One of the major takeaways from Week 1 of the college football season: Alabama football seems pretty far ahead of the rest of the field. FS1’s Joel Klatt agrees after seeing the first full week of action.
Alabama went into their Week 1 game against No. 14 Miami as a pretty big favorite. It is always hard for the Crimson Tide to exceed expectations, but they may have done it against the Hurricanes with a 44-13 win.
Bryce Young was dominant in his first start, completing 27-of-38 passes for 344 yards and four touchdowns. The team outgained Miami 501 yards to just 266, forcing the ‘Canes into three turnovers. Alabama dominated time of possession 37:02 to 22:58.
The performance really popped compared to many of the other top teams in the country. Ohio State limped through the first half against Minnesota before finding their rhythm in the second half. Oklahoma, which entered the year at No. 2, outlasted Tulane 40-35. Georgia’s defense impressed in a 10-3 win over Clemson, but neither team managed an offensive touchdown. Plenty can happen during a college football season, but as Joel Klatt says, right now nobody is on Bama’s level.
“The level of excellence at Alabama is totally unmatched. Nobody is really ready to unseat them.”@joelklatt‘s biggest takeaway from college football after week 1: pic.twitter.com/etp62hak87
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) September 8, 2021
“The level of excellence at Alabama is totally unmatched. I think that’s the one thing out of Week 1, if you were to ask me ‘What was your biggest takeaway at the top of college football,’ it was that nobody’s really ready to unset Alabama,” Klatt told Colin Cowherd.
“Whether they win the national championship or not remains to be seen. Injuries play a factor, they lost a linebacker for the season. But nobody’s ready to prepare like they do, to execute like they do.”
Klatt cited a conversation with former Nick Saban assistant Mario Cristobal, who called every day for every player within the Alabama football program “a reckoning.” Because things are so competitive within the roster and with that level of talent in Tuscaloosa, players’ toughest days may not be on Saturday against the likes of Miami or Texas A&M or Auburn, but just trying to beat out or hold off another five-star player at the same position, or going up against a five-star talent across the ball during practice.
It’s hard to disagree based on what the Nick Saban era at Alabama has looked like. The Crimson Tide may not win it every year, but no other program has lived up to the year-in, year-out standard that Saban has set.
[The Herd]
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