Alabama’s 2022 season would have been a cause for celebration for just about any other program in the nation. However, two losses and a win in a non-College Football Playoff bowl game is a rather disappointment for the Crimson Tide.
Georgia‘s back-to-back national championships have led to many discussing whether the Bulldogs have passed the Crimson Tide as the best team in the nation. Well, Nick Saban and the Tide are not tapping out just yet.
The 2023 season will be a crucial one for Alabama. The team lost numerous key starters and both offensive and defensive coordinators. Will the program be able to bounce back as it has in recent years, or will the hopes of national championship No. 19 slip away?
ESPN’s Heather Dinich believes Alabama could return in a big way and dethrone Kirby Smart and Georgia.
“The only way Georgia and Alabama would face each other this year is in the SEC championship, so this scenario assumes they win their respective divisions,” writes Dinich. “What Alabama can’t do is continue its 2022 trend of penalties and turnovers. Both teams are searching for a new starting quarterback, but no matter who has earned the job for Nick Saban, he has been effective against the blitz. This could be an advantage for the Tide because Georgia has a tendency to blitz a lot when facing elite quarterbacks, and according to ESPN’s Stats & Information Group, under Saban, Alabama has the best QBR when blitzed in the FBS. In Georgia’s two close wins last year, against Missouri and Kentucky, the Bulldogs only attempted four passes over 20 yards, and this also favors the Tide. According to ESPN’s Stats & Info, opposing teams only completed 26% of their deep passes against the Tide last year — 15th best in the FBS.”
There are still a few months of offseason remaining before the 2023 regular season begins for Alabama, but there are may questions that need answers before taking on Middle Tennessee in the Week 1 matchup.
Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow Alabama Football as the offseason progresses.
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