One Stat Shows Brutal Reality for Alabama After Nick Saban's Retirement

If No. 8 Alabama needed any reminder that the Nick Saban era is over, they got it Saturday during their 31-17 loss to Florida State on Saturday. The Crimson Tide not only began the season with a loss, but to an unranked Seminoles team by two possessions. The Seminoles, who went 2-10 a season ago, held control for much of the game over Alabama.

Alabama now drops to 9-5 since Kalen DeBoer took over as head coach last year and 5-5 since they got off to a 4-0 start a season ago. More concerning than their overall record has been their losses to unranked teams, which played a large part in the program missing the College Football Playoff last season.

Per Josh Dubow of The Associated Press, DeBoer has now lost as many games to unranked teams with Alabama as Nick Saban did throughout his entire tenure with The Crimson Tide. Over a season and one game, DeBoer is 6-4 against unranked teams, while Saban went 124-4 versus unranked teams from 2007-23. In 118 fewer games against ranked opponents for Alabama, DeBoer already has as many losses as Saban did.

On top of that brutal stat, Alabama losing to Florida State also marked their first Week 1 loss in 24 years.

DeBoer, or any coach for that matter, was never expected to replicate the unprecedented success Saban saw as the leader of the Crimson Tide, but they seem to be falling from his standard significantly in less than two years after Saban's retirement.