Alabama Football: Will Bama's First Loss Hurt Them With Clowney And Others?

Larry Burton (Syndicated Writer)

Alabama's loss could be interpreted many different ways regarding its long term ramifications. We won't discuss whether it could be the wake up call this team needed or the historical implications for a previously undefeated quarterback. Let's discuss how it could affect recruiting.

On one hand, you could say that it hurts Alabama's image as the juggernaut steamrolling over its opponents, causing them to lose followers who love that image.

However, few have looked at the flip side of that coin.

Could this show recruits that Alabama has "gaps" that they could fill? Does it show the need for their kind of talent maybe sooner than the rival recruiters had told them?

Listening to the feedback I've received, recruiters are telling players interested in Bama that they are just too good a team, that you would sit on the bench for years before even getting a chance to crack that lineup. They point to Alabama only having two senior starters and then ask recruits, "Do you really think they'll start you over a sophomore, junior or senior?"

Although that's a nice sound bite, recruits today are smarter than that.

They see freshmen now playing significant roles, they see young players filling starting roles, they see juniors bolting early for the NFL and the Crimson Tide quickly becoming an NFL pipeline.

Yet, what about players like Jadeveon Clowney who publicly announced he's narrowed his choice to the Tide or South Carolina? What effect did Alabama's loss have on him as he watched his home state team take down the defending champions?

According to friends of Clowney, very little. Clowney realizes that South Carolina has 16 seniors starting this year.

What does that mean for next year and the year after?

A possible return to the lower tier ranks for South Carolina, while Alabama, with just one starting senior, will be primed to play for annual national championships.

Furthermore, with Hightower's probable jump to the NFL, an opening at Alabama that he might just fill quickly.

He would blend with the others and be an important part of a well-oiled machine of defensive linemen and linebackers that could rule the SEC.

At South Carolina, he would be the pack mule, carrying the weight of the team on his back.

And speaking of losing, what about Isaiah Crowell, the great running back from Columbus, Georgia who has also narrowed his list down to Georgia and Alabama?

Watching Georgia claw it's way from the bottom of the SEC back to mere respectability must be killing him. What effect do you think Alabama's loss had on him?

Very little, according the the buzz of his close friends and teammates at Carver.

In fact, he is said to be leaning even heavier to Alabama and his friendship with Trent Richardson certainly can't hurt things. Neither can watching the kinship between Alabama's running backs kinship on and off the field, as well as their expressed desire to include him in their brethren.

Texas is number one right now, but has two more committed recruits than Alabama. It would be foolish to think that Texas will finish ahead of Alabama.

Currently third in the recruiting rankings, landing either of these two, plus Cyrus Koundjio, a top offensive tackle with a very strong Alabama lean, Nick O'Leary, a great tight end, who likes Alabama or even linebacker Tony Steward, could push them to number one by a large margin.

And that's if they just land two of those five. Everyone who has commented on Alabama's one loss, has said it didn't effect their thinking at thinking at this point.

So in reality, the loss hasn't hurt Alabama's recruiting like some people believe. It may have actually helped them more than it hurt.