Obviously, 2017 was the first time ever that a team which lost the Iron Bowl won the national championship. With a win here, I don't think Bama wins the title. They would not have had nearly as much time for their injury ridden defense to recover, and they never would have put in Tagovailoa. For some reason, Saban's teams always seem to need a loss to get fully focused and motivated. In his only undefeated season - 2009 - I think the 12-9 miracle win over a pretty bad Tennessee squad fulfilled that role.
I loved my guy Hurts but he just was not a good enough passer to beat the top teams. I could see it coming all year long, barely squeaked by Miss St and both Georgia and Auburns defense that year were tough. Hard to imagine they still won the title after this.
I remember hearing about how the receivers were beside themselves after the game that there wasn’t a QB change, Saban just wanted to wait till they were down 13-0 in the Natty 😆
It felt like Saban was at home during pandemic and Shula was our Special Head Coach for the Iron Bowl SMH 😂 but I knew we were getting in with a lost to Auburn never doubt Bama
