Wins like Alabama got on Saturday at South Carolina are best described as "culture" wins. It's not always about who has the most talent, or even who has the better coach. Sometimes it comes down to whether you have the resolve to stare adversity in the face and not blink.
Alabama didn't have that resolve a year ago. It didn't have that resolve eight weeks ago, either. But through adversity, and through one of the most difficult gauntlets in SEC history, the Crimson Tide has developed a mental toughness that rescued it from the depths of defeat in Columbia on Saturday afternoon.
Alabama came from behind to beat South Carolina 29-22. It's a game the Crimson Tide would have lost last season. It's a sure sign that Kalen DeBoer has the locker room fully bought into him and his coaching staff now. This team plays for one another, and while it won't always be pretty, you can trust that the Crimson Tide is going to be at its best during the most critical moments of the game.
Where other teams might fold, Alabama is thriving. In the postgame, Ty Simpson gave fans a peek behind the curtain to the secret sauce that is allowing the Crimson Tide to be at its most effective during the most trying situations.
"The amount of ‘I got your back’s' in that locker room right now is amazing," Simpson said after the game. "I’ve never felt that in a locker room before - the amount of trust, having each other’s backs. The amount of love we have for one another is like no other."
Ty Simpson credits Alabama's locker room for comeback win over South Carolina
This team has a tremendous amount of leadership. In critical moments, it's the team's leaders who are stepping up when the chips are down.
Simpson is chief among them. It wasn't his best game against the Gamecocks. It was honestly probably his worst performance since the loss to Florida State. He missed throws he has made in his sleep this year. He completed less than 56% of his passes and, for the third straight week, lost a fumble.
But on the crucial, game-tying drive, Simpson completed 7-of-8 passes for 54 yards and a touchdown toss to Germie Bernard. He then connected with Josh Cuevas for the game-tying two-point conversion.
Fellow captains Deontae Lawson and Tim Keenan came up with the defensive play of the game to put Alabama in position to win. Lawson stripped South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers, and Keenan fell on the fumble to set the Crimson Tide up at the 40-yard line with under two minutes to play in a tied ballgame.
"We just play for each other," Lawson said. "We don’t want to go in that locker room and look each other in the eye with disappointment. I think that’s the biggest thing.”
And while not a captain, Bernard is certainly a leader himself. He's the guy the coaches trust with the ball in his hands in big moments. He took the direct snap on 3rd-and-10 from the 25 with 40 seconds to play. He ran around right end, got the needed yards for a first down, and then scampered the rest of the way for the game-winning touchdown.
Alabama's ability to execute in the critical moments is pivotal in today's world of college football. As much as we all may miss the weekly domination of the Nick Saban era, those days are long gone. For everyone. Parity is here, and every week in this league is a grind because there's not as much separating the top teams from the worst.
Alabama's got that secret sauce, however, and it's thanks to the culture that DeBoer has built and guys like Simpson are nurturing.