Greg McElroy believes everything is going to be fine for Alabama

It would not be the first time Nick Saban has guided Alabama to the college football playoff after a regular season loss — see: 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2021 — and that’s just why Greg McElroy, former Crimson Tide quarterback and current ESPN analyst, thinks thinks things will be OK in Tuscaloosa.

There are certainly things for Alabama to clean up to avoid another loss in the SEC or in a conference championship game. But McElroy has seen many an Alabama team take a loss around this time of year only to be right in the thick of it January, and speaking on “The Paul Finebaum Show,” he said he’s not counting out the Tide yet.

“It’s gonna be fine, the world is not coming to an end,” McElroy said. “We have seen teams struggle in the past. I only have to think back to last year, in which they won by seven against Arkansas at home, looked awful against [Texas] A&M at times, on the road and losing as a 17-point dog. How many games do we have to point to last year in which they didn’t look great? And yet they had the lead in the fourth quarter of the national championship game. Everything’s going to be just fine. Last week’s game, albeit disappointing, does not mean anything for what can happen in the future. So I would trust Nick Saban to get these things addressed.”

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There are surely problems that need fixing for Alabama, too. Penalties are the obvious one after the Tide had 17 penalties accepted against them on Saturday versus Tennessee, the most ever under Saban. It breaks the record of 15 penalties accepted set earlier this season at Texas.

Alabama has also been susceptible to some coverage busts on the backend, which the Volunteers exposed to great avail.

Most concerning, though, is how these issues aren’t seemingly getting better.

“But I will admit, Paul, it is concerning to see the team getting got by the same things that nearly got them in the weeks before: Penalties, lack of composure, inability to pass things off in the back end of the defense,” McElroy said. “There are a lot of things that are troubling, for sure, that need to get addressed and need to get addressed now. And if they don’t get addressed, they’ll lose to not just another team, but they could lose two more if they don’t get things ironed out very quickly.”