Commentary By Robert Carter

The North Jefferson News



Nick Saban tried to warn us.

In multiple statements before Friday’s Sugar Bowl, the Crimson Tide coach tried to tell us we’d better watch out, we’d better not cry, we’d better no pout and he was telling us why. The Utah Utes were coming to town.

And they saw the Tide when they were sleeping, or at least dozing lightly.

Sports fans in general and sports journalists in particular tend to take such pre-game statements as sandbagging at worst and posturing at best. It’s a time-honored tradition. Bear Bryant could make you believe that a lowly opponent like Northern Montana State is the second coming of Notre Dame’s Four Horsemen or the undefeated teams of Oklahoma’s past.

That’s a polite way of saying we ignore those statements, because we know the coaches are playing politics and trying not to give up any bulletin-board material.

As it turns out, Saban was right.

The undefeated Utes stayed that way, thanks to a solid performance on their part and a sluggish one by Alabama. Turns out that the lack of suspended offensive lineman Andre Smith did prove to be more troublesome than predicted — and as I said in last Saturday’s column, did indeed make me look like a moron. (That’s not really that hard to do.) But allowing Utah to sack John Parker Wilson eight times — after only 16 sacks for the other 13 games combined — does say volumes about the missing man who was back home, preparing his announcement that he was leaving Alabama to enter the NFL Draft, to no one’s surprise.

One offensive lineman does not a whole team make, so there was plenty of blame to go around, and plenty of credit to go to the upstart team from the Mountain West Conference. It’s the second straight Bowl Championship Series victory for Utah, after defeating Pittsburgh in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl. This begs the question, “Why isn’t the Mountain West a part of the BCS?” Or more importantly, “Why don’t wed do away with the BCS altogether and have a playoff system?”

Nah, that would be too simple. Plus we couldn’t have such thrilling lower-tier games as the Chutney Bowl or whatever.

As for the Sugar Bowl, Saban has already apologized for not having his team ready to play Utah. That would be a magnanimous thing to say, if it weren’t for the fact that it contradicted all his dire warnings beforehand.

Maybe it wasn’t just the fans and the media that weren’t buying what Saban was selling. Perhaps his players weren’t, either.

It’s really a moot point now, though. When all is said and done, the Sugar Bowl was largely a meaningless game, just as all of the bowl games were, except one. While the loss does leave a bit of a taint on the 2008 season, it really shouldn’t, because what Saban has accomplished in bringing the Tide back to its former glory in such a short time is quite remarkable, and that may be an understatement.

Saban has made the Capstone the place to be for top recruits again. He pushed Wilson, an excellent but not superior quarterback, to the fullest extent of his abilities and then some. He molded Wilson, Smith, Julio Jones, Javier Arenas and a cast of dozens into a team that was greater than the sum of its parts.

Saban no longer has to Fear The Thumb, having conquered Tommy Tuberville, whom Auburn then kicked to the curb. It may be that the greatest obstacle Saban has to overcome next season is to top what he did in this one.

And that will be no small task.