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    • Casagrande: What it means to beat Alabama
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    Casagrande: What it means to beat Alabama

    Vaseline Posted on

    This is an opinion column.

    The line is alive.

    That’s the ultimate take on something positive to come from Alabama’s third straight poor performance. The number is 9.

    Beating the Crimson Tide is still a field rush and worth a $100,000 fine, Tennessee fans decided Saturday night. It was the ninth straight time fans took the field after Alabama lost a road game – a streak that started with the 2013 Iron Bowl.

    How long this performance warrants a post-game emotional release is the real question.

    While we may have asked for a recalibration of perspective when looking at the 2024 Crimson Tide, there are limits to the understanding.

    Realistically, what happened in Knoxville on Saturday can be viewed a number of ways.

    Alabama lost a 24-17 game to archrival Tennessee, leaving Knoxville in defeat for the second straight time. However, this one wasn’t like the 52-49 shootout from two years ago.

    This one was more medieval.

    There was an old-fashioned, undisciplined and understandably frustrating for a fanbase that took this team to the sauna. They are sweating out the toxins of expectations that come not only from the generations this program has created, but also from the first half of the Georgia game three weeks ago.

    It’s not just about losing a match.

    This is about the recurring issues that have plagued this team since taking that stunning 28-0 lead over the Bulldogs. These appear to be issues ingrained in this team in transition – not necessarily unique to 2024, but cause for legitimate concern.

    Take, for example, the issue of fines.

    Alabama threatened to break a school record on Saturday after ten fouls in the first half. It was down two from the level of two years ago in that same stadium, but the Tide nearly doubled its weekly average of 7.8, which already ranked 112th out of 134 FBS teams. It is the third penalty day with double figures in seven games.

    Or the way Tennessee bullied Alabama on the ground in the second half. The Vols had just 44 rushing yards in the first half, with leading rusher Dylan Sampson accounting for 20 of his 35 on one play. Well, the Vols came out of the break running 29 times for 170 yards.

    Sampson finished with 139 yards on 26 carries as the Vols rushed for 5.0 yards per carry. That’s a season-high return for a Tide defense that gave up 3.07 yards per attempt in the previous loss at Vanderbilt.

    Then there’s the third-down problem.

    Tennessee converted 5 of the 9 it faced in the second half after being shut out in the opening 30 minutes for the third week in a row. The Tide defense couldn’t take the blame for the first two quarters as it held the Vols to 143 yards and committed three turnovers.

    But the dam broke on Tennessee’s second drive of the third quarter. A sudden seven-play, 91-yard drive seemed easy. It was accomplished by a 36-yard Sampson run and then a 27-yard scramble from Nico Iamaleava.

    The Vols never connected on third down on that first touchdown drive. The second included a 55-yard pass when facing third-and-6 from the Vols’ 42-yard line.

    Tennessee then took the lead for good on third-and-5 from the Tide 16 when Iamaleava hit Chris Brazzell for the touchdown.

    The quarterback play wasn’t as efficient for Alabama. Jalen Milroe had his second consecutive game with two interceptions while averaging 5.4 yards per attempt in the second half. The senior targeted freshman Ryan Williams 18 times — 12 more than the next-highest total — while completing eight for 73 yards and one touchdown.

    The running game wasn’t there for Milroe either. After rolling up 117 rushing yards against Georgia, the QB has racked up just 58 ground yards on 39 attempts in the three games since.

    Bottom line: Alabama has looked mediocre at best since building that huge lead against Georgia.

    They look normal, unspectacular and clearly beatable.

    Two losses before November, for the first time since Saban’s first season, is a sobering reality considering everything that has happened since.

    They fell short, but are still in the hunt for a play-off bid that would have been impossible before the 12-team field was introduced for this season.

    But there is now no room for error and few believe, rightly, that this team can get through the next five games unblemished.

    No. No. 19 Missouri is next in Tuscaloosa, but the real test awaits Nov. 9 at LSU. A win there combined with that September victory over a Georgia team that just defeated No. 1 Texas would give a two-loss Tide a rock-solid case.

    But a loss would be an eliminator.

    And a sample of it the stripe.

    An Alabama loss in Baton Rouge in 2010 was the last cross-country defeat.

    Would another mean enough for LSU fans to bother leaving their seats?

    Or will the streak die?

    Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.

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