Then-top-ranked Alabama's 40-35 loss to the unranked Vanderbilt Commodores in Nashville on Saturday made national headlines because of the unlikely outcome.
A week earlier, under the leadership of first-year head coach Kalen DeBoer, Alabama was riding high after defeating the Georgia Bulldogs 41-34. The victory had some believing Alabama had turned the page on DeBoer's predecessor, legendary coach Nick Saban.
That was SEC Network host Paul Finebaum's take a week earlier. However, Finebaum, a long-time observer of Crimson Tide football, had a different take during an appearance on ESPN on Sunday.
"[N]ick Saban would have never lost a game like that," Finebaum said during a Sunday broadcast of "SportsCenter." "He did lose his first year to Louisiana-Monroe, but he had a 6-7 team he had inherited, and he had a .500 team that year."
Finebaum suggested that his ESPN colleague Saban's remarks weeks before may have contributed to Vanderbilt's performance on Saturday.
"But you know something?" he said. "I am going to blame this game on Nick Saban for the reason Buster Olney just said. Remember what Nick Saban said two weeks ago? He said the only place you play in the SEC that's not hard is Vanderbilt. That went up on the bulletin board. They played it all week."
"So Nick Saban, this is your fault," Finebaum added. "You cost your former team the win yesterday against Vanderbilt."
Jeff Poor is the editor in chief of 1819 News and host of "The Jeff Poor Show," heard Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-noon on Mobile's FM Talk 106.5. To connect or comment, email jeff.poor@1819News.com or follow him on Twitter @jeff_poor.
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