Dan Mullen and Brian Johnson Forced Nick Saban To Adjust After 2008; Can They Do It Again?
It’s a rare occurrence for Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide to find themselves on the losing end of a postseason game. It’s an even rarer occurrence for Saban to be defeated by a SEC East team.
The last SEC East team to defeat Saban in fact came in 2010, when the South Carolina Gamecocks—coached by Steve Spurrier no less—shocked the world by defeating No. 1 Alabama.
Now in his 14th year in Tuscaloosa, Saban has lost only five times in the postseason. Two of those were in the National Championship to the Clemson Tigers. One of those was in the first round of the playoff to Ohio State. One was to Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl following the Kick-Six keeping them out of the SEC Championship game. And the last one?
It came following the 2008 season. After the Florida Gators—with Offensive Coordinator Dan Mullen—gave the then undefeated No. 1 Tide their first loss of the season in the SEC Championship game, Saban took his team to the Sugar Bowl. In New Orleans, they faced the Utah Utes, Urban Meyer and Mullen’s former team, still quarterbacked by a guy they had groomed as a freshman.
On that early January night, Brian Johnson led the No. 6 Utes to a 31-17 upset win, in which Alabama was favored by 10-points. Johnson went 27-41 for 336 yards and three touchdowns.
“They had a great scheme,” Saban recalled of Utah and Johnson this Wednesday.
“They did a great job of executing against us. We didn't play great. They had a really good team. They deserved to beat us and win. They certainly did.”
The scheme Saban referenced was an up-tempo offense that to that point was largely seen as a gimmick offense, not sustainable in the SEC. Meyer and Mullen implemented it at Utah before bringing it to Florida and proving it could work in the south as well. Along with the bruising style of Tim Tebow, they used it to defeat Saban in Atlanta. And then Johnson—working within the same system still in place at Utah—used it again in New Orleans.
“Right at the time when we started we were probably one of the first teams to really go tempo on them and really hurry-up the pace and force the issue and really get them into some simple calls and kind of execute that style of game plan through the air,” said Johnson on Monday, recalling the game that won him the coveted cover on NCAA, the video game.
Added Saban, “I think their style of play was a little different than what we anticipated. They were in empty almost the whole game. We had a lot of big guys at that time, didn't have a lot of good pass-rushers, probably didn't have a very good plan to play in the game.”
Considered one of if not the greatest defensive mind in football, Saban used those two losses—and more importantly, the way in which he was defeated—to revamp Alabama’s philosophy on defense. Which is why, for as much as the 2009 SEC Championship game and subsequent first National Championship under Saban is seen as the beginning of the current Bama dynasty, the legendary head coach instead looks back to that 2008 season as the building block.
“I think the 2008 game probably had somewhat of a significant impact on the program here in the fact that we lost to a very good Florida team. Tim Tebow, they went on to win the National Championship the next year. I think our players learned a lot from that.
“The next year for us to be able to play a very similar team with Florida, a very similar team for us, and to win the game probably was a significant confidence builder that we could win games like that against good teams.”
Mullen agreed on Wednesday, recalling from first hand experience when the Bama dynasty truly began.
“I think you could go back even the year before [to 2008] that that they got the opportunity to go play in the game, I know, I was there, Florida won that game. I think that was kind of the launch point of their consistency and their consistent performance of opportunities.
“I mean, obviously haven't been there every year since. They missed several of them. When you look and you identify programs, like I always say, it's the consistency of doing it. It's not, I was there once, twice, three times. It's the consistency of your opportunity to go compete for championships."
The Bama defense is retooled now, equipped to face the same tempo offense that Mullen and Johnson have rebuilt at Florida. And those games from the 2008 season have no impact once the ball is kicked off on Saturday night, as Johnson was quick to point out this week.
“I think it has absolutely zero bearing on the game this Saturday. That was 11 years ago or whatever, maybe 12 years ago.”
Except…no disrespect to Brian Johnson, there might be some bearing on Saturday from those long ago matches. Because while Florida has been rebuilt to run tempo and Saban has adjusted his defense to keep up with the style of play largely used in college football now, much of the foundation doesn’t look much different.
“[Saban’s] scheme, the basic principles of it still remain the same,” explained Johnson.
“Now, he adjusts and Coach (Pete) Golding or those guys do a great job, they have great players, they're great football coaches. So they've adjusted with the times as we've gotten to more of a RPO-style world where you try to put players in conflict with pass and run responsibilities. The game has evolved so much in the last 10 years in terms of what people are doing and how people are attacking. So defenses changed a little bit, but at the core of it a lot of it is very similar.”
And if Saban’s basic principles remain the same, and the style that Mullen and Johnson used 12 years ago is largely the same, it would stand to reason the same outcome could be achieved Saturday night in Atlanta for the Florida Gators. After all, Florida is averaging 513.5 yards per game in total offense (eight in FBS) and 386.4 yards per game through the air, a stat that still leads the nation. According to Johnson, it will require a lot of situational football and winning one-on-one battles.
“It’s really going to come down the situations, managing the situations and making contested catches. I feel like we put together a good plan. We’ve got to go out there and execute at a high level and protect the quarterback and make plays when they’re there to be made. Obviously, we’re playing against a really, really talented team and our guys are looking forward to that challenge.”
Returning Kyle Pitts, who sat out last week in the loss to LSU, will also be key, with his ability to win those battles Johnson mentioned. On Wednesday, Mullen was vague about Pitts status, saying “hopefully he's able to play.” When GatorBait Magazine asked Pitts on Monday if he’d be 100% for the game, he responded, “yes ma'am, that's the plan.”
Now that Alabama is running much the same offense, to near perfection under Mac Jones averaging 537.8 yards per game in total offense, the Gators defense will lean on their stout front seven to make up for some inconsistencies in the secondary. It's often said on defense you want to make the quarterback beat you with his arm. For Jones—who has a 76.4 completion percentage and can easily reach downfield—that's the last thing Florida will want to do Saturday.
“What you don't want to do is let a quarterback basically play seven-on-seven,” explained Mullen.
“I mean, you go watch, there's a lot of quarterbacks, makes life a little bit easier when no one is touching you.
"Up front it's important to kind of try to change up the looks. You got on them on the back end, but you got to get pressure up front to not let them just stand back there, can't just let them stand back there and have all day to just kind of take his time, go through every read, get to fourth, fifth progressions in reads. You have got to get after the quarterback a little bit, get him out of rhythm early in the game.”
Saturday will be the 10th meeting between Alabama and Florida in the SEC Championship Game, most in the game's history. It’s a game and postseason rivalry that has come to define the conference. So to have the styles from each team and the answer from the other. These teams, this game, have shaped the evolvement of college football. Every person involved in the 2020 edition will rely on those old lessons to search for another win in the next chapter.
As Saban surmised, “I think you have to respect who you're playing. Florida has a really, really good team who is probably capable of beating any team in the country. We're going to have to play very well, focus on what we have to do really well in this game to have a chance to be successful.”
Comments