The Low Tide S2.E6 - South Carolina stressor

[00:00:00] Speaker A: WVuafm tuscaloosa. [00:00:14] Speaker B: Welcome into the low tide here on 90.7, the capstone. Nicholas Adam Elliot, I did it again. Let's go here to talk all things Alabama, mostly Alabama football, just this kind of. [00:00:30] Speaker C: Wait, is that foreshadowing? [00:00:33] Speaker B: How is it foreshadowing? [00:00:34] Speaker C: Well, you said mostly Alabama football. That means you're implying that maybe we won't talk about Alabama football. [00:00:38] Speaker B: Oh, maybe. Maybe we won't. I don't know. So how are we doing after that, you know, stressful game? [00:00:45] Speaker A: I'm. I'm a little bit better than last week, but not by much. And, you know, well, we'll get into it in a second, but, you know, it does not feel the way I would want to feel after an Alabama victory. [00:01:03] Speaker C: I went to the nearest eyewash in one of the chemistry labs, just a rinse, and I wanted to pretend that I did not witness that live. But alas, it is not just a dream. And I pinched myself and I realized that I was still awake. [00:01:21] Speaker B: So truly unfortunate. So, in back to back weeks, Alabama kind of has a stressful game. This one. They do beat South Carolina barely 27 25, arguably only because one of the most wide open people I've ever seen on a two point conversion just gets completely overthrown. Tragic. But let's kind of talk about this game. So what first reactions? Did you have to go to the hospital? [00:01:51] Speaker A: I did not have to go to the hospital. I did have to go home and have a couple of beverages, you know, coke zeros, to, you know, make myself feel better after. But, you know, this game, obviously, you know, we'll get into some other reasons, but, you know, this. It should not have been this close, which we can. I feel like we have to say that about every Alabama game that's close, because we can always see what could have happened that would have made it not close. But this game, once again, you know, we've had issues in the past two previous weeks. So really, the second half against Georgia and then against Vanderbilt, where, well, Vanderbilt, they got down early, but, like second half against Georgia, they did not capitalize on turnovers. Against Vanderbilt, the offense just wasn't on the field. But then in this game, again, we went back to not being able to capitalize on turn, and there ended up being four turnovers in the game, only scored. I know there's the last one was the very last play of the game, but. So the first three turnovers, Alabama only got points off of one of them. So at the time, 70, they get the fumble, they end up five plays and then punting, they end up scoring again. So now it's 14 nothing. So at this time, you know, even if you just get a field goal, you know, it'd be 17 nothing. South Carolina finally gets the touchdown, the safety. Now it's 14 to nine. South Carolina has the ball again, forces, gets a fumble. I won't say forced a fumble because, you know, he kind of just laid on the ground. But Alabama gets the ball back to the offense very next play. Well, not next play anyway, that within the first three plays, they throw an interception, and then all of a sudden, South Carolina kicks field goal. Now it's 1412 going in halftime when Alabama should have been up at least, you know, 20 at this point in the game. [00:03:47] Speaker B: Sure. [00:03:49] Speaker C: Yeah. Is that it? [00:03:51] Speaker A: Like second half? You know, it just took them a while to get going. I mean, look, it seems like every time Alabama has an 11:00 a.m. game, it just doesn't go well. We can go back previous years, even the games against, you know, lower level opponents than an SEC opponent. So even when they're playing, those FCS teams get off to a slow start. I remember two years ago, Austin P. You know, it's a little rainy. You know, everybody at the end of the first half, they're just like, why is this team starting off slow? And then, you know, I hate 11:00 a.m. kickoffs. But then you combine that with an SEC opponent that's actually like, I know it's South Carolina. They're nothing terrible right there. Three losses now are to Alabama, LSU and Ole Miss. Like, they're not the worst team. And, you know, I think. I don't know. Things obviously need to change. We'll see what happens leading up into this next game against Tennessee. Tennessee's got some stuff to work out, too, so I'm not really sure how this next game is gonna go, but at least it's not gonna be an. [00:04:50] Speaker C: 11:00 a.m. so I'm still in the same boat of what I said last week, and I really just do not know how to gauge the team as a whole. I'm struggling to put into words, to describe. It really is hard to describe. I've never quite seen anything. It's baffling to me, just inexplicable things occurring. And I don't know. For me, it comes down to you talk about not being able to capitalize off turnovers. Obviously, that's a huge thing. But we talked about it last week. Vanderbilt straight up manhandled them, beat them, punched them right out of the gate. And still in this game, I felt to a certain degree, South Carolina punched them in the mouth a little bit. The only problem is, is that they punched them so hard that the recoil knocked themselves out. This felt like South Carolina lost this game because they just had worse mistakes themselves that cost them. I mean, you talk about sellers just literally losing the ghost of Christmas past, I guess peanut punched the ball out, just like fell on the floor like a hot potato. Okay. I mean, I don't even know what the throw on that third down at the end of game, like armpunt or whatever that was like to literally nobody. But like just random stuff like that. That is how they lost this game. This game was almost handed on a silver platter. And I guess my biggest takeaway, and I know I've said it in past week, so it sounds like I'm getting on my soapbox again, but this, most of this could have been avoided. And I still, I would have actually felt better just winning the game 20 to 19 on that first down conversion right out of the two minute. It's not even called the two minute warning. College, what's it called? [00:06:51] Speaker A: The two minute timeout. [00:06:52] Speaker C: The two minute timeout. I'm just gonna call it the two minute warning. [00:06:54] Speaker B: The NFL is gonna send their hitmen after you if you call it the two minute warning. [00:06:57] Speaker C: I'm gonna call it the two minute warning. Because that's stupid. The two minute timeout is stupid. Okay. Not my beef of the week, though. [00:07:01] Speaker A: But not yet. [00:07:03] Speaker C: Not yet. [00:07:04] Speaker A: Give us a couple weeks. [00:07:07] Speaker C: There is a serious lack of awareness, in my opinion, and this is across just to me. It seems like it's an issue more in college than in the NFL. You see all the time players at least attempting. I mean, we can go back to Todd Gurley accidentally, like slipping and falling into the end zone when he tried to stop. But you know, a lot of times in the NFL, the attempt is made, I'm just going to get the first down and I immediately fall down to run out the clock. But like in college, it seems like all the time teams just go ahead and score. But the entire debacle that happened in the last minute and 50 seconds only occurred because Alabama scored. And this is nothing against players in particular. It was a great play call. Busted coverage wide open. But you just gotta fall down. You can run out the clock, just fall down. You don't need to score. You're already winning. It's not like I could understand if maybe you're losing by one and you're like, okay, well instead of kicking a game winning field goal with no time left because something could go wrong with the hold, the snap, the kick, like you're, you are winning. You have the lead. You do not need to give them the ball back, but you give them the ball back and it was like I watched something Lenore Sellers became surgical. That was an amazing catch by what those Nick Harbour right in the like. [00:08:29] Speaker A: I had one issue with that touchdown catch and you can't really see it on the game film. They might, you might be seen on all 22. That was a pretty big push off he had on Damani Jackson down there like full arm extension. But hey, not called. I'm not going to complain about it too much. [00:08:43] Speaker C: I mean it's still push off or whatever. The fact that he managed to catch that ball and get a foot down to me is impressive with where that. [00:08:51] Speaker B: Ball was also complete height mismatch. [00:08:54] Speaker C: Oh, absolutely. [00:08:55] Speaker B: Nick harbor, that is his name. [00:08:57] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:08:57] Speaker B: That dude is a monster. I like when they showed like the replay I was like, oh, okay. [00:09:03] Speaker A: Yeah, but to go off, what you were saying about just I believe, correct me if I'm wrong, but at that time I believe South Carolina only had one timeout left. So, you know, if he does go down there, like if Jeremy Bernard catches the ball goes down, you're. Even if you just call, you know, Neil plays, you know, you'll still like you could kick a field goal and then South Carolina only gets the ball back with like maybe 15 seconds. I'm not going to do the whole math right now. [00:09:31] Speaker C: 15 seconds. But it took more than 15 seconds for them to go 75 yards. That's my point though. I actually don't think they had any timeouts at that point. They might have burned them already. I think they burned them on the plus side of the two minute timeout, if you will. But the, but like in that scenario, like this, like they should have, like South Carolina really should have never had the ball and gone down the field 75 yards in like a minute and what was like a minute ten or something? [00:09:57] Speaker A: Yeah, a minute. A minute eleven. [00:09:59] Speaker C: So you're 1 second off a minute eleven. Okay. And then one of the greatest onside kicks, quite frankly one of the greatest kicks I have ever seen in my life. [00:10:09] Speaker B: Okay. And it was their punter whose name is Kai Kroger. That was one of the greatest kicks I've ever seen. It was like a bowling ball. [00:10:17] Speaker C: Yeah. I mean absolutely great. But the thing was, is that again so freak accident. Somehow they recover the ball. You know, South Carolina does and you're in the position, you're like, oh, wait a second. Had I just like not fallen like they would just never have the ball. Not only did they get the ball once, they got it twice. And again, South Carolina mishaps. You talked about it, Nick. Air mailing like the two point conversion. [00:10:43] Speaker B: Couldn'T be more wide open. [00:10:44] Speaker C: You could not be more wide open. And again, South Carolina could not get out of their own way in this game. But it really did feel like South Carolina not had a choke hold on. It wasn't like Vanderbilt, but it was like whenever somebody grabs you by the wrist really tight and you're like, hmm, that's uncomfortable. That's weird. I don't like that. That's what this game felt like. [00:11:06] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, I could, I couldn't agree more with you. I mean, here's the problem. Okay. I think we said this last week. We have only seen like all the games that we have seen against quality opponents for this defense have gone terribly. Discount the first half of the Georgia game since that point. Wet paper napkin defense. I mean, we were talking about it. It's not a wet paper napkin. It's a wet paper napkin with holes and it's one of those recycled napkins, you know, not even made out of the good material. It's tragic. You know, you're up 14 nothing and all of a sudden after a couple bad decisions in 9 seconds it's 14 nine. [00:11:45] Speaker C: It's like add on a third. Bad decision. It's 1412. [00:11:49] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:11:50] Speaker A: Twelve points allowed before the half. So it ends up they scored the touchdown on that. I can't remember which player it was, but they, it was right after the kickoff, you know, they called him was, it was a late hit on the kickoff return that forced us back inside the ten yard line. And that's when you, you have South Carolina like, it seemed like every play for like the rest of the first half was just sending everybody on their defense after our quarterback. But you know, you get the safety. This 14 nine they don't get anyway if miserable. [00:12:25] Speaker B: Yeah, it's just bad. I mean, there was, there was one point in the second half that I believe South Carolina was like five of five at that point on third down. I mean, the defense can't get off the field and it's a problem. I, I just don't know that it's going to get any better. I just don't, I don't see a way that this is going to get any better for the rest of the game. And, you know, it's almost like Alabama is a team in the big twelve in 2017. You're going to have to score 40 points to win games. And unless Jalen Melro can consistently produce the performance that he had in the Georgia game, which, you know, who knows, it's going to be difficult to win games or to, you know, really to win out. Let's, let's put it that way. [00:13:12] Speaker C: I think one of the bigger issues for me, and maybe one of you guys understands and explains it to me, I was baffled by the decision to throw the ball there at the end of the half. You're like, on, they were aware, like, on, on their own, like 45, 46. Like, why are we throwing the ball? [00:13:33] Speaker A: Like, well, see, I didn't mind throwing it. I did not like whether it was the play, the force throw, you know, shouldn't have thrown it. But also, if we're gonna throw it in that situation, at least get it further down, take a deep shot. So if you do throw an interception, you know, they gotta run it back. [00:13:51] Speaker C: I guess my problem is that it's fine to throw the short check down throw. Cause it was like, what? Like a seven yard, maybe like five, six, seven yard throw, but like, that didn't even get you into field goal range. I just don't know, like, what that accomplishes. It's like, it's like when you have a third and twelve and you're like, well, I'm gonna throw it to the guy in one on one coverage, on an out route, but he's only going to run an eight yard route, so he's actually four yards short of the sticks. Like, what did you accomplish? Nothing. It didn't do anything. So, like, to me, the play was not productive because if that's what the option was, was to throw that short throw, it's not like it even got you into opponent territory. It was still short of the 50 yard line. And then ignore the fact that, like, the guy picked it off and he returned it and casually stepped out of bounds with a few seconds left because he was watching the clock to make sure that. And I was just glad that they cornered him off onto the sideline, because what if he took that back? It would have been a 1614 ballgame instead of 1412. [00:14:51] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. It's tough and very. What's the right word here? Sloppy. [00:14:58] Speaker C: Inexplicable. [00:14:58] Speaker B: Sloppy win for Alabama, which certainly is better than a loss. Of course, everything a win is a win. [00:15:07] Speaker A: Just win. [00:15:08] Speaker B: Just playoff. [00:15:09] Speaker A: Twelve team playoff. You know, as long as Alabama keeps winning, I mean, we'll still complain about it every week if it continues to be this sloppy. [00:15:16] Speaker C: But I guess my concern is that I don't think mistakes like that will fly against some of these other teams that are, that are going to be in the playoff. I just don't see it happening, which. [00:15:29] Speaker B: We'Re going to get into in the next segment. Very quickly, before we get a break, coming into this game, Jay Lenro, one of the Heisman favorites, do we think that this was a Heisman killer type of a game? [00:15:43] Speaker C: I thought last week was a Heisman killer. [00:15:45] Speaker A: You know, even, even with last week, you know, even with the loss, I mean, if they just want to look at the loss, you know, obviously they could just be like, loss of Vanderbilt. We're not even going to consider it. But, you know, the last week's game, he still ended up, he had the one interception, but like, and in a fumble where he didn't see the guy that was going to hit him, but he ended up still having a pretty good, you know, stat line. I guess this game not as good. I mean, still 16 of 23, 200 plus yards passing. But, you know, for him to, I think, have a shot, he needs to have closer what he had at the end of the year last year from like here on out. And I, you know, I'm not ready to say killer because crazy things can happen in college football, but I mean. [00:16:32] Speaker B: In my opinion, the Vanderbilt game was way better than this game. This is a way worse game than the Vanderbilt. It is obvious because the Vanderbilt game was not on Melrose in the slightest. [00:16:42] Speaker C: I just say that that's a killer because they're going to make the argument, much to Adam's point, you lost to a team that you had beaten consistently since 1984 or whatever. So, like, that to me is the actual killer is the fact that he's going to have the loss on the resume. This one was just not a great outing and I think it compounds that fact. [00:16:59] Speaker A: But there have been many people that have still won Heisman with a couple of bad games as long as, you know, you pick it up when the voters are actually paying attention. [00:17:08] Speaker B: Good point. All right, so we'll be right back to preview. Alabama Tennessee right here on 90.7. This show is a sports production of WVUAFM 90.7, a division of student media at the University of Alabama. Support us by leaving a review rating or following us on Xvuafmsports. Welcome back into Low Tide here on 90.7 Capstone. We're talking Alabama football. And this upcoming week, big game number seven, Alabama, goes to number eleven, Tennessee. I saw on Twitter somebody said that this was going to be the battle of mid and that that's, that. I feel like that's a pretty good characterization of what this game is going to be. [00:18:18] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, these are two SEC teams that have stumbled their way the past two weeks. Well, first of all, both of them, two weeks ago, laid, lost or. Well, really, I guess it would be one week ago. Really. I mean, I say two, but you know what I mean. Two games ago, got upset on the road by unranked SEC team and then sluggishly clawed their way to a win against another SEC team. And so now it's like, I don't know, it's like two tectonic plates colliding, creating a little rift in the universe. But pretty inconsequential. Inconsequential to everyone else except for the two teams that are playing. That's how I characterize it. [00:19:10] Speaker A: I mean, I would never call an Alabama Tennessee game a battle of mid. And, you know, I've, you know, I, you know, I'm older. You know, we know this. I was around when Alabama had some not very good football teams and they were playing Tennessee. And, you know, some of those games were, you know, they had one game that went into multiple overtimes. Guy almost got his head ripped off. You know, any Alabama Tennessee game is exciting to me. I don't care how people came into the game. And even, like, when Alabama's had really good teams, you know, it's another rivalry game we can always talk about, like, how people can get up for. Obviously there's been some blowouts, but, you know, 2009, you know, twelve to ten, blocking the field goal to win it when Alabama's number one and Tennessee wasn't even really relevant in the college football world at that time. You know, over the 15 year winning streak, there were multiple close games when people thought Alabama was just going to run out of the ball, like run him out of the park. And now you've had two pretty good games the last couple of years. You know, you had the game in Knoxville, which we would like to forget about, and then the game last year that Alabama ended up winning. I still think this game could be very exciting. I hope Alabama has found a way over and, you know, this next week of practice to where they will, you know, bounce back and maybe it will be one of those games where we don't have to worry about in the second half. But I think, you know, if anything, with the way that those two teams have played coming into it, that is going to be extra motivation for both of them to actually go out in one of the biggest rivalries in the Southeastern Conference, to actually show people, like, we're still good teams. [00:20:54] Speaker B: You know, I'm, I'm hopeful that this is going to be a good game, you know, because who doesn't love a good rivalry game? Unfortunately, I had to watch Texas Oklahoma, which was one of the worst games of the year, almost certainly so far. Here's my concern. [00:21:11] Speaker C: Can you blame ou, though, like, real quick? [00:21:12] Speaker B: No. They've got five receivers that are out. Like, you know, it's, if you have a crimson jersey and, you know, you ever caught a football before, meet us at practice because you're playing in the game regardless. You know, I just, I kind of worry that this is going to be a battle of two teams that are on fire right now and fire, like in the bad way, like a dumpster fire. And the game is going to, the winner is going to be the person who puts out the fire first. Like, it's just, I worry. I worry about what we're going to, what we're going to see from both of these teams because we, I mean, we've seen a lot of different things from Alabama. We've seen a couple different things from Tennessee. I just, they had very similar games this past week. Honestly, you know, you can argue that Alabama's games should have gone to overtime as well, but Tennessee comes back, wins an overtime against Florida, who obviously they should not have been in a close, that close of a game, too. It was ten to nothing early in the third quarter. They come back, I believe they won on the, like their first play of their OT possession. Regardless, I mean, it just feels like neither of these teams are kind of coming into this game very strong. And it's just, I don't know how much this game is going to tell us about either team. In my opinion. It's going to be kind of who's the best of kind of mid right now. [00:22:37] Speaker A: No, once again, you know, just, we said it earlier, you know how you just need to win. Like, even though this, this past game was ugly for both teams, you know, just winning right now, Alabama and Tennessee both won SEC loss as like you might be upset in the moment, but if you get to the end of the year and you still got a shot at an SEC championship and possibly making to the playoff, you'll take the win. [00:23:05] Speaker B: Well, you know, and this is, I think, exactly what happened to last year's Alabama team, it was constant. You know, you needed these miracles at the end of the game to win. You keep winning. All of a sudden you get to the SEC title game, you beat Georgia. Oh, well, now all of a sudden you're in the playoff and you take the eventual national champion all the way to overtime. You never know what can happen. You never know who's going to get hot at the end of the year. You never know what's going to happen to other teams, whether they cool off. You don't really want to be red hot right now. You'd rather save it. So that's kind of the thinking. So, yeah, this is a certain, a survival contest between these two teams. But let's also talk about that. Obviously, college Football playoff changes this year. In effect, for the first time, a twelve team playoff. Both of these teams sitting at one conference loss. Does a second loss, can either of these teams make the playoff with that second loss? Like it, like, you know, does it depend? [00:24:06] Speaker A: I, you know, I think it depends one who it's against and also, like, because right now both losses look, well. [00:24:14] Speaker B: Let'S assume it's this game. [00:24:15] Speaker A: So if it's this game, I think, you know, you know, if the other team is still, like, if say, Alabama loses Tennessee, right. So now you've lost both teams from the state of Tennessee that you've played this year. And then Tennessee ends up, you know, going to the, to the end of the year, they knock off Georgia and, you know, Alabama sitting there with two losses, you know, you could still make the argument, I think, that Alabama could get into a playoff. Obviously, we got to see how, you know, other conferences shake up, but, you know, you got to think there's going to be at least, you know, three SEC teams getting into the playoff. That's, that's how I'm looking at it right now. And if you're only at two losses, I think there's a shot. Obviously. How does, how did the rest of the teams like this? Does LSU end up running the table? Obviously, I would give Alabama another loss. But, you know, if, if Georgia ends up with just two losses and they beat Texas, you know, do they get in over a two loss Alabama team even though Alabama beat them? You know, it's going to be quite the conversation if that happens. But I think to really solidify being out, I think it's going to take a third loss. [00:25:27] Speaker B: Yeah, I think, I think it's really going to, it's going to depend. I would like, well, really, I mean, both of these teams. So Tennessee still has to play Georgia in a couple of weeks. So, you know, even if they were to lose this game to Alabama, maybe you have a big Georgia win, assuming Georgia could beat Texas, and then it's kind of a, well, maybe the SEC just has a bunch of really good teams this season. So I think it's really going to depend Alabama could survive a loss here, assuming that Georgia's able to beat Texas. I think that that would really, really matter if Alabama lost. You know, I don't know. It's. It's so tricky with twelve teams. [00:26:10] Speaker C: There are, to me, there are a variety of factors that go into this and I think it is too difficult to say. I think I will disagree with you in the fact that I do think it does say something about the teams. I think if Alabama does walk in and lose, then it's going to be one of those, yeah, it's just not the going. It's just not going. And that's just kind of how it's going to be. I think that that's what the vibe will be. I'm still on the fence again. I don't know what to make of them as a team. That to me, would be the selling point of. Okay, I now know what to think. But there are. So to your point, Georgia has to play Texas. That is a very important game. [00:26:54] Speaker B: A lot of really important games. [00:26:55] Speaker C: Other important game that I do not think is being considered is the fact, and we have mentioned this in the past, there is a very real possibility that Texas A and M runs through their SEC play completely unscathed. And Texas A and M has a real shot, likely at winning the SEC championship. Now, this is important. They do have the one loss, but it is out of conference to Notre Dame. Okay, which Notre Dame, despite their loss in northern Illinois, Notre Dame is still a very good team. So it's one of those weird things where it's like, okay, it's hard to stomach having another loss, especially in conference, whenever there's a very real possibility that, well, there's a real possibility that either Texas A and M goes completely unscathed or their one loss will be to Texas. And let's say Texas does handle their business against Georgia and they lose the a and M, then it's like, okay, well, then Texas just lost to a and M and like, a and M. There's all these weird scenarios, me personally, too many things to think about. It's like trying to. It's like I feel like I'm doctor Strange trying to look at all the various possibilities of outcomes that could occur. But I do think that taking a second loss specifically because it's in conference play is a massive killer on a resume. [00:28:23] Speaker A: But it also depends on how people are looking at that conference because there's a difference between two losses and, say, the big twelve and then two losses in the SEC. Now, it also depends on how Vanderbilt ends up the season. Like, do they end up being bowl eligible? Because if, if you have the two losses and like, say, if you're going head to head against somebody else in the conference with two losses, even though you beat them, but then you have the loss to Vanderbilt and the other team has only lost to you and say, Texas, you know, they might, they might get the nod because they don't have that glaring, depending on how Vanderbilt ends up with the rest of the year. But if you're comparing it from, you know, big twelve or ACC, I think a two loss team in the SEC, with both losses being in the SEC, would take the nod over those two conferences. But it all depends on who's on the selection committee. [00:29:15] Speaker B: Yeah, I think it's going to be really interesting after next week because next week is big time in the SEC. Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, Texas. I mean, ESPN is licking their chops right now looking at that. I feel like we're going to be able to feel things out a little bit better next week. But there are just, there's so many factors. Kind of like you said, Elliot, it is very difficult to see the one scenario where Alabama kind of survives this and makes the playoff. But a and m, I mean, truly, I mean, they can lose that game to Texas and still be in the SEC title game. [00:29:53] Speaker C: But, like, that's my point, though, right? So it's one thing if you. It's one thing if every team has, at minimum, one loss on their resume. That is certainly a situation. But I think to take two losses like this, because the problem is that it's always spur of the moment stuff. You have to look at these games in a vacuum. Yes. Everything is different on any given week. At the time that Vanderbilt won and beat Alabama, Alabama was the number one ranked team. Vanderbilt was a unranked team that had previously just lost to Georgia Southern. Right. Or was it Georgia state? Georgia State. [00:30:34] Speaker A: Well, it was. It was Georgia State. Georgia State, and then immediately after that went on the road to Missouri and took them to overtime. [00:30:40] Speaker C: Right. Exactly. Okay, so, yeah, so it's one of those weird things where you're like, okay, in a vacuum at the time. That looks pretty bad for Alabama. Right. And then I, you look at this game, Tennessee and Alabama, and they're both, like I said, two teams that have kind of slept walk, like, kind of sluggishly gone through the last couple of weeks, took a bad loss on the road, considered by most people, and then really struggled with another. Like, what would be considered a mid tier sec opponent. Like, it would be like, okay, like you lost to a Tennessee team. Yes, they're ranked I eleven, but like, they got like kind of like handled by Florida for a vast majority of the game and then did lose to Arkansas. So, like, it's one of those things in a vacuum. It's going to be looked at again really badly because everyone's like, oh, well, Alabama lost to a team that they hadn't, that they had beat since like 84 or whatever. Like, that looks bad when you take it out of context like that. And then this will also be taken out of context and it will look bad. And so for the committee. Yeah, it comes down to committee, too. How are they going to look at those, are going to look at it in a vacuum or overall, and you can't possibly determine what a certain person is going to decide on that front. [00:31:54] Speaker B: Which is why we should get rid of the committee. My twelve part long video essay going back to a and M for just a second. Yes, they have the chance to do this, but looking at their schedule, they have LSU, they have to play South Carolina, whose defense could potentially pose some. [00:32:13] Speaker C: Issues will be South Carolina. [00:32:14] Speaker B: You got to play Texas and then obviously you got to play Texas. The end of the year, ESPN only has them at a 33% chance to make the playoff. [00:32:23] Speaker C: But again, is ESPN. I don't know what they're, I don't know how they're doing their algorithm, but are they saying, well, they lost to Notre Dame in week one and then that Notre Dame team went and lost to northern Illinois. So by virtue, northern Illinois is better than Texas. Like, I just, if they're doing something like that, though, right. Then it's like, okay, yeah, I don't know. [00:32:44] Speaker B: I don't know exactly how they're doing it. They also have Texas with a 76% chance to beat Georgia, which that's also ridiculous. I don't know that I would give them that good of a shot. And they have Ole Miss favored over Georgia currently. [00:32:55] Speaker C: Can we pivot the Texas real quick? Can I say something real quick about Texas? [00:33:00] Speaker B: Sure, as long as you have perfect timing. [00:33:02] Speaker C: Perfect timing. Okay. I am still not, I do, I think that they are the best team in the nation. As it currently sits. Yes. Am I entirely convinced? No. [00:33:14] Speaker B: I honestly, I cannot believe that they, that the leash was not tighter with Quin ewers. How he was playing at the very beginning of that game, I was like, oh, my gosh, like he's going to get benched after like two drafts. [00:33:27] Speaker C: The only reason that they left him in is that they knew that Ou was not going to score because they had their top five wide receivers out. That is the reason they left him in. And honestly, probably a good power move to let yours get the reps considering he'd been out the last two weeks. You know, gotta let him play through the game just to kind of see like, okay, do I need to pivot back to Manning after this game? You need to give him the full body of work. [00:33:48] Speaker B: Let me make a minor prediction just because I want to be on the record for this if it happens. There's totally a world where Texas is getting stomped in the Georgia game. [00:33:57] Speaker C: Arch Manning goes in and wins the. [00:33:58] Speaker B: Win wins Archmanning goes in and he wins the game. There's totally a world for that and. [00:34:02] Speaker C: It'S a world I do not want to be a part of, but it's a very real possibility. [00:34:06] Speaker A: So one quick thing. Are both y'all saying that Texas, y'all view Texas as the number one team right now? Agreed. [00:34:13] Speaker C: Number one team in the country as it currently sits? Sure. [00:34:17] Speaker B: Yes. I'm just not. But here's the thing. There's a lot of teams up there that I'm not very convinced of right now. Oregon hasn't shown they can get it done on the big stage. [00:34:28] Speaker C: Penn State. [00:34:28] Speaker B: Penn State surely has not. [00:34:30] Speaker C: Ohio State. Definitely not done that. [00:34:32] Speaker B: I saw Ohio State. Somebody said, okay, they said that Ryan day is the Michael Jordan of James Franklin's. [00:34:42] Speaker C: Right. [00:34:43] Speaker B: But I don't even think that's wrong. That that's a hot take. [00:34:46] Speaker C: No, I mean, it's absolutely. But the thing. That's my point, though. Like, there's a lot of teams I'm not convinced of. The problem is, though, a lot of these teams have played some really, really quality opponents and have had their scares. Right. Texas, however, no offense to them or their schedule, I'm going to be honest, it's been a bit of a cakewalk so far. The only reason I say that you can talk about the Red river rivalry all you want, very hated thing. You played a team that started a true freshman quarterback down his top five wide receivers and you really thought that that was going to be tough. I mean, are we serious right? Now, I was surprised that ou even held the lead for a second and that's because their kicker missed a field goal to start. Okay, they actually could have been up six to nothing. But like, I mean, it's why like, seriously, are, like, are we, are we really doing this? [00:35:39] Speaker B: Here's what I'll say. Final thought. This is very fun. I like a world where like, we've got a bunch of teams who we just have no clue what to expect. Makes for good tv. Agreed. So we'll see. I have a feeling within the next couple weeks we're going to have to do a deep dive into the overall state once again. But when we come back, it's beef of the week. As always, we'll be right back here on 90.7. [00:36:24] Speaker A: WVuaFM, Tuscaloosa. [00:36:38] Speaker B: Welcome back into the low tide here on 90.7, the capstone final. Ten minutes or so of the show. As always, beef of the week finally back on a consistent schedule. I we haven't missed a beef of the week in maybe this entire year. [00:36:54] Speaker A: There might have been about been one, but it would be, it would have been early. It would have been early if we beefed every week. I mean, we beef every week, especially off air, but. [00:37:03] Speaker B: Yeah, that's true. But how many beefs make it? I'm not gonna keep going. [00:37:10] Speaker C: Have you guys had the wendy's, Krabby Patty? [00:37:12] Speaker A: I have nothing. [00:37:13] Speaker C: It is delicious. [00:37:14] Speaker B: You know why I'm here. [00:37:17] Speaker A: Anyway, let's, let's have to get into it. Who's going first? Is it me? [00:37:20] Speaker C: Those guys? [00:37:20] Speaker A: I mean, I got a, I got a long list. Might take a while anyway. So this is not directed at all Alabama fans, but a bunch of people on social media and sitting around me during this past game, actually the past two games since I was also at the game in Nashville talking about how this stuff would have never happened under Nick Saban. This is all leadership from the head coach, which, I mean, we can talk about being prepared for the game coming from the head coach. It could also be about players buying in, but saying that, you know, this is all because Nick Saban's not the head coach anymore and it's just simply not true, especially over these past couple years before Nick Saban retired. You could also talk about that being because of the new way that college football is run with the transfer portal. So your second string players that would have been able to step up not being transfer anyway. We don't need to get into all of that at the moment. But in 2008, I know this is early. This is before he won his first national championship at Alabama. There was two games at home, I believe maybe might have been back to back weeks. It was very close together. A 17 to 14 win over Kentucky and a 21 24 to 20 win over Ole Miss. Now remember, this is back before Ole Miss actually became a pretty decent program. 2009, number one team in the nation. This is the year that he wins his first championship. The twelve to ten win against Tennessee. Had to block the field goal at the end of the game. Terrence Cody and then also both. These were rival games that year, but the 26 21 game at Auburn, having to drive down the field to win it at the end. 2013, only a 20 to seven win over Mississippi State. 2014, after losing to Ole Miss. A 1413 game at Arkansas, who was terrible that year before Alabama bounced back the next week and won by 50 plus against Texas A and M. 2015, once again, this is a championship year. Derek Henry Heisman year 19 to 14, Tennessee at home. Then you have 2018. Gave up 31 points in a game to Arkansas, who was one and four coming into the game. Now, Alabama did score 60 plus in that game. And then we get into the more recent years, so 2021 specifically. This was a year that Alabama ended up going to the national championship, winning the SEC championship before losing the national championship to Georgia. Bryce Young, Heisman year first, the first game on this list for that year, 31 to 29 at Florida after being up 21 to three in the first quarter, a 41 38 loss to Texas A and M, who turned out to not be that good. I mean, they were respectable, I guess, mid at the time that that loss, Texas A and M was unranked. That was like the first unranked loss that Nick Saban had had in like 100 games or anyway, then LSU, who finished at year six and seven, Alabama won 20 to 1442 to 35 over Arkansas. And in the Auburn 24 to 22 game, where Bryce Young had to leave the 90 plus yard drive to tie it up at ten just to send it into overtime. 2022. Two losses where one gave up over 50 to Tennessee. And then the 32 31 overtime game against LSU. That's not really the point. But then the rest of the games went about how you'd expect until you get to Austin. P game I brought up earlier, 11:00 a.m. kickoff, only 17, nothing at halftime. People in the student section were ready to just, you know, quit on that team, too. They ended up winning the Sugar bowl. Obviously, that was that year that they missed the playoff. And then 2023 this past year, the 17 to three game against South Florida. The 26 to 20 game to Texas A and M, 24 to 21. A game against Arkansas where once again, they had a pretty decent lead. Arkansas fought their way back in that one. But just another game shouldn't have been that close. That Arkansas game last year, very similar to this South Carolina game that we just had. And then the 27 24 game in Auburn where they had to complete fourth and 31. So this has happened. The similar situations against teams that should not be competitive if we're looking at it through the Alabama lens. And it's happened consistently and then especially over the last three years. So it did happen under Nick Saban. So you cannot blame this all on it. Just being coached by, you know, I. [00:41:56] Speaker C: Think I do have. I think I can attribute this to a certain cause. You said that this really started, really picked up in 2021, right? [00:42:03] Speaker A: Yes. [00:42:04] Speaker C: You start having more Covid. [00:42:08] Speaker A: I mean, we did. [00:42:10] Speaker C: There is a very distinct demarcation between pre Covid and post Covid. [00:42:16] Speaker A: I mean, I would also say that when Covid happened, you know, Alabama did end up having one of the best seasons of college football history. Only SEC scheduled. [00:42:26] Speaker C: I'm talking about post Covid. [00:42:28] Speaker A: That was during COVID Okay, so once everybody got healthy. [00:42:32] Speaker C: Exactly. [00:42:34] Speaker B: I'll make some off air comments about that. Do you wanna go next or me? [00:42:38] Speaker C: No, I mean, which one do you. [00:42:39] Speaker B: I can go next. [00:42:39] Speaker C: Do you wanna go next? [00:42:40] Speaker B: Okay. [00:42:40] Speaker C: Okay. [00:42:41] Speaker B: So I don't know that this is a beef, but it. [00:42:44] Speaker C: Is it like chicken kind of a beef? [00:42:46] Speaker B: You know, but sometimes beef can be tasty. [00:42:49] Speaker C: So, I mean, sometimes beef is tasty. [00:42:52] Speaker B: I mean, I don't know, maybe it's like some of that bad, like grass fed beef jerky. Have you ever had that garbage? Okay, wow. [00:42:58] Speaker C: First of all, why are you paying for crestfallen jerk? I just want to know. [00:43:04] Speaker B: Okay, off there. Off. They are coming. Okay, so I don't know if you guys caught this. At the end of the Oregon game, on like the second to last play, Oregon intentionally left a 12th man on the field. [00:43:17] Speaker A: Allegedly. [00:43:18] Speaker B: Allegedly. [00:43:18] Speaker A: Allegedly. [00:43:19] Speaker B: What? You see, the coaches tell him to stay on the field. He's like trying to run off. And the coach is like, no, no, no, no. [00:43:26] Speaker A: We can't prove that Ole Miss is telling their players to go down like they're injured. So we can't. [00:43:30] Speaker B: Oh, don't even get me started about that. I've already gone down that road with beef of the week. I think this is sick. I do not understand how there is not how somebody has already not figured out this loophole with as many smart people as there are in the world. But somebody has to have thought, hey, why don't we, like, here's how you fix this, okay? You literally just say it's like a 15 yard penalty and you give the time back for the play. Should it have been blown dead before the play even started? Maybe. Cause Ryan Day was, like, screaming at the ref that there was twelve people on the field. It's a loophole. You're very smart for using it, and I'm not. I don't really have a beef with him for using it. [00:44:11] Speaker A: I will say we kind of talked about this with the entry thing. I think, once again, you got to be able to prove it was intentional. So that might be. You have to go look at a replay of it. But I agree with you, it cannot be used like that. And we will definitely get a rule on the books about that situation before we get the actual issues in college football. [00:44:29] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, that's the same thing I was gonna say. Is it. Is this just not the same as, like, the Patriots jets game where, like, Bill Belichick intentionally, like, took multiple penalties and ran off, like, multiple minutes of game clock or whatever, like, take, like, doing intentional, like, offsides, like, a false start? [00:44:45] Speaker B: I can't really take a beef with you for, like, abusing a hole in the rulebook, especially if it gets the rule fixed. Because sometimes some, like. Okay, everybody praises Kobe because Kobe would study the rule book and figure out where the refs were gonna stand so where he could get away with fouls and not get away with fouls. Similar thing. Student of the game, smart coaching. [00:45:07] Speaker C: Yeah, exactly. [00:45:08] Speaker B: But I don't understand how this has not been figured out before then maybe. [00:45:12] Speaker C: They want to leave it in. Maybe it's like a little fun Easter egg to find this. [00:45:17] Speaker B: And can we get rid of, like, the duplicate jersey numbers? Can we just go into triple digits? [00:45:23] Speaker C: I mean, I don't know if it's gonna fit. [00:45:28] Speaker A: I want to go through the roster and be like, what numbers are not being given that could be given out? Like, how many people are just being selfish and, like. [00:45:35] Speaker C: Exactly. Exactly. [00:45:37] Speaker B: No, but imagine your punter, like, coming out as number 362 or something. [00:45:43] Speaker C: Okay. [00:45:44] Speaker A: I don't think the punter's big enough to get that on the. [00:45:46] Speaker C: Yeah, that's just not gonna. It's just not gonna. He needs to be fed some beef in order to be able to get that big anyway. [00:45:52] Speaker B: Well, feed him some beef. [00:45:54] Speaker C: Yeah. My beef of the week. Well, it's really more of my chicken of the week, but because he likes me. Yeah. So I was promised whenever I was going to show up to a particular tailgate, I'm not going to put them on blast, but I was told that there was going to be chicken minis. And for our lovely listeners out there who are not aware of what a chicken mini is, first of all, I advise you to go to Google and search it up. They are delicious. Please order them. [00:46:20] Speaker A: This may rival Nick's whataburger rant last week. [00:46:25] Speaker B: That was an Alzheimer. [00:46:27] Speaker C: These are. They are delicious. I mean, absolutely delectable. I mean, it is almost like nectar from the gods, but infused in a little honey biscuit and chicken form. Okay? I show up and I'm like, those are not chicken minis. Those are just nugs. Those are just chicken nuggets. No little chicken bites. Where's the honey. Where's the little honey biscuit at? And they look at me, they're like, well, we didn't say chicken minis. I said, yeah, you did. Here's the newsletter. It says chicken minis. And they're like, well, they're basically the same. And I said, no, they're not. A chicken mini has the honey glazed biscuit. I want the honey glazed biscuit. Where is it? And then they looked at me and they said, well, I'm sorry, but we don't have it. And I said, well, then don't false advertise. I said, I'll sue you. Okay? And I said, what's up with this, too? I said, you said, assorted bagels. I said, why is everything in the assorted bagel? Why are they all blueberry? It's not assorted. And they're like, well, I think they messed up. I said, they messed up. I said, why didn't you check it? You picked up an assorted bagel arrangement and you didn't notice that they were all blueberry? [00:47:40] Speaker A: Well, they didn't know the difference between chicken minis and chicken nuggets. [00:47:42] Speaker C: I mean, it's just. It's just embarrassing. Like, me personally, like, if I disrespected the chicken mini, like, I would feel bad and, like, I would. I would pay reparations and, like, apologize to the community. Okay. [00:47:59] Speaker A: Okay. [00:48:00] Speaker C: Anyway, anyway, I love. I love chicken minis. And if you haven't had them, I advise that you have them. They are delicious. [00:48:06] Speaker A: You know, I will add not about the chicken minis and stuff, but, like, tailgating, right? This weekend, I know the game was at 11:00 a.m. and that might you know, affect some things, but, like, not. [00:48:20] Speaker C: Having chicken minis, if you are going. [00:48:23] Speaker A: So this, this was at the tailgate that I went to, like, if you're going to have it to where, like, oh, we're having breakfast, RSVP, you know, come to the tailgate. Why are we starting the tail? Like, the tailgate time that is listed on your information you gave out. Don't have it at the same time that gates opened. You like, I understand it's 11:00 a.m. if you are committed to having a breakfast tailgate. Have a breakfast tailgate. You better start that a couple hours before. [00:48:47] Speaker C: I'm just saying this is perfectly valid. I think that that's a very reasonable crash out. [00:48:56] Speaker B: We need fixes in the world of college football, tailgating. [00:49:01] Speaker C: Absolutely. More chicken. [00:49:02] Speaker A: And it's not what that one guy came up with that's taken over at least one university. [00:49:08] Speaker B: But, yeah, we can get into that in a different time. Anyway, same time next week. We'll be back, hopefully. [00:49:16] Speaker C: Good night. Tri state area. [00:49:18] Speaker B: Truly. All right. Have a good one.