Alabama’s dominance diminished by less impressive play in trenches

At SEC Media Days, it was pretty interesting to hear the University of Alabama, of all people, playing the ‘lack of respect’ card.

“Disrespectful,” said offensive tackle JC Latham.”I don’t appreciate that at all.”

Is that so-called disrespect warranted?

Well, maybe.

For years, Alabama dominated physically. The Tide played the kind of dominate football that champions play. Yet, in Phil Steele’s preseason rankings, the Alabama lines are ranked nowhere near the top.

In the rankings of the top offensive lines, Alabama is 22, two spots below LSU and only four spots ahead of the Tulane Green Wave. In the defensive line rankings, Alabama is 16th, five spots ahead of LSU.

Georgia, aiming to be the first team in almost 90 years to win three straight national championships, had the top rated offensive line and the second ranked defensive line.

In other words, Georgia is the new Alabama.

The Dawgs’ rise to the top of college football may have started in December of 2019. On a Saturday evening in Atlanta, UGA was throttled by LSU in the SEC championship game.

The Tigers, clearly superior up front and at the skill positions, led Georgia 34-3 after three quarters on the way to a 37-10 win. My guess is that game helped Georgia head coach Kirby Smart realize that he had to better quickly.

It didn’t take long.

In 2022 and 2023, the University of Georgia had 25 players selected in the NFL Draft.

Even without a plethora of great players up front, Alabama will still be favored in every game regular season game in 2023. When they finally play teams who can compete with them physically, one of the three quarterbacks vying for their starting spot is going to have to make plays though.

Gone are the days, at least for now, where Tidequarterbacks could throw sparingly and hand the ball to outstanding runners, following the lead of first round draft picks on the offensive line. That was good enough to go 14-0 in 2009 when Greg McElroy was the quarterback. The formula worked again in 2015 when Jacob Coker was the Tide’s starting signal caller in a 14-1 campaign.

Last year, despite having two of the first three picks in the draft and three of the first 12 overall, the Tide missed the College Football playoff.

Alabama fans will point to those near misses last season in losses on the final play of the game at Tennessee and at LSU. The slim margins of those losses blur the fact that Alabama was no longer dominate up front.

In the LSU game, the Tigers rushed for 185 yards and averaged more than five yards a carry. Led by outstanding freshman tackles, Will Campbell and Emery Jones, the LSU offensive line opened holes in the Alabama front.

In the fourth quarter on a third down and seven from the Alabama 21, Josh Williams ran for 14 yards and a first down. Such a development, in the years of Alabama dominance, would be unthinkable.

But here we are.

Georgia is the kingpin of the SEC, and LSU is the reigning West Division champion.

It will take more than disrespect to get Alabama back to the top of the best league in the country.