Paul Finebaum: Losing to FSU might be the best thing that could've happened to Alabama

Paul Finebaum said Alabama losing to Florida State might’ve been the best thing to happen to the Crimson Tide. He said he sounded like a “fan at the end of the bar” while saying it, but he might have a point.

There were a lot of Crimson Tide fans ready to throw Kalen DeBoer overboard after a season-plus, but Alabama’s won three in a row and are back in the AP Poll Top 10 with a win over Georgia. In fact, it was the second straight year DeBoer and Alabama beat Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs.

But last year was different because Alabama caved in on itself following a win over Georgia. This year, it’s going in the opposite direction.

“And I think last year, we often said collectively that the Georgia win was the worst thing that happened to them, because they let the next week get away, and they never could completely recover,” Finebaum said on McElroy and Cubelic. “I’m gonna sound like a fan at the end of the bar here, but I’m going to do it anyway, because … I wasn’t sure about it during the ULM and Wisconsin games, because it seemed a little bit surreal, but in some ways, that loss to Florida State may have been the best thing that ever happened to Alabama. 

“Because it sent shock waves through this program and through the system, and how they were able to put it back together again, quickly, dramatically and coherently, is the story of this season right now for me, because I’ve watched all the games like you have. 

Finebaum is fascinated with Alabama right now when it comes to the national title picture. You wouldn’t have thought that just a few weeks ago.

“I certainly want to see Miami this weekend, and Ohio State is looking quite good, but right now, Alabama looks like one of the best teams in the country,” Finebaum said. “And especially from an SEC standpoint without an SEC loss and I think they’re very capable of winning at all.”

Is there a different identity to Alabama this year? It’s possible and perhaps DeBoer’s impact on championship culture is starting to show. 

“I think there’s a toughness that’s being built,” DeBoer said postgame. “I don’t think we’re there yet. I think there’s things that we can do better. We talked about mental, physical and emotional toughness that it was gonna take. That was one of the first things we put on the keys to victory at the beginning of the week. We knew when it came to turnovers and takeaways, that was gonna be critical. 

“And then execute in critical situations, and we did that. And those three things right there, we’ve taken care of the football. We executed in critical times, got the fourth down stop, executed on third down. Got off the field, especially in the first half. We were good in the red zone offensively, 4-for-4, I think three touchdowns. And so, all those things… but there’s a toughness that our guys are building on, and we still got a long ways to go, and they know that.”