Sugar Bowl Preview, Part One: The External Factors

Along the same lines as the preview published for the Southeastern Conference Championship Game, we are going to look at the upcoming Sugar Bowl in several parts.  We’ll talk about the Alabama offense and compare it against the Utah defense and vice versa.

We’ll look at how the coaches match up against each other, in terms of schemes, success, their approach to this game, and other assundries.

Assundry:  Defined in this case as the gratuitous use of a southern phrase that really isn’t a word, but it should make a few of our visiting Utah fans pause for a moment, so what the hell.  After all, we are southern folk, right?

Before getting into the X’s and O’s of this matchup, with consideration of the fact this will mark the first time these two programs have played each other in football, it seems like a good idea to ask, “What external factors outside of what happens in the Dome come into play for the Sugar Bowl?”

(Before you comment, I know both coaches comment on how “external factors” are something we can’t control.  That’s true.  But there isn’t a coach out there that ignores the fact they do come into play.)

If there is one word that I’ve seen tossed around, sometimes frivolously, it's the word "respect."  There is a general feeling among a lot of the Utes' fan base that they aren’t receiving the respect they should.  Some of that angst is directed towards Alabama fans, some of it towards the media, some of it towards the BCS.

I’ve seen some strange analogies used to describe this game and the lack of respect that is “felt” by Utah fans.  None was as out there as this article posted by Ken Schreiner.

A series of complaints ranging from a “Big-Brotherish” BCS system, ignoring the fact Utah is ranked No. 6 in the same system, to the thought that Coach Nick Saban was somehow disrespecting the Utah team when he stated his team was the only one "that plays in a real BCS conference that went 12-0."

This is the proverbial cart-before-the-horse paranoia, considering the the matchup between Utah and Alabama hadn’t been announced when he made that statement.

What’s more disturbing, in my point of view, is his statement was true, but in this case, let’s disregard the truth of the matter and take offense to what we can make his statement all about.

Was that about disrespecting Utah?  Was it about diminishing the success the Utes have had on the field this year?  Or, perhaps, was that about a coach talking about a team that had exceeded his expectations and exceeded the expectations of virtually every football fan in America by being the only undefeated team in a real BCS conference in 2008?

You be the judge.

If you have answered yes to any of the first two questions, I have a small note for you to consider:  Nick Saban didn't have the slightest thought about Utah that Saturday.  If you feel disrespected because you weren’t on the mind of the Alabama coach, the problem doesn’t lie in the area of lack of respect, but in an overblown sense of self-worth. 

You weren’t an issue that Saturday night. His team, on the other hand, was the only issue.

When the bowl game teams were announced, Coach Saban made comments regarding what he thought about the Utah team.  Those comments, we’ll get to in a few minutes.

Personally—and this is my opinion and not necessarily that of any other member of 'Bama Nation—I look at the Utah team a lot like I looked at the Ole Miss team in 2003.  The Rebels, and their fan base, enjoyed a very good season that year, led by future Super Bowl-winning quarterback Eli Manning. 

I respected what they had accomplished that year.  I didn’t hesitate for a moment to voice that respect, because it was due.

Did I anoint that team as a team that had reached the upper echelon of the SEC and therefore deserved my respect the following year as well?  No.  Their 7-6 record the year before, followed by their 4-7 season in 2004 should answer any questions as to why.

Utah has made it to this stage before and faced a Pittsburgh team in the Fiesta Bowl.  They won that game decisively, and at first glance it may be a win that would cause a moment of reflection.  But when I consider things like who Pittsburgh was in 2004, I immediately go back to thinking about Ole Miss.

Pittsburgh had a good season in 2004, albeit filled with some very questionable losses. But that season was immediately followed by a 5-6 record the next year.  To say the least, wins and losses aside, this was a team from the Big East. The '04 Panthers did nothing to put themselves in consideration for the upper echelon teams in the NCAA.

Just like Ole Miss.

Don’t get me wrong, if we are using BCS games as criteria for a team having respect in this 2009 Sugar Bowl, Alabama doesn’t deserve any more respect than Utah.  After all, this also marks the second time Alabama has been on this national stage in the BCS era.

In its first BCS experience, 'Bama lost in overtime to Michigan.

Should this 2008 Alabama team deserve a lot of respect for what they have accomplished this season considering this is virtually the same team personnel-wise that was 7-5 the year before?

There isn’t anything that can be pointed to with a resounding yes that can’t be countered with a point nullifying that notion.

There are some subtle differences that very well could have major impacts on the outcome of this contest.

The Sugar Bowl game and Alabama football have been nearly synonymous for decades.  While it’s been more than a 10 years since Alabama has been on this stage, it’s important to remember that while the players may not remember those games clearly, their parents do.

Vividly.

These players don’t need to go further than the football offices to understand what this bowl game and Alabama’s tradition have in common with each other.

Alabama’s own athletics director, coach Mal Moore, has been a part of the Sugar Bowl tradition eight times, coming out on the winning end in seven of those appearances.  There’s one man who has been a part of this bowl game as many times as the majority of the SEC teams have in their entire history.

Coach Nick Saban has been there twice in his coaching career and has been on the winning end in both appearances.  He understands this stage as well as Coach Moore, even though he lacks the experience in terms of appearances.

Now, it can easily be questioned whether those two examples have any bearing on what happens Jan. 2. If this was just a football game played at any other point in the season, one would have to say, “No.  Those men and what they have experienced have no bearing on this game whatsoever.”

But this isn’t just your everyday matchup.

There isn’t a lack of respect from Coach Saban when it comes to this Utah team.  When his focus turned from his team that Saturday night and on to the future against Utah he said:

“It’s not easy to win 12 games in a season and go undefeated.  Their team has done an outstanding job and it’s a fantastic opportunity for us. It’s going to be a competitive game.”

Now, I’m not going to use the term "lack of respect" with either fan base.  But I do see one thing lacking, something that seemingly is present but being ignored.

It’s a lack of understanding.

This Alabama team, we as an Alabama fan base, this Alabama coaching staff, and administration understand what it is like to be on this stage.  It’s part of our history, our genetic makeup, if you will.

The question lies in whether the same can be said for the Utah contingent.