Clark: Texas ‘out-Alabama’d Alabama’; AU needs to find itself

Former UAB Blazers head coach Bill Clark has been sharing his thoughts weekly into what he saw on the college football slate, teams in the Yellowhammer State, and much more.

Clark, who had a first hand account of Alabama’s performance against Texas at Bryant-Denny Stadium last Saturday, saw it more so as a positive for Texas rather than a huge negative for Alabama.

“There are so many more factors than just Alabama not playing very well. I thought it said more about Texas,” he said. “This felt like a different Texas team. Different level of physicality, of toughness. Higher level of defense.

“It seems unbelievable, but they out-Alabama’d Alabama.”

When asked about the difference in the two offenses as well as the issues Alabama has had at the receiver position over the last year, Clark compared it simply to “superstar wide receivers vs. very good receivers.”

As for Tide quarterback Jalen Milroe, this was the hardest part of the game to figure out for Clark. He said he was questioning if Alabama should fit their offense to the uniqueness of Milroe, or go with someone who fits the existing scheme better?

“You’ve got to either fit it to your guy or have the guy you best believe can perform in it in there.” he said. “Milroe is a unique type of QB. When you have a guy that’s different, do you design an offense specifically around him and forget about the backups or do you keep trying to make Milroe fit the mold?”

On the Auburn game, Clark pointed out the Tigers obvious struggles on offense but gave them credit for finding a way to win in a late night game in California. He also threw out an interesting nugget about why South Alabama never headed out West when he was making the Jaguars’ schedule.

“Knowing the coach over at Cal pretty well, I give Auburn a lot of credit for finding a way to win,” Clark said. “When I was at South, I refused a road trip to UC Davis because I didn’t think that 9:30 kickoff time was good for our guys.

“So credit to Auburn for winning. They have got to figure out who they are on offense, though.”

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