The noise inside Tiger Stadium was too loud for the Alabama game to be heard. It was difficult to comprehend in real time the fall. Would Brian Kelly go for two? After taking a timeout to think about it, surely he'd change his mind and play for another overtime. Yes, right?
He did not. Kelly wanted to expose the Alabama defense and went for it. Mason Taylor fell into the end zone for the score after the quarterback rolled to his right and found an open target.
Alabama has become familiar with the scene of fans rushing the field after an eruption of noise. The players were left to navigate the bedlam and retreat to the safety of the visiting locker room.
The same thing happened when the Vols won on a walk-off field goal three weeks ago. The fog surrounding the stadium in Baton Rouge was not the cigar smoke that was hanging in the air in Tennessee. Thanks to some security, the goalposts weren't thrown into the river.
It felt like the Tennessee loss when he sat down with the media to explain how his team had lost. The same quality was in the voice of the 71-year-old man. It was chants of "L-S-U!" that strained him to hear the questions being asked. He had the same explanations, too many defensive lapses, way too many penalties, no consistency in the run game, not enough offense around the star quarterback, and so on and so forth.
There was a lack of hope. Because it wasn't around anymore. In order to reach the SEC championship game, Alabama would have to beat 11th ranked Ole Miss and 11th ranked auburn.
"I can't point the finger at the players," said the Alabama coach. I'm the one who's responsible for everything. I'm responsible if we didn't do it right.
It's a credit to the man that he didn't throw his offensive or defensive coaches under the bus. They are all responsible for what has been a failure in coaching.
Alabama had the talent to win a national championship and beat a two-loss LSU team that is still finding its way after a coach change. Will Anderson Jr. is one of the top players in college football. The depth should be there due to the fact that recruiting has remained strong. All-conference players and Power 5 starters were signed by Saban at multiple positions.
Last year was the rebuilding season, not this one, according to the man. The Tide came up short in the national championship game against Georgia, but it couldn't be faulted. The veterans believed this team was different during the summer. The players were paying attention to the little things in a different way.
If not buy in or talent, what was missing?
That is development.
The receiver has been dropping off recently. Alabama struck gold in the portal with Jameson Williams last season, after producing a flurry of first-round NFL draft picks. The passing game fell apart when Williams was out of the picture.
Maybe it was too much for Burton to be a hero. Remove Burton from the equation and it's a wonder that no one has been able to become a player who can make a difference. They have been unreliable, with 21 dropped passes, fifth most among Power 5 schools.
The most reliable receiver was a running back. The kind of between-the-tackles runner Alabama desperately needs has not been achieved by either of the two runners. Roydell Williams has 38 carries this year. The majority of Alabama's rushes have gone for negative yards.
The offense has become one-dimensional because of the inability to play smashmouth football and a receiver who can stretch the field vertically.
The kind of dynamic attack that benefited his predecessors at quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones, hasn't been the kind of offense Young signed up for. Young has had to run for his life. He has been contacted on 22% of his dropbacks this season.
Young's completion rate is the best in the SEC if you remove drops and throwaways. He's playing up to his play from last season, when he won the trophy.
He cannot overcome a flawed team. He can't make up for a defense that has made a habit of giving up big plays, whether it was in the close call at Texas or losses on the road to Tennessee and LSU. He can't beat a team that is tied for the most penalties in college football.
For a second, let that sink in. A stickler in every sense of the word who rages on the sideline against self-made errors, Saban has overseen 671 yards in penalties, an average of 74.6% per game. The Alabama team is sloppy and undisciplined. Coming out of a bye week, the Tide committed nine penalties, including two crucial pass interference calls.
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He said his players were disappointed after the loss. The last time Alabama lost two in a row before the Iron Bowl was in 2010. Sometimes we beat ourselves and it's difficult to overcome, but they are capable of more.
The team was asked to check their hole card. He said that players had to consider their own stock and reach the goal of winning 10 games.
The last comment was strange. It's not unusual for Alabama to talk about playing up to the standard, but that usually means a championship. Winning 10 games is not what anyone in the program has come to expect. The strength coach destroyed the runner up trophy.
The fans of the Tide want to return to the playoffs. Is that doable? Young, Anderson and a few others are likely to move on. Staff departures seem probable. He has been asking for more balance for a while now and hasn't gotten it. Whatever we did, we put ourselves in a position to do that and just came up short. It is not a ringing endorsement.
Something needs to change regardless of who goes or who stays. Georgia is threatening to win a second national championship and become the power player of the SEC, and Tennessee and LSU seem to be serious contender again after changing coaches. Alabama's success over the past decade-plus was due in part to being a team that refused to beat itself, but also a team that prided itself on going beyond beating opponents.
In order to reestablish a physical style of play in the trenches, it may be necessary to dial back on what has become a pass happy offense. The culture shift may mean a return to the hard-nosed edge that defined the era of Ryan Anderson and Mark Barron.
At Tiger Stadium, the mentality of the team shifted, which was evident during his radio show in September, when he talked about how the mentality of this team had changed.
He said that they used to play better on the road than they did at home. They were angry at 100,000 people and not the 11 guys they were playing against. They wanted to show something to everyone.
The current incarnation of Alabama football allows it to be affected by 100,000 screaming fans, rather than the other way around, and it has made a habit of losing and giving those same people a reason to celebrate.
Losing will become a normal occurrence for Alabama, fans won't bother leaving their seats to go somewhere else. The dynasty is over when that happens.
We're not there yet, but this season should serve as a warning that the foundation needs to be worked on.
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