Alabama looked like a strong team coached by Nick Saban during the first 15 minutes against Georgia, another powerful team in the Southeastern Conference.
However, Kalen DeBoer’s 15th-ranked Crimson Tide has struggled since then, showing weaknesses that include costly penalties, mistakes from quarterback Jalen Milroe, and a defense that often seems vulnerable.
The latest setback was a 24-17 loss to No. 7 Tennessee. This leaves Alabama with a 5-2 record and two losses in the SEC before November for the first time since Saban started coaching in 2007. They will face No. 21 Missouri next on Saturday.
This ranking is Alabama’s lowest since 2010, the only year in a 16-year stretch that they have lost three games. Another loss would likely end their chances of making the new 12-team playoff.
“We’ve got to have a starving mindset,” Milroe said to reporters after the loss. “To want to get better, want to grind, want to be the best version of ourselves, want to be the best offense in the country. And a lot is still out there with the right mindset.”
Since racing to a 28-0 lead over No. 2 Georgia, Alabama has been outscored 123-92. They won that game 41-34 thanks to a late 75-yard touchdown pass to freshman wide receiver Ryan Williams, followed by an interception in the end zone from another freshman, Zabien Brown.
This performance briefly put Alabama at No. 1, but then they lost 40-35 to Vanderbilt.
“You can’t have the mistakes, you can’t have the penalties, got to have better execution,” DeBoer said on Monday. “All those things that put you behind the eight-ball throughout the course of the game. Here in the SEC there’s such a fine line between winning and losing and that’s how you get beat. That’s on all of us.”
To make things harder, cornerback Keon Sabb is injured with what DeBoer called “a lower extremity injury.”
