TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – We should have known all along that Nick Saban wouldn’t miss a day of work. Always more machinate than humans during his time in public – a creature of routine and process that had done little worse than sniffing during his six national championship runs. He had hip surgery last year and the day after he went under the knife his wife found him standing in the driveway to get back to the office.
No, Nicholas Lou Saban wouldn’t miss a football game, and especially one on the order of Saturday night. At home, Saban would find a way to get to Bryant Denny Stadium against Georgia No. 3 and his coach Kirby Smart. He tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday and three days later had the three negative tests he needed to get active again. Immediately after the third test, he grabbed a state trooper and was at the team hotel in less than 30 minutes to meet before the game.
And later that night, after Saban led his team onto the field to a loud applause, he did what he always did, defeating a former assistant for the 22nd straight time in his career. After a mediocre start that saw their defense grapple with a number of unusual mistakes, Alabama found their stand and beat Georgia convincingly 41:24 to remain the only undefeated team in the SEC.
It didn’t take long to know that Saban felt like him again when he got caught up in linebacker Will Anderson after a touchdown in the first quarter and bloodily murdered a referee a few minutes later after a call for deliberate reasoning. When a defender in fourth and first place sidelined and triggered an automatic first down, Saban was absolutely beside himself and held out both hands as if to ask why.
The mad perfectionist was back in all his glory.
At halftime, all of the adjustments Saban and his assistants had made were working as the defense shifted from a lost appearance to complete control. After Malachi Moore forced punts twice in a row, he picked up Stetson Bennett and Najee Harris happily traded the sales for seven points and a double-digit lead. Then, moments later, Daniel Wright Bennett resumed safety. And again, the offense did the rest when Mac Jones pushed his Heisman Trophy campaign forward with a fourth touchdown pass and really got the game to bed.
Security DeMarcco Hellams said the defense wanted to make a statement in the second half. He said Saban stressed that this would be a 15 round fight and it would end the game. And they dropped zero points in the third and fourth quarters.
No, it wasn’t Saban who drew Jalen Hurts in favor of Tua Tagovailoa, but it was a damn good turnaround anyway. And if Saban wasn’t there, if he hadn’t cleared the COVID log in a matter of hours and as the rest of us in the country watched on TV, who knows if Alabama finds out something?
No disrespect to Steve Sarkisian for calling a brilliant game offensive coordinator, but he’s not Nick Saban. Nobody can fill these shoes.
Later, when Saban spoke to reporters, he wasn’t concerned with a shaky first half or any imperfections that there might have been. Instead, he said it was an “obviously big win” and that he was proud of his team’s fight.
Most of the time, he was proud of the way his players dealt with the distraction of his absence. When he was off the practice field on Friday when his straw hat was so clearly missing, a source told ESPN it was bizarre and it felt like an episode of The Twilight Zone.
Saban appeared to be healthy during his press conference on Wednesday and radio show the following evening, but who really knew? For three days the college football world was obsessed with Saban’s condition and whether or not he could return.
Saban tried to prepare his players for both eventualities. He told them he hadn’t caught a passport or tackled a duel in 40 years. So what use was he to them during a game? From a distance he tried to focus her on the task at hand.
When Saban showed up at the team hotel before kick-off, the players weren’t prepared. Jones said the reaction was “pretty insane” when Saban walked into the quarterback room unannounced.
Senior linebacker Dylan Moses said that Saban being there for passage brought everyone an extra energy. When he saw Saban walking through the door, he said, “Our trust went through the roof.”
And that, perhaps more than any adjustment in the game or speech at halftime, is the real value of having Saban on the sidelines: the confidence his presence brings. He’s been a staple in Alabama for 14 seasons. As it turns out, even a positive COVID-19 test can’t stop him from showing up.
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