Alabama opened its 2025 campaign with a stunning setback, falling 31–17 to Florida State. The defeat snapped the Crimson Tide’s 23-game season-opening win streak, marking their first Week 1 loss since 2001, and immediately cast doubt on their playoff hopes.
The bigger concern wasn’t just the numbers, but the lack of edge and urgency that once defined the program under Nick Saban. In Wednesday’s episode of The Triple Option, former Crimson Tide running back Mark Ingram opened up on Alabama’s loss.
According to Ingram, the team lacked effort, discipline, and toughness. These elements led to a terrible overall performance.
“These are all reasons why we didn’t make the CFP last year,” Ingram said. “For that to transition over into week 1…that is alarming to me because essentially that is who we are right now. We’re not disciplined, we’re soft, we don’t have great effort, we don’t have 11 people pursuing to the ball…These are all things that don’t correlate to winning football.” (16:40)
Mark Ingram admitted that Alabama has a lot of work to do. But before they even start that journey, they need to accept their flaws, take a good look at everything that they’ve done wrong, and then go into rebuilding mode.
As crushing as the loss against Florida State was, it’s just the first game of the season. They still have plenty of opportunities to not only bounce back from this but also put a strong foot forward for playoff contention.
Nick Saban Is Hoping That Alabama Will Improve in Week 2
Nick Saban held the fort down for the Alabama Crimson Tide from 2007 to 2023. During his tenure, the program saw a lot of success and gained a great reputation in the circuit. But since his departure, the Crimson Tide has lost all momentum.
Now, Saban works in broadcasting, and after such a devastating loss, he had some things to say about his former team.
“Obviously for me and for a lot of the ‘Bama fans, a disappointment that Florida State dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball,” Saban said. “But the good news is, every team has the best opportunity to improve from Week 1 to Week 2.”
“The good news is every team has the best opportunity to improve from Week 1 to Week 2.”
Coach Saban breaks down his expectations heading into Week 2 of college football 💪 pic.twitter.com/ePhTXCIExZ
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) September 1, 2025
Saban explained that the game is unpredictable. Even when someone has a strong team, they’re not guaranteed to win games. Sometimes weaker team puts up a better performance, other times, the luck fails the team.
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