Started By
Message

Did 2018 Alabama have the most dominant regular season in SEC history?

Posted on 7/29/22 at 9:21 am
Posted by RollTide1987
Augusta, GA
Member since Nov 2009
64930 posts
Posted on 7/29/22 at 9:21 am
That team SHOULD have won it all and probably would have if not for the troubling lack of team chemistry down the stretch. Josh Pate over at 247 Sports has alluded to big problems in the locker room associated with that team in the latter half of the season. That all being said, their run through the regular season was one of the most dominant in the history of college football.

vs. Louisville (W) 51-14 [+37]
vs. Arkansas State (W) 57-7 [+50]
@ Ole Miss (W) 62-7 [+55]
vs. #22 Texas A&M (W) 45-23 [+22]
vs. Louisiana (W) 56-14 [+42]
@ Arkansas (W) 65-30 [+35]
vs. Missouri (W) 40-10 [+30]
@ Tennessee (W) 58-21 [+37]
@ #4 LSU (W) 29-0 [+29]
vs. #18 Mississippi State (W) 24-0 [+24]
vs. The Citadel (W) 50-10 [+40]
vs. Auburn (W) 52-21 [+31]

Average Margin of Victory: +36

Posted by King Cam
Member since Jun 2020
93 posts
Posted on 7/29/22 at 9:47 am to
I think it was, the pure talent in that lineup was insane.

QB: Tua Tagovailoa (1st Round Pick)
RB: Damien Harris (3rd Round Pick), Josh Jacobs (1st Round Pick), Najee Harris (1st Round Pick)
WR: DeVonta Smith (1st Round Pick), Jerry Jeudy (1st Round Pick), Jaylen Waddle (1st Round Pick), Henry Ruggs (1st Round Pick)
TE: Irv Smith Jr. (2nd Round Pick)
LT: Jonah Williams (1st Round Pick)
LG: Deonte Brown (6th Round Pick)
C: Ross Pierschbacher (5th round Pick)
RG: Alex Leatherwood (1st Round Pick)
RT: Jedrick Wills (1st Round Pick)
Posted by remaster916
Alabama
Member since Oct 2012
12214 posts
Posted on 7/29/22 at 10:15 am to
Injuries hurt the defense.

Losing Diggs crippled the other CB spot.

No past rushers by the end of the season. Allen, Lewis, Miller were all out, Buggs was playing at like 50% and shouldn't have been on the field.
Posted by Funky Tide 8
Tittleman's Crest
Member since Feb 2009
52628 posts
Posted on 7/29/22 at 11:05 am to
quote:

No past rushers by the end of the season. Allen, Lewis, Miller were all out, Buggs was playing at like 50% and shouldn't have been on the field.



Yeah, and then we ran into a DC and OC that exploited all of our weaknesses brilliantly.

Posted by TiderinVa
Hampton, Virginia
Member since May 2018
850 posts
Posted on 7/29/22 at 5:09 pm to
Hard to argue against it, i also dont buy the bs about locker room problems, i think thats sensationalized journalism. Injuries on D caught up.
Posted by Grievous Angel
Tuscaloosa, AL
Member since Dec 2008
9666 posts
Posted on 7/29/22 at 5:27 pm to
quote:

Did 2018 Alabama have the most dominant regular season in SEC history?


I'd rather not think about it. It'll be one of the most disappointing seasons of the Saban era, given what expectations there were.

That season went down in flames for a couple of reasons. One, injuries were a factor, and this is probably the season that effectively ended Scott Cochran's time at Alabama. Secondly, Tua was brilliant in almost every aspect...besides not knowing when to just throw the ball away and live to play another down.

I refuse to believe Clemson was really that much better than Alabama.
Posted by Vulcan Materials
Member since May 2022
703 posts
Posted on 7/29/22 at 6:14 pm to
2016 was worse. Just about every team we faced that year was an 8-4 team and we had 2 games in the regular season that were close. I believe there were about 5-6 games we could’ve won on just the defensive touchdowns we had in those games alone.


What’s really hurting Clemson right now is Brent Venables departure. A lot of parallels to Smart at Alabama minus the impact. Their program while similar to Alabama didn’t have the same foundation to survive a hit like Venables leaving.

I personally hope Oklahoma is a west team. Would love to beat up on Venables Oklahoma teams seeing as how bad he screwed us in the mid 2010s.
Posted by FairhopeTider
Fairhope, Alabama
Member since May 2012
20755 posts
Posted on 7/29/22 at 8:59 pm to
The Mississippi State game was the first sign that we weren’t a completely unstoppable juggernaut.

That said, we deserved a better ending than what we got. Tua should’ve won the Heisman. We got screwed with our matchup in the playoff and Clemson pretty much had all season to prepare for us. Having a bunch of shitty assistants who were ready to peace out didn’t help.
Posted by phil4bama
Emerald Coast of PCB
Member since Jul 2011
11454 posts
Posted on 7/29/22 at 9:50 pm to
I think 2020 Bama would Clemson 2018 Bama just like Clemson did. Undefeated through an exclusively SEC schedule before the playoffs is pretty damn impressive.
Posted by Crimson77
Member since Dec 2019
774 posts
Posted on 7/29/22 at 10:03 pm to
Yeah I think 2018 is the most dominant regular season of at least my memory (mostly just Saban era). Important to remember though that the SEC West was probably as bad or worse that season than any of the last 15 years and our East opponent was Mizzou. There were probably a few other teams in recent history that could have run the table with similar margins on that schedule.

It’s still frustrating that the 2018 and 2019 teams both fell short. Injuries played a part obviously. But those squads always had such a weird dynamic in the big games. Like they got really tight and overthought it.

Posted by TomRollTideRitter
Member since Aug 2016
12615 posts
Posted on 7/29/22 at 10:17 pm to
quote:

That team SHOULD have won it all and probably would have if not for the troubling lack of team chemistry down the stretch.


I don’t agree. Clemson had a better defensive unit. Ferrell, Lawrence, and Wilkins were all first rounders on their defensive front and upper classmen that season.
Posted by Kcstills17
Member since Nov 2017
10066 posts
Posted on 7/29/22 at 11:24 pm to
2020 was more dominant imo. I know the 18 team won by more statistically but 20 never seemed challenged by anyone except for Florida for like 6 minutes
Posted by Chad4Bama
Member since Sep 2020
5643 posts
Posted on 7/29/22 at 11:58 pm to
I also think 2020 is it. All SEC schedule...no stat padding breathers. Mac & Co were an offensive machine. It obviously helps they closed the deal at the end unlike 2018. If you want to be considered an all time great, you've got to win the big one.
Posted by RTRcdub
Member since Nov 2019
1346 posts
Posted on 7/30/22 at 12:34 pm to
It was a combination of injuries and Mack Wilson/Saivion Smith
first pageprev pagePage 1 of 1Next pagelast page
refresh

Back to top
logoFollow SECRant for SEC Football News
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook to get the latest updates on SEC Football and Recruiting.

FacebookTwitter