Alabama football ranked 13th, still alive for College Football Playoff

Happy Monday, everyone. Alabama had a disastrous game on Saturday, but perhaps not all is lost.

The path got much tougher. But there is still a path. And it’s hard to tell what the committee will do.

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That answer won’t come for a couple weeks. So for now, Alabama needs to figure out how to fix all that went wrong in the loss to Oklahoma. If the Crimson Tide doesn’t do that, it won’t matter there’s still a 31% chance to make the playoff.

“We’ve got to play better,” Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said. “We’ve got to be better in all ways. Some simple things and characteristic things that happened early in the game where we didn’t get the momentum on our side.

If you want Alabama in the playoffs, you need to root hard for South Carolina to beat Clemson and then hope that the committee takes the Tide over the Gamecocks based on SOS and head to head, which is a pretty solid bet. But if Clemson beats South Carolina, they may get the nod. If Alabama does manage to make it, they will have to play on the road, likely at either the SEC or Big Ten runner up.

Of course, if Alabama doesn’t take care of business against an Auburn team that already lives to beat Alabama but also has bowl eligibility on the line, none of that will matter. Just last week they were looking great, but…

The bowl projectors aren’t buying a playoff bid.

ESPN (Kyle Bonagura): Alabama vs. Illinois; Cheez-It Citrus Bowl, 2 p.m. CT, Dec. 31

ESPN (Mark Schlabach): Alabama vs Iowa; ReliaQuest Bowl, 11 a.m. CT, Dec. 31

CBS Sports: Alabama vs. Illinois; Cheez-It Citrus Bowl

247Sports: Alabama vs. Illinois; Cheez-It Citrus Bowl

College Football Network: Alabama vs Baylor; Texas Bowl, 2:30 p.m. CT, Dec. 31

We will have a good idea where things stand on Tuesday.

This is great field level footage of some of the action, if you are brave enough.

Love that camera angle. On the second and third plays, both runs, Jalen suffered from a lack of patience. On the second play, Cuevas appears to be setting up to seal Stutsman, but Jalen jukes him right into a tackle. There is plenty of green space if that block gets made. On the third play, he just needs to follow Proctor and there looks to be a decent gain. Instead he bounces outside into an unblocked defender.

It appears that the Ryan Williams play might have been reviewable after all.

According to Rule 12, Article 8 of NCAA Football rule book, illegal touching is a reviewable call. However, the language doesn’t specify whether the call on the field can be overturned — only that a “replay official may create a foul when there is no call by the on-field officials:”

Here is the reviewable foul, per the NCAA rulebook:

“Illegal touching of a forward pass by an originally eligible receiver who has gone out of bounds or touching of a forward pass by an originally ineligible player (Rules 12-3-2-b and 12-3-3-h).”

That was just bizarre, and robbed the kid of a spectacular touchdown.

Erik’s rage tweeted on Saturday and some dude wrote about it for the Sporting News.

Partial blame can be put on three Alabama assistants, whose seats will likely be warm regardless of whether it makes the College Football Playoff or one of the highest-rated non-CFP bowl games.

SB Nation’s Roll Bama Roll called for each assistant’s jobs over the next year.

“You cannot let Nick Sheridan get on that charter flight back,” Roll Bama Roll’s tweet read. “And Wommack has exactly two games and one offseason to correct…this. The honeymoon is over. This is a criminal waste and an inflection point. Everyone ought to be coaching for their job for the next 13 months.”

Jalen Milroe was asked about The Gravedigger.

“At the end of the day, there’s going to be a winner, there’s going to be a loser and (the clock is) going to hit zero-zero,” Milroe said.

But Alabama was prepared for fourth-and-31. He knew exactly the play to run: “Gravedigger,” one that had been interspersed throughout practice all season, one where he needed to trust his assignment, trust his eye discipline and trust his teammates.

It’s a throw, a moment Milroe said Alabama “needed.”

It’s not the memorable moment at the top of the Alabama quarterback’s list. He’s saving that for a potential national championship.

But it’s a mission Milroe will look back upon fondly.

Hopefully we hear more about it than Kick Six going forward.

Last, plenty of Bama dudes had good days again yesterday, but Josh Jacobs won the day.

Green Bay improved to 8-3 to remain two games behind the Lions and one behind the Vikings in the NFC North. The 49ers slipped to 5-6, but with the Seahawks beating the Cardinals, they remain only one game back of the lead in the NFC West.

Green Bay dominated start to finish, scoring on six of its first 10 possessions and finished with 325 yards.

Packers running back Josh Jacobs scored three times on three runs of 1-yard. He rushed for 106 yards on 26 carries while dealing with leg cramps in the second half.

That’s about it for today. Have a great week.

Roll Tide.