This is an opinion column.

It’s tough to see the Crimson Tide take it to the teeth again and again and again.

First it was the pummeling at the Rose Bowl and now Texas is taking its turn rearranging Alabama’s battered face.

The image of Alabama football might never be the same again.

Alabama forgot how to run the ball last season. It was embarrassing to watch. The Tide’s top running back rushed for 13 yards on five carries in the 38-3 loss to Indiana. Quarterback Ty Simpson had the longest run for an Alabama back, but he broke a rib and fumbled the football on the play.

Not good. Sad stuff.

The problems with Alabama’s running game were all going to change in the offseason, though. Coach Kalen DeBoer had big plans. He was going to bring in a transfer running back and reignite the flame.

Yeah, about that …

Alabama was set to sign a new running back last week. Hollywood Smothers (great name) was planning to leave N.C. State for Alabama. That Alabama didn’t already have five running backs better than a guy at N.C. State would make Nick Saban toss his Oatmeal Creme Pies, but let’s focus on one new reality at a time.

On Friday, Smothers flipped his commitment to Texas and coach Steve Sarkisian.

Oof.

But the hits didn’t stop there.

Texas also landed former Auburn receiver Cam Coleman on Sunday despite a max-effort push by Alabama that included hiring Coleman’s receivers coach away from the Tigers.

Is it just the money, or is the problem Alabama’s coaches and their broken offense, too? Either way, these are bitter days in Tuscaloosa. Don’t forget that Alabama also lost receiver Isaiah Horton to the transfer portal. On Sunday evening, news broke that Horton was headed to Texas A&M.

A new week is here and so is a different perception of Alabama. The Crimson Tide is officially a college football underdog. Alabama can’t run the ball against Indiana, and it can’t outspend the schools in Texas.

Is Alabama poor?

Oh, wait. I know. If that’s the case, then no doubt future football governor Tommy Tuberville will know how to fix it.

Until then, Alabama football is looking more and more like Ole Miss every day.

Is it enough for Alabama to simply limp into the playoffs these days? Maybe that’s the new measure of success. I’ll take 11 wins and a beat down by Indiana over missing the party altogether.

How does Alabama football get off the ropes and punch back? I don’t have an answer for that, but the beatings continue.

Alabama’s loss to Indiana in the College Football Playoff was the kind of thing that can reshape college football history, but losing all of Alabama’s players to Texas year after year is worse. First it was receiver Isaiah Bond after the Iron Bowl. Bond was the hero of the 2023 Iron Bowl. He’s the player who caught the pass from Jalen Milroe in the back of the end zone.

Bond was going to be an Alabama legend forever. Then he made a “business decision” to leave Alabama for Austin.

We thought it couldn’t get any worse, but that was just the beginning of Alabama’s losses to Texas.

Coleman and Smothers would rather play with Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning, and I can’t really blame them. Who’s going to be Alabama’s quarterback next season? No one knows. It’s either forever backup Austin Mack, or unproven underclassman Keelon Russell.

I was hoping the Tide could maybe lure former Arizona State triggerman Sam Leavitt out of the transfer portal, but that was a pipe dream. Leavitt, the top-rated quarterback in the portal, is expected to choose between Miami and Tennessee.

Some readers thought I was crazy on Saturday when I wrote that Auburn is better positioned for the future than Alabama. Then Sunday happened.

Will Alabama ever win another national championship? Seems ridiculous to even ask the question, but things come and go.

Remember when Yale and Princeton ruled college football? Then it was Notre Dame and Michigan for a time.

What about Alabama? Yeah, the Crimson Tide had a good run, too, but that was before money changed everything.

The running back that Alabama wanted chose Texas. The receiver that Alabama wanted went to Texas, too. Horton, a returning starter at receiver, is off to Texas A&M.

Who’s going to be on Alabama’s offensive line next season? No one knows that either. Everyone left.

Right tackle Wilkin Formby would have been a returning starter, but then he went to … you guessed it … Texas A&M.

Alabama’s offensive line was pretty bad last season, but can it get even worse?

When you’re an underdog like Alabama, it’s best to keep the salaries low and expectations even lower.

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A bad day in the transfer portal for Alabama football got a little bit tougher on Sunday evening. Wide receiver Isaiah Horton, a starter for the Crimson Tide in 2025, announced that he’ll be transferring within the SEC.

Horton will land at Texas A&M, the same place as former UA offensive tackle Wilkin Formby. The wideout shared the news on his social media Sunday.

The Horton news follows a day in which Alabama missed out on a potential superstar replacement at receiver, when Cam Coleman announced his commitment to Texas. To make matters worse for the offense, running back Hollywood Smothers, who publicly committed to the Crimson Tide from NC State, flipped to Texas on Sunday as well.

Horton provided valuable size in Alabama’s receiver room. He caught 42 passes for 511 yards and eight touchdowns in 2025.

The 6-foot-4, 208-pound native of Nashville, Tenn. led the Crimson Tide in touchdown catches. He had a knack for getting open in the end zone in clutch situations, as seen most clearly in the Iron Bowl.

As Alabama struggled against an Auburn team playing with an interim coach at Jordan-Hare Stadium in November, Horton caught three touchdown passes. He made his final scoring grab on a crucial fourth down late in the fourth quarter.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — No. 13 Alabama men’s basketball might have a bit of a problem.

The Crimson Tide was upset by Texas at home on Saturday night, and the 92-88 loss was riddled with negatives. Alabama came into this one with a road loss to undefeated Vanderbilt, and this should’ve been a game to shake it off.

But Alabama was down by double digits to Texas on numerous occasions throughout the contest. Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats said during the postgame press conference that defensive assistant Brian Adams “does a really good job putting good game plans together,” but “guys that don’t care enough to lock in and follow” those game plans.

“It starts with effort,” Oats said. “The want-to, competitive edge, guys just don’t want to lose, give you everything they got. The guys are apparently too comfortable with losing right now, because they’re not giving us everything they got on that side of the floor.

“So, I think it starts with having guys that just refuse to lose. From there, it goes to guys, like in the moment, having some personal pride in stopping their man. Too many blow-bys, too many isolation plays, just beat one-on-one, guy’s not locked down on the help side, a guy gets beat…I do think we’ve got some guys that care enough about winning on the defensive end, but you’ve also got to score the ball on offense, too.

“So we’re going to have to figure out the right lineups to play that care enough, compete enough, are tired of losing, got enough personal pride in their defense and they care enough to prepare. … Losing doesn’t bother them enough yet. I don’t know how many losses it’s going to take until it bothers them, but it bothers me. It bothers the coaching staff, and as soon as it starts bothering the players enough, I’m sure they’ll change.”

Another way to ensure winning is by converting at the free throw line. Alabama looked the part in the first half, as it hit 11 of its 12 attempts from the charity stripe. But in the second half, in part due to the defense, the Crimson Tide continued to fall behind, and it led to UA converting just eight of its 15 attempts in the latter 20 minutes.

“When you’re locked in, you’re locked in,” Oats said. “When you’re locked in on defense, all you care about is winning the game. When you’re locked into the defense and you go to the line, and you’re just focused on winning the game, you’ll step up and you’ll make your free throws.

“When you’re worried about a lot of stuff that’s a distraction, worried about stats and some other stuff, and you’re not locked in, that’s when you go to the line and miss. Especially when you’re a good shooter, guys that should be making free throws at a high level. And the pressure got them a little bit in the second half, we got down 13.

“I mean, we do a free-throw game. It took us four tries to get it the way I wanted it yesterday. Guys have got to care enough to get in the gym and work on their free throws. So, free throws are the only thing in the game of basketball that has no variation to it ever, except for a variation you put in your own mind. Well, get enough reps up, you train your mind and basically become a machine at the free-throw line. Obviously, we’re not putting enough reps up right now.”

Alabama freshman forward London Jemison said after the game that the team needs to be “more connected” during games, practices, film and even when focusing on nutrition.

Oats provided an outline for the defense to gel more, the free throws to fall through the basket and a stronger connection to be enforced. And it’s quite a simple solution.

“It looks like we need some leadership to step up,” Oats said. “Some guys that want to get everybody together, tired of losing, stuff’s got to change. It’s not a talent problem. It’s a focus, effort and competitive juice problem. So, if they’re not as connected, that falls on the leadership of the team.

“And we’ve told these guys, ‘We’re here to help you. This is your team, your season. I’ll be coaching for a long time after this. They get one opportunity with this group to put it together. That’s it.’ So, if they love their brothers and they want their teammates to perform well, they’re going to give a lot better effort on the floor than what they’re doing. Maybe they’re not as connected.

“To me, it seems like we don’t have any bad guys. Like, there’s nobody that everybody just doesn’t like. They seem to like each other, but they obviously don’t respect their teammates enough to give a winning effort out there. Some of the guys are really bought into winning, but not everybody. So we’ve got to get everybody bought into winning.”

Alabama (11-5, 1-2 SEC) aims for a resurgence against Mississippi State (10-6, 2-1 SEC) on the road on Tuesday night.

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