Alabama just wrapped up its regular season at 11-1 and is one win away from conceivably entering the College Football Playoff as the No. 1 team in the nation. So why doesn’t it feel that way?
The No. 3 Crimson Tide has the Heisman Trophy frontrunner in Bryce Young at quarterback and the nation’s top defensive player in outside linebacker Will Anderson Jr. It is the only team in the nation ranked in the top 10 in both total offense and total defense, coming in at No. 7 in both categories. Still, many believe this year’s unit is near the bottom of the list of Alabama teams in the Nick Saban era.
The above statement is deceiving as the Tide has won 10 or more games in each of the last 14 seasons, claiming six national titles during that span. We’re at the point in Alabama's dynasty where its success is not merely defined by wins but rather the manner in how it disposes of its opponents.
Last year’s team — widely viewed as the best in the Saban era, if not college football history — played in just one game decided by 7 points or fewer, holding on for a 52-46 victory over Florida in the SEC Championship Game. This year’s Alabama team has already recorded four wins of 7 points or fewer — Florida (31-29), LSU (20-14), Arkansas (42-35) and Auburn (24-22) — in addition to its 41-38 loss to Texas A&M.
While unconvincing, those four wins still count in the record book. And regardless of where Alabama sits in Tuesday night’s updated College Football Rankings, it still controls its destiny moving forward. With that in mind, could Alabama’s battle-tested bunch be better suited for close games in the coming month?
“I really don’t know the answer to that,” Saban said when asked that question Monday. “Hopefully our players can stay focused and play one play at a time and play the next play, whether we had a good play or a bad play so that we can try to play with the utmost consistency possible in the game and not get frustrated. Keep our poise and kind of show the same kind of resiliency we’ve had to show this latter part of the season.”
Alabama defensive lineman Phidarian Mathis might not know the answer, but he believes the Tide’s ability to grind out close wins says a lot about the team’s character.
“You know, we got a lot of toughness and we're willing to fight to get what we want,” Mathis said. “I just feel like we got to take all of that for motivation to get where we need to get.”
Alabama’s narrow victories may not be a comforting sign heading into the postseason, but history says they shouldn’t be as concerning as one might imagine. While last season’s Tide team wasn’t involved in a close game before December, the previous four title-winning teams all recorded a least two one-score wins prior to reaching the postseason.
That includes the 2016 Clemson team which came away with five such wins while suffering a 43-42 loss to Pittsburgh in its 12 regular-season games. The Tigers went on to beat Virginia Tech 42-35 in the ACC Championship Game before pulling off a last-second comeback to beat Alabama 35-31 in the national championship game.
Did Clemson’s narrow victories that season prepare Deshaun Watson for his game-winning drive against Alabama in the title game? Will Alabama’s close calls have the same effect on Bryce Young moving forward?
It’s hard to tell. However, after last weekend's four-overtime escape at Auburn, we now know that Young is capable of leading a last-minute drive as well as pulling out a pressure-packed victory in overtime. We’ve also seen the Tide hold onto a slim lead by grinding out a game against Florida in September. Those wins not only created confidence, they also provided valuable lessons moving forward.
“I guess the benefit on that is just the experience that comes with it and being able to learn from it,” said receiver John Metchie III, who caught the game-winning two-point conversion during last week’s 24-22 victory in the Iron Bowl. “Being able to go back and see and just be more critical, more self-critical and critique the games better tighter. And just the more things to learn from.”
There’s a good chance Alabama will be involved in another close battle Saturday as it takes on top-ranked Georgia in the SEC Championship Game at 3 p.m. CT inside Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium. While Alabama won last year’s matchup 41-24 inside of Bryant-Denny Stadium, the Tide and Bulldogs have been separated by seven points or fewer in each of their previous meetings against each other in Atlanta.
Alabama left the field as champions following each of those games. If this season's matchup plays out in a similar fashion, the Tide should be plenty familiar with the formula needed to pull out another close win.
“I think the key to the drill is, you’ve got to try and win every play when you play in games like this,” Saban said. “You’ve got to keep battling for 60 minutes in the game. You hear the old adage, play one play at a time, but I think that’s probably more important in games like this than in any games that you play. We’ve had to do that several times.”
