“Respond to Failures”: Nick Saban Delivers Blunt Challenge to Kalen DeBoer as Alabama Misses His ‘Most Complete’ Teams List

Former Alabama head coach Nick Saban was asked which teams could win the national title this year, and Alabama was not on his list. Now, the timing is hard to ignore, since the Crimson Tide just took their first loss of the season, and this Saturday they get to show how they handle it.

“I think there are four teams up there [at the top]: Georgia, Notre Dame, Miami, Ohio State,” Saban said on The Pat McAfee Show. “Those have been the four teams, to me, that have been the most dominant and are the most complete.”

“Look, I love Alabama, you guys all know that, and I think that next tier of teams have a chance to be that if they have the right stuff,” Saban continued. “What do I mean? Are they going to respond to the failures that they had the right way? Are they going to be able to deal with success?”

That question challenged every team in the next tier, the ones that could still climb into the top group. But Saban’s connection with Alabama makes his response sharper for Kalen DeBoer.

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Saban added that the four teams he named seem mature enough to pass that test. He put Indiana in the next level and said its game against Ohio State would show what the Hoosiers are made of.

On October 10, Georgia beat the Crimson Tide 20-17 at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The loss dropped Alabama to 5-1, while Georgia moved to 6-0.

The box score shows where it got away. Georgia sacked quarterback Keelon Russell four times for 29 yards. Russell completed 16 of 30 passes for 185 yards and one touchdown with no interceptions, and the 185 yards were a season low. He also lost a fumble after a sack in Georgia territory.

The Bulldogs recovered at their own 37 and turned it into a 43-yard field goal. Georgia finished with 455 total yards to Alabama’s 346.

The run game wasn’t the problem, though, as Alabama gained 161 rushing yards and averaged 5.6 yards per carry. The trouble came later when the teams were tied at 17 after three quarters, and Alabama scored nothing in the fourth.

Then cornerback Dijon Lee Jr. was flagged for a 15-yard personal foul after pushing a Georgia receiver. It gave the Bulldogs an automatic first down and let them run out the clock. Lee was flagged for pass interference as well in the second quarter.

There was also a controversy that was not Alabama’s fault. Late in the fourth quarter, Georgia defensive back KJ Bolden was not flagged for what looked like pass interference on a throw to Rico Scott.

Bolden later said he would have wanted a flag if the same contact had happened against Georgia. Russell was sacked on the next play, and Alabama punted. That was an officiating call, not an Alabama mistake, so it stands apart from the fumble and the penalty.

And those are the kinds of failures Saban’s comment is about, and DeBoer has talked about moving on.

On October 12, the Alabama head coach said, “I’ve told the team, you can’t let Georgia beat us twice.” He said the players needed to learn from the loss, return to practice with the right energy, and prepare to play in another big environment.

Next, Alabama plays at Tennessee, Knoxville, on Saturday, October 17, without receiver Ryan Coleman-Williams, who left the Georgia game twice with injuries and is out. He caught three passes for 39 yards against the Bulldogs.

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