Tuscaloosa.

And all that is just fine for the team and for the fans. Doubt is fuel. It's what fueled Alabama's dominance in the first half against Georgia last weekend. There's plenty of rat poison out there now, and DeBoer and company are going to great lengths to ensure the team is aware of it, but there's also still plenty of naysayers out there giving the team the ability to do what they do best.

Let them know.