2008 Alabama Football: The Rebirth Of A Giant
Alabama football had been away from the national spotlight for a long time coming into 2008, at least compared to their high expectations. The Crimson Tide hadn’t even reached a major bowl game since 1999, and their last national title was in 1992. Alabama hired Nick Saban a year earlier to fix that. After retooling and going .500 in 2007, the Saban Era had its first big breakthrough in 2008. They contended for the national title deep into the season and returned to the major bowl stage.
SABAN’S BLUEPRINT TAKES SHAPE
It would be about defense for the Crimson Tide under Saban and that was the case in ’08. Alabama’s front four was anchored by All-American defensive tackle Terrence Cody. At linebacker, Rolando McClain led the way and was an All-SEC pick. So was safety Rashad Johnson, who intercepted five passes and anchored the secondary. The Tide defense ranked seventh nationally for points allowed.
Offensively, the pattern for the Saban Era was also set and that was with running the football. Glen Coffee’s 1,383 yards were second in the SEC, and he averaged nearly six a pop. Mark Ingram was tough inside-the-tackles runner, and he added 728 yards at a healthy 5.1 per carry. Both backs ran behind a line led by All-American offensive tackle Andre Smith, who won the Outland Trophy.
Julio Jones had an electric career in the NFL ahead of him, and the wide receiver was able to stretch the field. While Alabama didn’t throw a lot, Jones caught 58 passes and averaged nearly 16 yards per catch.
It was left to quarterback John Parker Wilson to oversee everything. His stats were modest—a 58 percent completion rate, 7.0 yards-per-attempt and a 10-8 TD/INT ratio. With a game-manager approach, the only other notable target besides Jones was tight end Nick Walker, with his 32 catches. Alabama ranked 35th nationally in points scored. But that was enough to win games.
AN EARLY STATEMENT
There weren’t any significant expectations for Year 2 under Saban. Preseason polls had Alabama at #24. But they wasted little time in changing people’s minds. The season opener was a neutral site game in Atlanta against ninth-ranked Clemson. The Tide handed the Tigers a 34-10 beatdown.
Alabama’s win started a disappointing year for Clemson, one that would see them change head coaches and hire a former Crimson Tide wide receiver named Dabo Swinney in mid-October. And that would lead to Alabama and Clemson having an epic rivalry by the latter part of the 2010s. But for right now, it simply meant that Saban’s Tide went shooting up the rankings to #13.
Perfunctory wins over terrible teams from Tulane and Western Kentucky were followed by a 49-14 road thrashing of mediocre Arkansas to open SEC play. At 4-0, Alabama was now at #9 in the polls. And their first big conference test awaited, with a trip to face third-ranked Georgia.
THE NIGHT ALABAMA RETURNED
The Bulldogs were led by Matthew Stafford, on his way to being the first overall pick in the upcoming NFL draft. Stafford’s offense included other future pros in running back Knowshon Moreno and wide receiver A.J. Green. But it was the Alabama offense that came exploding out of the gate.
In ESPN’s 7:45 PM ET prime-time slot for the SEC, Ingram put ‘Bama on the board with a seven-yard touchdown run. Following a field goal, the Tide led 10-0 after the first quarter. Then they piled on. Coffee and third running back Ray Upchurch added short touchdown runs. Wilson found Jones on a 22-yard touchdown pass. In a stunning development, Alabama led 31-0 at the half.
Georgia battled back and cut the lead to 31-17 by early in the fourth quarter. But Wilson was playing exceptionally efficient football. He went 13/16 for 205 yards and no mistakes. The Tide scored ten straight points to effectively put the game away before some garbage time points from the Dawgs in the closing minutes let it end at 41-30.
When the next polls came out Alabama was at #2 in the country. In this era when the national championship was determined by simply putting the top two regular season teams into a title game, the Tide had come from barely being ranked at the start of the year to controlling their own fate by the start of October.
CLIMBING TO #1
There was a bit of a letdown the following week at home against mediocre Kentucky, but Alabama escaped with a 17-14 win. Two weeks later, they hosted a good Ole Miss team, one that would ultimately win the Cotton Bowl. The Tide led 24-10 in the second half, held off a late Rebel push, and won 24-20.
A road trip to face a shaky Tennessee team went easily enough. The Vols had the SEC’s Defensive Player of the Year in safety Eric Berry, but not a lot else. Alabama rolled 29-9. One week later, against Arkansas State, a so-so team from the Sun Belt Conference, the Tide won 35-0.
That same night, top-ranked Texas was upset by Texas Tech. Alabama moved to #1 in the polls.
SURVIVING BATON ROUGE
There were three games left in the regular season, but only the road trip to LSU represented a serious challenge. The Tigers were ranked #15, they were the defending national champions, and prime-time in Baton Rouge is never easy. And it wasn’t on this November night.
Wilson put ‘Bama on the board with a one-yard run, but LSU found the end zone twice before the first quarter was out. And they were near midfield in the second quarter, when Johnson came up big. The safety delivered one of his three interceptions on the night, and this one went back 54 yards to the house for the tying score.
Coffee’s one-yard TD run put Alabama up 21-14 in the third quarter. The Tigers tied it back up in the final period. Coffee ran for 126 yards on the night, but Alabama’s three turnovers helped keep it tight and we went to overtime tied 21-21.
In the first OT session, the Tide finally finished the job, winning 27-21. The last big hurdle of the regular season was over. They rolled past Mississippi State and Auburn, both sub-.500 teams, by a combined score of 68-7.
At 12-0, they were #1 in the country and pointing to a showdown with #2 Florida in the SEC Championship Game. The winner would move on to play for the national championship.
FALLING SHORT
The Tide might have been #1, but the Gators came in a healthy ten-point favorite. Quarterback Tim Tebow was a former Heisman Trophy winner and after an early loss, Florida had been surging for a couple months. It’s a sign of how early this was in the Saban Era that Alabama could almost be under the radar while being undefeated.
Coffee ran for 112 yards and Alabama acquitted themselves well, holding a 20-17 lead going into the fourth quarter. But Wilson was a little erratic, going 12/25 for 187 yards and an interception, while Tebow was 14/22 for 216 yards and no mistakes. Florida took over the fourth quarter and won 31-20.
The Gators went on to win the national title. The Tide accepted a Sugar Bowl bid to play undefeated Utah. Alabama had some controversy when Smith was suspended for a violation of team rules. Then they came out flat and found themselves in a 21-0 hole early on. The Tide rallied back and cut the deficit to 21-17.
But they were being taken out of their preferred style of play—in fact, the Utes and Tide rushed for a combined 44 yards. Alabama wasn’t suited to win a battle through the air. Wilson threw two interceptions. The Tide didn’t play well in the secondary and gave up 336 yards passing. They lost 31-17.
A FOUNDATION FOR A DYNASTY
The twin losses in the SEC Championship Game and Sugar Bowl were a tough way to end the season, but one thing was clear—Alabama was back. They finished 2008 at #6 in the final polls. And in 2009, they finished the job, winning the first of Saban’s six national titles in Tuscaloosa.