re: Josh Pate says Alabama can win a national championship in 2023: 'Don't kid yourself'

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I mean y’all pulled a natty out of your arse with Jake Coker at QB and Saban is still your coach so anyone who disagrees would be an idiot

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You must have been unconscious in 2009. See G-Mac. And BAMA went undefeated.

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Bama always operates on a full tank

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he clearly doesn't read this board

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QB is still important. Having a great QB makes you elite, having a bad QB makes you vulnerable.

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Depends on what you put around them. That is Pate's point. Does Stenson Bennett ring a bell for all those with short-term memory loss?

How many NC did BAMA win when Tua and Bryce Young were the starting QBs at BAMA?

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“Bama always operates on a full tank,” Pate said. “They’re always used to being so much more talented than everyone. … In reality, they’re gonna out-talent most everyone they play still even if you consider them down or vulnerable. They’ve got studs everywhere.”

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Absolutely true.

But there is an "if" there that needs to be recognized (that I'm pretty sure Pate recognizes).

"IF Bama bets acceptable QB play."

Now normally, we have (correctly) made the assumption that the next man up will be pretty good at QB for Bama. Sometimes they showed us that first (like Tua coming in for Hurts). Sometimes they were highly rated guys who came in without showing much and were great (Bryce Young).

But this year is different because Young got hurt for a couple of weeks and we got to see the next man up. His name was Milroe, and while he could run very well he was... not very good throwing the ball.

Did Bama win? Yeah, that talent differential is still there. But they beat a pretty bad A&M team 24-20 and basically had to do all of it on the ground.

What we heard was that Milroe wouldn't start this year... Simpson would. But Simpson wasn't ready or able to step in when needed last year in a situation that had no impact on his redshirt status, and after their spring game Bama went out and got a QB who isn't particularly well regarded after their QB's passed for 57% (Lonnegran), 51% (Milroe), 50% (Holstein) and 46% (Simpson). All the QB's but Lonnegran threw at least 1 pick too (Milroe threw 2).

They have talent at QB. They have an incredible amount of physically talented players. But QB more than any other position needs more than just measurables. Having a "talented enough" guy who can read a defense and make good decisions quickly has more value than an ultra-talented knuckle-head.

If either from their transfer or their talented QB's already on campus, Bama gets solid QB play, they can absolutely win a title. But they are dependent on getting solid QB play. And there are questions if that is currently there.

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No, not every year dude. There has been a lot of media and fan talk about how the dynasty is over many times during these last 15 years.

Yet, in every one of those 15 years, BAMA has managed to ascend to number 1 in the country, sometime during the season. Amazing and a record.

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I think you're fooling yourself if you can't see that y'all are on the downside of the mountain at this point. And before you get pissy, that still means that you're going to be in ttile contention ALMOST yearly, which is more than well over 100 other programs can say.

But I mean it's a fact that bama is not on the same footing as it was 5 years ago. From 2009-2018, bama was pretty mcuh always looked at as the favorite entering the season, and there was usually no one on their schedule that couls stand toe to toe with them. Aside from 2010, they were in national ttile contention entering thanksgiving every single other year mentiond in that time span. Even the years they didn't win the natty, they most likely played for it.

Now look at the lats 4 years. 2019 had 2 regular season losses, didn't win division. 2020 perfect season and national title. 2021 2 losses- not title. 2022- 2 regular season losses, didn't win division. To have 2 seasons in a 4 year span of not winning the division would be unheard of that first decade of saban. To "only" win 1 national title in a 4 year span would've been unheard of during that time. Furthermore they aren't the big boy in the league anymore, and other teams are recruiting as well as they are.

They're still better than juuust abotu every other team in america and will be yearly as long as saban is there, but they are NOT the unquestioned, unparalleled, unrivaled bully of the sport that they were.

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I think you're fooling yourself if you can't see that y'all are on the downside of the mountain at this point. And before you get pissy, that still means that you're going to be in ttile contention ALMOST yearly, which is more than well over 100 other programs can say.

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You are repeating yourself.

Here's a little reality:


BAMA didn't just have the No. 1 recruiting class in the country during the 2023 cycle. Nick Saban signed 9 recruits labeled as 5-star prospects. The Big 12 signed 9 as a conference. The ACC and Pac-12 each signed 6.

Some mountains are just taller than others.

Vandy "CAN" win one too.

you're too dumb to even continue conversing with. Raise a banner for outrecruiting boston college and have another cold one. You've earned it buddy

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you're too dumb to even continue conversing with.

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Talent doesn't eliminate itself just because the other elite team has it too in the playoff dummy. It gives you a chance.

Ohio State was a field goal connection from being the best team this year. Alabama was a couple of key injuries from Georgia still waiting forever for their first NC.

But TALENT put everyone in position. And ALABAMA has reloaded better than most.

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True until NIL. Now the field is more equal. Bama fricked

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This is Saban's kryptonite and Saban knows it