There’s no question how impressive Alabama has been this year in only Nick Saban’s second year. But even as they remain undefeated on the year following a 24-20 win over Ole’ Miss on Saturday, a troubling trend is developing for the Crimson Tide.
In their stunning 41-30 victory over Georgia in Week 5 – a win that catapulted them into the top 5 of the polls – ‘Bama took a 31-0 lead into halftime, only to allow UGA to get back into the ballgame before pulling away midway through the fourth quarter.
The following week, the Tide had a 14-0 halftime lead disappear in a 17-14 win over Kentucky. And after mounting a 24-7 first half lead over the Rebels on Saturday, Saban’s team once again had to hang on for victory.
Granted, the wins over UGA and Kentucky weren’t as close as the final scores indicated. And the Tide defense deserves credit for stifling opponents late in games. But it has to be at least a remote concern that teams have made halftime adjustments to limit ‘Bama’s offense in the second half the last three weeks. Obviously the Tide will gladly take the wins, but at some point Saban would like to see his team play an entire four quarters.
On the flip side to all of this, we might not have even seen Alabama’s best yet.
