Nick Saban's worst loss and the building of an Alabama dynasty
— -- Mike Johnson looks at Alabama football and worries. He sees the obvious talent the Crimson Tide have but wonders if they still have the edge it takes to win championships. Do they know what it's like to feel genuine pain over a loss, to hit rock bottom and have to get back up?
From the fifth-year seniors to the true freshmen, the worst defeats these players have suffered have come in the Sugar Bowl, he points out, laughing at the absurdity of such a thing.
A former All-American guard at Alabama, Johnson knows that's nothing. He experienced the joy of a national championship in 2009, but before that he had to go through what he calls "the worst day of my life." It was November 17, 2007 and he could do nothing to stop one of the biggest upsets in Alabama and college football history.
The Crimson Tide struggled in Nick Saban's first year in Tuscaloosa, owning a 6-4 record when Louisiana-Monroe came to town as a 25-point underdog. Trailing by a touchdown, Alabama RB Jimmy Johns fumbled in the red zone with 4:41 left, Alabama's fourth turnover of the game. "My heart just sank," Johnson said. The Tide would have one last shot at tying the score with less than a minute remaining but would ultimately turn over the ball on downs. Louisiana-Monroe would go on to win 21-14.
"It was a tough walk off the field," Johnson said.
On Saturday, Alabama welcomes Louisiana-Monroe back to Bryant-Denny Stadium (4 p.m. ET, SEC Network) for the first time since Crimson Tide football hit rock bottom in 2007.
It was an embarrassment that players and coaches took personally. In one of the strangest news conferences ever, a confrontational Saban invoked 9/11 and Pearl Harbor when discussing the loss. He said it was like an alcoholic finally hitting rock bottom. Tuscaloosa went into full meltdown.
"We played as poorly as any team I've been associated with," Saban said this summer.
But out of one of the darkest days in Alabama football history came one of its greatest runs. A little more than two years later, a dynasty was born that would result in three national championships.
"Thank goodness that happened," said Drew Davis, who was a sophomore on that 2007 team. "It was the straw that broke the camel's back.
"The phoenix rising from the ashes is way overused, but it was like the last ash to fall. We're done, and obviously doing what we want to do doesn't work. It was time to wake up."
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"We felt like we could play with anybody," ULM coach Charlie Weatherbie said.
"We said, 'Hey, if they overlook us and don't prepare for us, we're going to shock them.'"
Weatherbie was four years into his tenure at Louisiana-Monroe. His teams had knocked on the door of beating a few BCS-level programs and all that was missing was the confidence that they could finish the job.
So the night before the game, Weatherbie had the assistant chief of campus police address the team. According to Weatherbie, the officer handed out a small stone to each player signifying the battle of David and Goliath.
