By: JC Nevils
Well, folks, the Nick Saban era is finally over after 17 seasons in
Tuscaloosa. He is the best college football coach to ever do it
after winning seven national titles over his career, but it had to begin
somewhere. I will look at his most important wins from the start-up
until now.
1. No. 24 Alabama vs. No. 9 Clemson (Chick-Fil-A Kickoff)
August 30, 2008
Final Score: Alabama 34-10 Clemson
Coming off of a lackluster 7-6 debut season, the Crimson
Tide faithful along with the nation didn’t quite know what was in
store. They would open the season in the inaugural Chick-fil-A
Kickoff Game against top-ten-ranked Clemson with high hopes.
Nowadays it would
be borderline insane to ever think that Alabama would be an
underdog, but that was the case. Clemson returned one of their best
teams ever, and simply put it would turn into a blowout. This would
be the game to put the nation on notice for years to come.
2. No. 8 Alabama vs. No. 3 Georgia
September 27, 2008
Final Score: Alabama 41-30 Georgia
Coming off of the Clemson opener where the Crimson Tide
put the nation on notice, all eyes were turned towards the week four
matchup against top-five ranked Georgia. This would ultimately be
the test to see if Alabama was really back to its dominat ways.
Georgia would come in with a loaded squad that included future
number-one pick Matthew Stafford along with All-Americans Knowshon Moreno and A.J. Green. Well, the Tide led by star
Freshman Julio Jones, would turn it on and never look back. At this
point, Saban had the team and the rest of Tuscaloosa thinking
championship or bust.
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3. No. 1 Alabama vs Tennessee
October 24, 2009
Final Score: Alabama 12-10 Tennessee
In the first-ever meeting between Lane Kiffin and Nick Saban, not many thought it would be an actual game. But the combination of a historic rivalry coupled with having a young brash Kiffin on the other sideline turned into a game for the ages. In Kiffin’s one and only season for
the Vols, he had become a lightning rod for quotes and trash talk.
With that being said, Alabama led pretty much all game until
Tennessee roared back to attempt the game-winning field goal. In
comes Terrence “Mount” Cody, who would use all of his 330-plus-pound body to penetrate the line and block the kick to win the game. That
still stings Vol fans to this day.
4. No. 2 Alabama vs. No. 1 Florida (SEC Championship)
December 5, 2009
Final Score: Alabama 32-13 Florida
All season it was pretty much determined who the best two
teams were in the country. That would be the defending national
champion Florida Gators and the Alabama Crimson Tide. A season prior the
Gators would defeat Saban and the Tide in the same SEC
championship, so everybody all around couldn’t wait for the
rematch
In what many thought would be a close game to the end,
the Tide would convincingly whoop the Gators, avenge their
previous loss, and takeover Urban Meyer along with the Gators as the top dog in the SEC to
reach Saban’s first title.
5. No. 4 Alabama vs. No. 3 Georgia (College Football Playoff National Championship)
January 8th, 2018
Final Score: Alabama 26-23 Georgia
At this point in time, Nick Saban already had five National
Championships along with a statue in Tuscaloosa being revered as
one of the greats, if not the greatest. Although that may be true,
many pundits thought Saban was on the verge of losing his top spot
in the sport along with maybe even retiring.
They would have a good reason for that as Kirby Smart had the
Bulldogs rolling to reach their first-ever College Football Playoff
Championship. Georgia had also beaten the Crimson Tide
convincingly in the SEC championship a month prior, so many
thought the same would happen.
For the first half, it certainly seemed that way, until a change
was made at QB with Freshman Tua Tagovailoa replacing Jalen
Hurts. That move would turn out to be the game changer, as he
would go on to throw the game-winning touchdown to fellow
Freshman Devonta Smith with zeros on the clock to give Saban his
sixth national title.
