Every week, we present “Tide Takes,” where we’ll get into a different topic on the Crimson Tide, break down the previous game, preview the upcoming game, and everything in between.
A new era is finally officially underway in Tuscaloosa as a sense of normalcy returned to Bryant-Denny Stadium over the weekend.
Not that anyone has fully gotten used to the fact that for the first time since 2006, the Tide opened up a season without Nick Saban on the sidelines, but after the most hectic offseason in 17 years, it just felt good to see Alabama play football once again.
After a wacky start to the day in which Western Kentucky’s helmet communication was not working and as a result Alabama could not use theirs early on, new head coach Kalen DeBoer was able to settle in and oversee a performance from his team that was about as good as one could realistically hope for in his first game.
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The Tide earned a 63-0 shutout victory in which Jalen Milroe looked solid, both as a passer and a runner. Both the offense and the defense looked fairly comfortable in what is a completely new system on both sides of the ball.
Generally, it’s hard to learn too much from the season-opening games against weak opponents. Take last season for example, when Jalen Milroe looked like an All-SEC caliber quarterback against Middle Tennessee State before playing so bad against Texas the following week that he would be benched the week after.
And chances are not much will be learned this week with a similar caliber of opponent in South Florida. But seeing that the moment was not too big for DeBoer during the official passing of the torch had to feel good for Tide fans to see.
After South Florida, it gets real very quickly with a road trip to Wisconsin before Georgia comes to town two weeks later at the end of the month.
The Tide must continue to improve with each passing week if they are to compete for anything significant in year one of the DeBoer era — an era that is officially underway.
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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