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‘Like a Big 12 team from 2017’: Joel Klatt offers strong take on Alabama

The Alabama Crimson Tide suffered a defeat so shocking on Saturday afternoon against Vanderbilt that it rocked the collective college football media landscape.

Frankly, the day Kalen DeBoer’s Crimson Tide team lost to Vanderbilt may remain in discussion for the rest of time no matter how well or poorly the team bounces back from it.

But of course, it was not the offense that was the problem on Saturday afternoon in Nashville — far from it in fact. Jalen Milroe and company managed to score 35 points while possessing the football for less than 18 minutes of the ballgame.

The Tide have serious problems on defense that have been on full display since the second half of the Georgia game which now feels like a distant memory.

Fox Sports analyst and college football media personality Joel Klatt pointed this out during an appearance with Next Round Live, using a comparison that will make Tide fans seethe with rage.

“This Bama team is just another version of the Lincoln Riley [Oklahoma] teams,” Klatt said. “Incredible explosive offense, and they’re gonna be in shootouts the rest of the way. I told you that after the South Florida game and that’s what they are….Alabama, right now, is just a Big 12 team from 2017…Alabama is gonna have to score 45 PPG in conference to win the rest of their games.”

If Klatt proves to be correct, it’s a far cry from the Nick Saban teams of old which prided themselves on great defense and winning games on that side of the ball. Times certainly have changed in Tuscaloosa, and DeBoer needs to get the defense to a level where it looks like an SEC program.

Michael Brauner is a Senior Sports Analyst and Contributing Writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @MBraunerWNSP and hear him every weekday morning from 6 to 9 a.m. on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5, available free online.

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