By Chris Marler
Alabama had everything in front of them three weeks ago.
A 41-34 win against Georgia was highlighted by what we thought would be one of the most memorable plays in SEC history from Ryan Williams.
That was supposed to be the hard part for Kalen Deboer and this team.
But, over the last three weeks, the first-year head coach and this team have thrown away that golden opportunity and have done everything in their power to ruin a chance at making the College Football Playoff. And, in their last three games, they have two losses and a two-point win against three loss South Carolina.
Today was no different.
The offense looked sluggish and stalled repeatedly. And, Jalen Milroe, who was garnering No. 1 overall pick potential after the Georgia game, has played the worst football of his career over the last two weeks.
I’ve defended Jalen more than any person should before today. But Milroe was awful against Tennessee. He was awful last week, too, but he was somehow even worse today. He missed 10 open receivers on the day and finished 25-for-45 with a pair of interceptions. Against SEC teams this season, he’s now thrown more interceptions (6) than touchdowns (5).
The blame for today’s loss against Tennessee doesn’t solely rest on his shoulders, but it sure starts there. Over the last two weekends, Kane Wommack’s defense has caught most of the ire and finger pointing. Not today.
Alabama forced three turnovers in the first half alone, and it resulted in zero total points. The Tide had every opportunity to win that game, put Tennessee away, or at the very least build a two-score lead. They did none of those things. They missed field goals. They committed penalties. Milroe even threw an interception on the Vols two yard line.
This team has a lot of talented players, but let’s be very clear, they are not a great football team. Alabama teams of old would get criticized for not doing the little things well enough to win championships. This team doesn’t do little, medium, or big things well enough to even compete for them.
This team had a 93 percent chance to make the College Football Playoff after that win against Georgia. They now have to win out to just hope for an opportunity to sniff it.\
