Clemson Football: Has Alabama grown soft? Recent excuses would indicate so

Clemson football dismantled the Alabama Crimson Tide in the National Championship, but from recent talks, you wouldn’t think so.

SEC fans are still trying to cope from seeing their crown jewel- the Alabama Crimson Tide- get dismantled by Clemson in the National Championship game more than a month ago.

Let me start by saying that I have the utmost respect for Alabama and the program that Nick Saban has built. That program has been elite for a decade now and has pulled in championship after championship, continuing to prove to be the best in the nation.

But, the words coming out of the Alabama program following the loss to the Tigers has me somewhat disappointed.

Instead of players giving Clemson football credit, many have maintained the stance that it was nothing the Tigers did and all had to do with the Tide not executing. A few weeks ago, Alabama running back Josh Jacobs said that the Crimson Tide were “mentally fatigued” in the championship and that’s why Clemson was able to take advantage of the Tide.

He cited how Alabama played such a “tough” schedule and how the Tide were just tired after a grueling season.

SEC fans have echoed those sentiments, attacking Clemson football recently for playing a “weak ACC schedule.” They’ve said how it’s not fair that Alabama has to play all these “elite” teams week after week while the Tigers play ACC opponents.

While I don’t argue that the SEC has a ton of talent, these fans can’t seem to see that the SEC is the most overrated and inflated conference in America. Every year- year after year- the SEC loses bowl games and can’t dominate teams from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12. They claim that they “just don’t want to be there.”

The truth of the matter is a hard one to swallow: The SEC is just not as good as fans would like to believe.

Moving on from that, though, we’ll get back to the topic of the column:

Is Alabama soft?

Now, I know Crimson Tide fans don’t like their program being called soft, but that’s what many of your players- and fans- have acted like for the past month.

Let’s not pretend that Alabama played a “grueling schedule.” The starters basically got to sit out the entire fourth quarter of every single game this season. If these were elite teams, they would’ve tested you.

Instead, Tua Tagovailoa and all of those Tide starters got to sit on the bench, joke around and watch as Nick Saban continued to run up the score with his second-string guys. Does that sound like a grueling week to you?

As a matter of fact, Alabama didn’t face a real test until they played Georgia in the SEC Championship game. That’s a Bulldog team that would go on to lose to Texas and finish the season with three losses, mind you.

But, what if Jacobs was telling the truth?

What if the team was truly “mentally fatigued?” To me, that speaks more about the state of Alabama football than it does about anything else. It means that your coaching staff isn’t preparing you as they should and that you’re tiring yourself out by being overworked and overtaxed by your own coaches- because it certainly wasn’t happening on the field with those mediocre SEC opponents.

The truth is this: Alabama was no more tested in the regular season than Clemson was. When it came time for the two programs to match up on the field, the Tigers were just better.

Clemson was better defensively, offensively, in special teams, coaching and every single facet of the game. The Tigers were more talented, they were deeper and, if the two teams played again, Clemson would win again. The game wasn’t a fluke as Tagovailoa would like you to believe.

Clemson was just better.

When Bama beat the Tigers in 2017, Clelin Ferrell said this about the match up.

Ferrell didn’t make excuses. He didn’t go on about how his team was tired. He paid respect to Alabama and admitted that they were the better team. That’s a sign of a champion.

A sign of someone who is soft is someone who makes excuses or lives in hypotheticals. Saying stuff like “Clemson wouldn’t go undefeated if they had Alabama’s schedule.” That’s living in hypotheticals.

Bama fans better hope the “mental fatigue” comments just weren’t true. Because if they were, that Tide program is on a downward spiral.

So, is Alabama soft? They very well may not be when the 2019 season comes around, but right now many Tide players and fans- as well as SEC fans and “analysts”- are acting about as soft as they come.

I truly believe Alabama has the talent and depth to continue being an elite program in College Football, but it’s clear right now that the Crimson Tide don’t know how to deal with having real competition. I guess it’s because they haven’t had any in so long.