The Alabama Crimson Tide closed out the regular season with a commanding victory over the Auburn Tigers during Rivalry Week. Though it may have been too little, too late to save their postseason’s dream, quarterback Jalen Milroe made his thoughts clear on the program’s aspirations and standpoint.
The first experience under the 12-team College Football Playoffs has not been short on drama. As many argue over which schools should make the cut, and whether three losses are too many to make the postseason, Alabama is one of the big names that could be left out.
The Crimson Tide had a shaky season under first year head coach Kalen DeBoer, combining impressive wins with shocking losses. Alabama’s year puts the Selection Committee against the ropes, and the jury is still out on whether the Tide belong amongst the best twelve programs in the NCAA.
Albeit the frenzy and chaos surrounding the Playoffs, QB Jalen Milroe and the rest of players in Tuscaloosa made sure they handled their business against rivals, the Auburn Tigers. After securing a vital 28-14 Iron Bowl victory, Alabama reignited their claim. However, Milroe offered an honest statement addressing the situation.
“It’s not for us to decide, you know, what our future looks like,” Milroe stated, via On3. “I think we’re a team that’s going to enjoy this win. But we’re a team that won five of the last six games, and shown tremendous grit and commitment level, from everybody on the whole football team. So, we’ve just got to keep on improving, and also just worry about our controllables. Not uncontrollables.”
The pros and cons to Alabama’s season
Either argument can be made for the Crimson Tide, it’s greatly subjective. Alabama has a fair share of good wins, along with three tough losses.
The biggest win of DeBoer’s side was against the Georgia Bulldogs in September, while the biggest knock on their Playoffs’ hopes is their recent embarrassing 24-3 loss to the Oklahoma Sooners.
Other good looking wins were against ranked Missouri and LSU, along with a win over South Carolina who has proven to be a fierce team in the SEC.
However, the losses to Vanderbilt (despite the Commodores’ overachieving campaign) and ranked Tennessee drag the Crimson Tide down and could turn the deciding factor if they happen to be left out of the postseason.
Whether last Saturday was Milroe’s final home game at Bryant-Denny Stadium or not, it’s clear Alabama is hanging by a thread to keep their season alive. As Milroe stated: it’s beyond their control.