Saturday's game against South Carolina is giving last year's Oklahoma vibes going into the game. Last year, Alabama was coming off a huge win over LSU on the road and appeared to be well on the way to a playoff appearance before that fateful trip to Norman. The Sooners struggled all 2024 besides that Saturday night when Jackson Arnold ran all over Kane Wommack's defense. This year, Alabama is coming off a huge win over Tennessee and is now heading into Columbia, South Carolina to face off against a team that has underachieved greatly based on the preseason hype.
There are rumors that the decision makers are getting tired of Shane Beamer's inconsistency at South Carolina, just as there were the concerns many had about Brent Venables being the head guy in Norman. Based on what the expectations were for LaNorris Sellers going into this season compared to how the season has gone is somewhat similar to the excitement around Jackson going into last season compared to how the season went for him.
If Alabama comes into this game expecting to win based on previous weeks, it could be very dangerous. Of course, this team seems to have made sure not to take any team for granted after week one, but they are still young men, and to stay laser-focused after winning four straight ranked games can be tough.
If Gamecocks start the game hot and score on a good drive early or get a turnover, that crowd will get going, and it could turn into what we saw in Norman last year. It will be up to the coaches and the team leaders to keep everyone focused for one more week before the annual Halloween bye week. This may end up being the toughest road game of the season because it is so hard to get up again for a mediocre team after four straight ranked games.
Of course, at the back of everyone's mind is what happened 15 years ago at Williams-Brice. Stephen Garcia had the game of his life in one of the stranger losses in Nick Saban's tenure in Tuscaloosa. It may sound weird, but Saturday's game is going to test this Alabama team's moxie on both sides of the ball, maybe more so than any other game, as well as truly show if they are indeed title contenders.