Tennessee fans know something about Alabama Football in 2023 that no one else seems to know yet
Tennessee Vols fans — or at least some fans — know something about Alabama Crimson Tide football in 2023 that the rest of the country hasn't seemed to figure out yet. Alabama is currently being viewed as a top-five program in 2023. USA Today, for example, has Alabama at No. 3 in their post-spring top […]
Tennessee Vols fans — or at least some fans — know something about Alabama Crimson Tide football in 2023 that the rest of the country hasn't seemed to figure out yet.
Alabama is currently being viewed as a top-five program in 2023.
USA Today, for example, has Alabama at No. 3 in their post-spring top 25 rankings (they have Tennessee at No. 12).
Alabama is Alabama and not many folks are going to question the Crimson Tide being ranked in the top five to start the 2023 season.
Tennessee fans, however, know that Alabama is only going to be ranked in the top five because of its reputation under Nick Saban. And while that reputation is deserved, I'm not sure the Crimson Tide are quite worthy of that ranking.
Having the Vols at No. 12, or in that range, is completely fair. Tennessee is coming off a great 11-2 season that saw them knock off Alabama, LSU, and Clemson. They also took down Florida for the first time since 2016.
But the Vols lost superstar quarterback Hendon Hooker to the NFL draft. Redshirt senior Joe Milton has superstar qualities, but he has to prove he can perform at an elite level for an entire season. Milton is arguably the most talented quarterback in the SEC in 2023, but no one is going to anoint him as the best quarterback in the conference until he proves it. Totally fair.
Alabama, on the other hand, just lost possibly the best quarterback in program history in Bryce Young. And they don't have an obvious superstar to replace him.
Jalen Milroe and Ty Simpson battled it out for Alabama this spring and Saban apparently didn't see either player as an obvious answer. As a result, Saban and the Crimson Tide brought in Notre Dame transfer quarterback Tyler Buchner.
Buchner, who will reunite with offensive coordinator Tommy Rees at Alabama (Rees was Buchner's offensive coordinator at Notre Dame), left the Fighting Irish because Notre Dame has a better option in Wake Forest transfer quarterback Sam Hartman.
There's no guarantee that Buchner will be a quality starter for Alabama. If he couldn't win the job at Notre Dame, what's that say about his chances in the SEC?
Maybe one of these quarterbacks steps up and surprise this fall. It's certainly possible, but it doesn't seem likely. But even if one of these three quarterbacks plays well this fall, I don't see any of them performing as well as Young did for Bama. And that's to be expected — Young is an incredibly special player.
It's all about the quarterback in college football — unless you're Georgia and have a ridiculously elite defense (and even then, Stetson Bennett performed at a high level for the Bulldogs at quarterback). And considering Alabama's defense didn't exactly look elite last season — especially in their 52-49 loss to Tennessee –they're probably going to need a superstar quarterback to help win some of the tougher games on their schedule.
And speaking of that Tennessee game, if Alabama doesn't have Young in that matchup, the Vols win that game in blowout fashion. Tennessee was on their way to boat racing the Crimson Tide before Young started playing like a superstar. Young passed for 455 yards and two touchdowns in the loss to the Vols. And it's not like Tennessee's defense played terribly against the Crimson Tide — Young was just a magician that afternoon in Knoxville.
If Milroe starts that game for Bama, the Vols probably win by three or four scores. I mean, that's the way the game was going before Young took over.
Tennessee's defense should be better in 2023. And the offense has the talent to play at the same level that it did last season (wide receiver Dont'e Thornton is going to be a problem for SEC defenses…and wide receiver Squirrel White can run for days). If the Vols' offense performs at the same level, then Tennessee should be able to get its first win in Tuscaloosa since 2003. Without Young, I don't think Alabama can keep pace with UT's offense.
Now, obviously, the games aren't played on paper. And I'm certainly not suggesting that Tennessee is going to blow out Bama in Tuscaloosa. No one should ever count Saban out. But without Young, the Crimson Tide aren't nearly as scary. And with their unsettled quarterback situation, I don't see how they can be viewed as a top-five program.
At the risk of sounding foolish this fall, it feels like Alabama is being overrated entering the 2023 season. The Crimson Tide came up short of the College Football Playoff with Bryce Young in 2022. I'm not sure why anyone thinks Alabama will be better without Bryce Young in 2023.
