TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Chattanooga was supposed to be a cakewalk for Alabama.
With the regular-season finale against Auburn up next, this weekend felt like the perfect time to ask the question, “What would it mean to go undefeated this season?”
Wrong.
Kickoff arrived Saturday night and things didn't exactly go according to plan. Chattanooga inexplicably took a 3-0 lead in Bryant-Denny Stadium and somehow held on to its brush with greatness for more than seven minutes before Alabama scored.
Against an FCS opponent, the top-ranked team in the country played with two left feet. Quarterback Jalen Hurts threw for well short of his season average, managing just 136 passing yards while fumbling for a seventh time this season. JK Scott was called on to punt a season-high six times.
At halftime, coach Nick Saban said he was “embarrassed.”
His post-game statement said it all.
“Well,” Saban told reporters after Alabama's 31-3 win over Chattanooga, “that wasn’t probably our best effort.”
When Saban left the podium and players entered the media room, the mood was somber. Everyone seemed to know that the opposite of a moral victory had just happened. The only thing that looked perfect was Alabama’s 11-0 record.
“It would be awesome to stay undefeated,” Scott said.
Safety Ronnie Harrison said of finishing the season without a loss, “That’s kind of our goal.”
“We’re just taking it one day at a time, though,” he added.
And after Saturday night, who can blame him? The rest of college football may still be infatuated with Alabama’s greatness, but rest assured Monday’s practice isn’t going to be filled with compliments and well wishes from Saban and the coaching staff.
Saban spent all last week warning players that anything could happen against Chattanooga. He pointed out how North Dakota State beat Iowa and then Iowa turned around and beat Michigan. In the locker room at halftime, Saban asked, “Do you believe me now?”
If anything, what happened against Chattanooga illustrates just how hard it is to go a full season without a loss. Alabama has done it only once under Saban, and that was seven years ago. Western Michigan is the only team other team that’s still undefeated at the FBS level, and P.J. Fleck’s squad doesn’t have the challenge of playing a Power 5 schedule.
Playing at a high level week in and week out is difficult, Alabama offensive lineman Ross Pierschbacher said.
“A game like this we can really learn from it. Go back, watch the film, see our mistakes, and learn from it and move forward,” the two-year starter said.
The good news is that if a lack of motivation was the issue against Chattanooga, it shouldn’t be a problem moving forward. Alabama may have little to lose against Auburn on Saturday, but the last thing players want to do is lose a perfect season to their in-state rivals.
Crimson Tide defensive lineman Dalvin Tomlinson said there are still some of his teammates who “feel the pain of losing to them” three years ago.
“So it’s pretty easy to focus up because we don’t want to go through that feeling again,” he said.
After Auburn, the Tide will face the Florida Gators in the SEC championship game. And if there’s anything more important to players than a perfect season or a national championship, it’s a conference title and the bragging rights that come along with it.
Whether Alabama can run the table remains to be seen, though. No one thought Clemson would lose to Pitt and Michigan would fall to Iowa, and they both happened on the same weekend.
It’s a short history, granted, but no team in the College Football Playoff era has won the championship and finished the season undefeated.
In doing so, Alabama would put a check next to two of its goals.