Tim Smith was not shocked with how powerful Saturday’s win towards South Carolina was for Alabama soccer.
The Alabama graduate defensive finish has been navigating SEC schedules since 2020. He’s been part of 4 SEC regular-season losses since his arrival at Alabama: Texas A&M in 2021, Tennessee and LSU in 2022, and Vanderbilt in 2024.
So when an SEC group involves Bryant-Denny Stadium to play Alabama, Smith is aware of precisely what the Crimson Tide will get.
“We play at Alabama, you already know what I’m saying?” Smith mentioned. “We everyone’s Tremendous Bowl.”
And for the previous 10 quarters, Alabama has seen SEC groups’ bests, from the second-half comeback by Georgia to the four-quarter collapse towards Vanderbilt and Saturday’s slim win towards the Gamecocks.
Smith mentioned he is aware of what outsiders say. He harkens again to Alabama coach Nick Saban, calling different ideas and opinions “rat poison.”
“However relating to us, once they play us, you may not acknowledge who the group is,” Smith mentioned. “They got here out to ball and beat our behinds. That’s one of many improbable issues concerning the SEC: Everyone desires our head.”
That narrative has continued by way of the Saban period and into Kalen DeBoer’s.
On ESPN’s “School GameDay,” Saban mentioned he noticed “just a little little bit of complacency, virtually even conceitedness” from the Crimson Tide after the Georgia recreation and into Vanderbilt week.
After what Alabama noticed from Vanderbilt, and from the scare South Carolina gave the Crimson Tide Saturday, a well-recognized chorus rang out from contained in the Alabama locker room.
“We speak about it on a regular basis, it’s exhausting to win within the SEC,” Alabama operating again Justice Haynes mentioned. “They’re a very good group, they usually took care of it at present. That’s all we will ask.”
It’s a mindset that retains Alabama grounded in a convention that got here into Saturday with 9 groups within the newest top-25 of the US LBM Coaches Ballot together with future opponents Tennessee, Missouri, LSU and Oklahoma.
Alabama nonetheless has notoriety within the SEC with what Saban constructed throughout 17 seasons in Tuscaloosa. But it surely’s a fame that has hit considerably of a roadblock over the course of DeBoer’s first six video games with the Crimson Tide, particularly over the previous 10 quarters of convention play.
Up to now 10 quarters, Alabama has both seemed beatable or been overwhelmed. And as Alabama faces the meat of SEC play — what may very well be 4 ranked video games in 5 weeks — adversity stays for the Crimson Tide, one thing broad receiver Germie Bernard mentioned the group at all times talks about.
“I imply, we knew it will come,” Bernard mentioned. “It simply depends upon the way you reply. We responded properly this week and, I imply, we are going to simply proceed to make things better in observe that we’d like all through subsequent week and play a greater recreation.”
Colin Homosexual covers Alabama soccer for The Tuscaloosa Information, a part of the USA TODAY Community. Attain him atcgay@gannett.com or comply with him@_ColinGay on X, previously often called Twitter.