quote:
Every game we've lost since 2019 with the exception of Notre Dame, the other team's quarterback had to play his arse off and it felt like he couldn't miss

I posted about this before the first Alabama game last season. Since the 2017 Auburn debacle, anytime Kirby's defense has ever been lit up, it has been by teams that have multiple NFL caliber pass catchers, a QB with elite accuracy, and a QB who is elusive enough to buy time for those guys to get open. They have had all three.

2017 Oklahoma had Baker, CeeDee Lamb, Hollywood Brown, and Mark Andrews. A #1 overall pick at QB, two first round WRs, and a first round TE.

2018 Alabama had Tua/Hurts (I don't think much of Hurts as a passer, but he did win a Super Bowl MVP), Devonta Smith, Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs, and Jaylen Waddle. All four of those WRs were first round picks.

2018/2019 LSU had Burrow throwing to Chase, and Jefferson. A #1 overall pick at QB and arguably the two best WRs in the NFL right now, both of who were first round picks.

2020 Alabama had Mac Jones throwing to Devonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle. All three were first round picks.

2020 Florida had Kyle Trask throwing to Kyle Pitts, and Kadarius Toney. Pitts and Toney were both first round draft picks.

2021 Alabama had Bryce Young throwing to Williams and Metchie. Young went #1 overall, Williams was a first round pick (and the best deep threat WR I've seen in college in years), and Metchie was taken high in the second round.

2022 Ohio State had CJ Stroud throwing to Harrison and Emeka Egbuka. Stroud went #2 overall (and played the game of his life that night), and both of the WRs were first round picks.

2024 Alabama had Milroe throwing to Ryan Williams. This is a bit different; Williams has first round talent, but Milroe played at a level against Georgia that he never did against anyone else.

2025 Ole Miss had Chambliss throwing to De'Zhaun Stribling and Harrison Wallace. This is the big time outlier. Chambliss is a very good college QB, but if he had an NFL future, he wouldn't have fought so hard to come back to college at his age. He'd be chasing NFL QB money. Stribling was a second round pick by the 49ers, but Wallace was undrafted.

This is why losing to Ole Miss in the playoff game was genuinely shocking to me. They didn't have the typical pieces needed to light up a Kirby defense, especially the way they had been playing down the stretch of the season.

As for Oklahoma, Mateer was not the same after hurting his thumb last season and I think he'll be better this year, but their WRs are not on the same level as past teams that have put a big number on Kirby's defense. Of course, after the Ole Miss games last year, this may not matter as much anymore.

This post was edited on 7/24/26 at 7:58 am