The Alabama Crimson Tide is not only playing for redemption when they face the Oklahoma Sooners on Friday night to begin the College Football Playoff.
Kalen DeBoer and company are looking to defend a streak that every coach in Tuscaloosa has defended for well over a century.
If the Crimson Tide loses to Oklahoma, DeBoer’s Alabama squad will be the first time in program history to lose to the same school in the same year since 1893, when the Birmingham Athletic Club beat them twice in a single campaign.
Alabama lost at Bryant-Denny Stadium earlier this season against the Sooners in a slog of a game, in which a lone field goal in the fourth quarter was the only points scored, giving Oklahoma the win 23-21.
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Oklahoma’s defense is one of the best in the country, and although Alabama, on paper, has the better all-around roster, if Ty Simpson can’t shake out of his slump and the tepid Crimson Tide running game continues to fall flat, the 131-year streak could end on Friday.
For DeBoer, who is trying to live up to the legend of Nick Saban, who made Alabama the main character of the college football world for the past two decades, a loss tonight could end his tenure in the south. Rumors are circulating that he is one of, if not the outright favorite, for the open Michigan Wolverines head coaching seat, and an early elimination could expedite the process.
If he wins, however, and continues the legendary streak, he will have a happy Christmas with his family next week before traveling to Los Angeles for New Year’s Day and a meeting with the Indiana Hoosiers in the Rose Bowl quarterfinals.
