Alabama suffered a heartbreaking 46-41 loss at the hands of LSU Saturday, putting their hopes of making a sixth straight college football playoff in serious jeopardy.
The game started ominously when banged up Crimson Tide quarterback Tua Tagovailoa fumbled the football without being touched, and Alabama ultimately found themselves in a 33-13 hole at halftime. It looked like Alabama was about to get run out of its own stadium, but the Tide never stopped fighting. They ultimately were doomed by poor tackling and an all-time great performance from Tigers quarterback Joe Burrow. (RELATED: SEC Week 8 Preview And Predictions: Trap Game Saturday)
Alabama had beaten LSU eight straight times, and you could tell just how much this game meant to this program.
Joe Burrow arrives home to Baton Rouge to a hell of a scene. pic.twitter.com/7dnYH9gmOK
— Marty Smith (@MartySmithESPN) November 10, 2019
LSU has been waiting a long time for this. Hats off to Burrow, Tigers head coach Ed Orgeron, and the rest of the program. The Tigers are a very likable team and deserve to be ranked number one Tuesday night.(RELATED: SEC Week 10 Preview And Predictions: The World’s Largest Cocktail Party
As an Alabama fan, I have a hangover this morning that has nothing to do with alcohol. I’ve watched my team play in four straight national championships, and now watch as there’s a strong possibility that they don’t even make the playoff for the first time in existence. Still, I can’t help but be proud of Alabama for the resiliency they showed, especially Tua, who played his guts out yesterday.
Tua and DeVonta Smith made this look EASY.
64-YARD TOUCHDOWN for @AlabamaFTBL! pic.twitter.com/TDCHbmApRs
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) November 9, 2019
So, now what?
The Crimson Tide are out of the SEC championship race, but have won two national championships under Nick Saban without winning their conference. The season’s far from over, but Alabama definitely needs some help to get into the playoff. I still have no doubt Alabama is one of the top four teams in the nation.
As Saban touched on in his postgame press conference, the Crimson Tide need to get healthy, get off the mat, and let the chips fall where they may. There’s still a lot of football left.
Roll Tide. Always.