That undefeated 24-0 record against former assistants? Gone.
The 100 consecutive wins over unranked opponents? See ya later.
The clear path to another playoff appearance? A lot more in doubt now.
After a shocking 41-38 loss to unranked Texas A&M in College Station, Alabama’s season is suddenly a lot more complicated. It marked the end to a famous statistic as Jimbo Fisher became the first former Saban assistant to defeat his former boss. That it was Fisher who did it -- and not Lane Kiffin or Kirby Smart -- given the Aggies’ recent struggles made it all the more shocking.
Alabama-Texas A&M was a game that had a lot of preseason hype as possibly the SEC’s best regular-season game, but that buzz had faded after the Aggies lost two consecutive SEC games before even playing Alabama. The Crimson Tide entered the game as a 19-point favorite against an anemic Texas A&M offense that showed no signs of keeping up with Alabama.
And yet, there were the Texas A&M faithful delightfully rushing the field to celebrate the biggest upset of this college football season. Texas A&M quarterback Zack Calzada did his best Stephen Garcia impression carving up the Tide defense to lead the upset. A week after possibly his best performance as Alabama’s defensive coordinator, Pete Golding is back on the hate list for Alabama fans after his unit struggled Saturday night.
Alabama’s defense was a mess from the very beginning, from missed tackles all over the field to timely coverage busts that led to touchdowns. The defense settled down in the second half, but the overall performance has to be unacceptable to head coach Nick Saban. Alabama allowed 41 total points to a Texas A&M team that scored 10 points against Colorado, 10 points against Arkansas and 22 points against Mississippi State. Even New Mexico held the Aggies to fewer points than what Alabama gave up on Saturday night. For as bad as Alabama played throughout the game, the win was still very much within grasp late until Golding’s defense crumbled again. In the last five minutes of the game, Alabama’s defense gave up the game-tying touchdown and later the game-winning field goal.
The offense had more than its fair share of issues, too. It’s obvious the offense has taken a step back without its star-studded group from last season of quarterback Mac Jones, running back Najee Harris and receivers DeVona Smith and Jaylen Waddle. Alabama could use a guy like Landon Dickerson to help fix the interior of the offensive line that has been an issue all season. It’s also obvious that it’s not easy to replace a Broyles Award winner.
Grabbing former Houston Texans head coach Bill O’Brien to replace Steve Sarkisian felt like a huge coup for Alabama, the latest example of the power of Saban’s rehabilitation program and its ability to attract high-profile coaches. O’Brien arrived with a good pedigree for his work with Tom Brady and Deshaun Watson, but through six games, he’s certainly not as gifted a play-caller as Sark was at Alabama. Yes, the personnel matters -- I’m sure O’Brien could have had fun designing plays for Waddle and Smith, too -- but it comes back to the execution. Plays like the one below happened too often for Alabama on Saturday night.
Two of Alabama’s Heisman winners, Smith and Mark Ingram, voiced their displeasure when Alabama had the ball on Texas A&M’s 3-yard line and threw the ball three consecutive times before settling for a field goal. Running back Brian Robinson had been running hard all night, one of the few bright spots on a sloppy offensive night, and yet O’Brien wouldn’t trust him even once to get three yards for a touchdown? Shaky coaching decisions like that weren’t the sole reason Alabama lost, but they certainly played a role. The offense, in general, looked out of sorts against Texas A&M, with quarterback Bryce Young struggling, the offensive line getting worked and far too many pass-catchers dropping easily caught balls. It was a much bigger mess than the final score would imply.
It all added up to a bad loss, one of the worst regular-season losses during Saban’s tenure in Tuscaloosa, and one that reintroduced some flaws initially exposed in a close game against Florida in Gainesville. This defense isn’t as good as many thought it’d be before the season started. The offense isn’t as dynamic as expected, even though it continues to put up plenty of points. There are questions about player leadership after so many key players left after last season.
Saban has issued warnings multiple times about this team already, clearly sensing something amiss coming off a national championship last season. He referenced the famous “Bluegrass Miracle” win over Kentucky in 2002 while he was still at LSU to explain how it can be hard to do the things you need to do when you’re still winning in spite of issues. He called Texas A&M a “trap game,” which some took as an indictment on the Aggies but it was really about knowing it’d be challenging for his team to move on from a big win over Ole Miss. He repeatedly tried to sound the alarm, but it didn’t work. Alabama lost.
“I’m responsible for all of it,” Saban said. “We got to do a better job with our coaches. We got to do a better job with our players so we can convert the situations.”
Now, this Alabama team has a choice to make. Will it respond to the loss positively and commit to doing the right things it needs to? Or will it go in the tank and prove itself to be a flawed team incapable of repeating as champions? Young and safety Jordan Battle both said after the game the team didn’t practice the way it needed to ahead of Texas A&M and would need to have better focus moving forward. That could be a good early sign that this could be a wake up call for anyone who thought Alabama could waltz its way through the SEC unscathed.
Alabama still has everything left to play for this season if it wins the remainder of the games on its schedule. It will be favored to win every game left before a likely SEC Championship against Georgia. If Alabama wins out, it’ll be back in the College Football Playoff. It’s pretty simple, right?
But when you watched Alabama struggle against Texas A&M, there wasn’t one small thing to fix. Several issues were exposed in the loss that won’t be fixed without a real commitment and effort.
Soon we’ll find out whether Saban, his assistant coaches and the team are up to the task.
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RELATED: Jimbo Fisher: Beating Nick Saban doesn’t mean anything
Most pumped fanbase: Iowa
The Hawkeyes will be ranked the No. 2 team in the country after outlasting Penn State in one of the best games of one of the best college football days. By surviving Penn State, Iowa now has one of the easiest regular season paths of any of the legitimate playoff contenders. This was a marquee win that not only will be remembered for a long time, but should serve as an important playoff resume point for the Hawkyes in December.
Most panicked fanbase: Alabama
The losses are so rare that it prompts lots of “the sky is falling” takes from Alabama fans. If you need any proof of this, make sure to tune into the Paul Finebaum Show on Monday. Alabama fans were spoiled last season with one of the greatest college football teams in recent memory, making this season’s rollercoaster ride less enjoyable to follow. Tide fans might be ready to push both coordinators overboard after this loss.
GOODMAN: At least Bryan Harsin isn’t delusional
Ranking Week 7 SEC games:
1) Kentucky at Georgia, 2:30 p.m. CT: The battle for SEC East supremacy. Kentucky is riding high but Georgia is the best team in the country. This one should be a battle.
2) Florida at LSU, 11 a.m. CT: Two teams that have both underachieved this season, making this one a must win for both. With the pressure swirling around Ed Orgeron, a bad loss to the Gators could have a real impact on his job security.
3) Auburn at Arkansas, 11 a.m. CT: The Razorbacks are coming off an emotional loss after giving Ole Miss all it could handle. Auburn was no match for Georgia but has shown some improvements.
4) Ole Miss at Tennessee, 6:30 p.m. CT: The Volunteers, fresh off clobbering South Carolina, could prove to be one of the SEC’s surprise teams with a win over Ole Miss. The Rebels bounced back in a big way with a win over Arkansas.
5) Alabama at Mississippi State, 6 p.m. CT: One of these teams has beaten Texas A&M, and it’s not Alabama. The Crimson Tide will be looking to make a statement in this game after its upset loss.
6) Texas A&M at Missouri, 11 a.m. CT: Can Texas A&M keep the momentum going after its biggest win of the Jimbo Fisher era?
7) Vanderbilt at South Carolina, 3 p.m. CT: The fight to stay out of the SEC East cellar.
John Talty is the sports editor and SEC Insider for Alabama Media Group. You can follow him on Twitter @JTalty. Want more SEC football insights? Sign up for our new college football newsletter here that will arrive right in your inbox each Thursday morning.