It was an absolutely wild and historic weekend in college football where, for the first time ever, five of the top seven teams in the AP Poll went down.

Unfortunately for the Alabama Crimson Tide, they were part of that disaster in what may have been the worst performance of the Kalen DeBoer era and a third straight defeat in Neyland Stadium.

Losing 26-10 to the Tennessee Volunteers, the Tide was out-coached in every single facet of the game, coming into Knoxville with a game plan that did not make any sense on either side of the ball and posting a showing that was not even competitive for a large portion of the game.

Despite entering the game without their top weapon in Ryan Coleman-Williams and starting center in Racin Delgatty, DeBoer and offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb did not make any adjustments. There was no quick passing game, no commitment to the run game to make things easier on a young quarterback in the most difficult environment he has ever faced.

Instead, it was slow developing downfield routes with players who were not capable of beating the Tennessee secondary, trying to do the same exact thing they would do had Coleman-Williams been playing. There was not enough patience from Grubb to attempt to run the ball with any sort of consistency despite the fact Russell and the passing game were clearly struggling, putting the defense in bad spots all day with short drives that led to the Volunteers absolutely dominating time of possession.

Even on defense, which cannot be blamed for the loss, Alabama played soft coverage with a big cushion late in the game, allowing a bend-don’t-break type situation despite the fact that George MacIntyre did not even attempt to throw the ball down the field one time. Tennessee employed a quick passing game and creative rushing attack that Alabama had no answer for in the second half, and while ultimately it’s on the offense, the defensive game plan was questionable at best.

All of this begs the question, and it’s not a comfortable one, of whether or not Kalen DeBoer truly is the guy to bring this Crimson Tide program back to national championship contention. On one hand, DeBoer and his staff have done a wonderful job of building the roster over the last three years, finding a ton of gems in their evaluations who may have been overlooked by the rest of the country.

Young players have been seeing the field early and doing a nice job, a strong indicator that Alabama is doing a great job of getting the right guys in the building. Recruiting was seen as a significant doubt by naysayers when DeBoer was hired, and they have knocked it out of the park in this area.

With that being said, there seems to be a common trend in just about every loss over the last two and a half years: the better coaching staff in terms of preparation and game plan being on the other sideline. In games away from Bryant-Denny Stadium, DeBoer is 9-8 during his first two and a half years at Alabama, almost all games they have been favored in.

It’s clearer than ever that something has to change, and whether that means staffing changes around DeBoer, play calling duties shifted, or something more remains to be seen. But undeniably, it is extremely troubling what Crimson Tide fans are seeing in these losses.

DeBoer is not on the hot seat yet, but it’s at least fair to ask the question at this point whether or not this is ever going to work.