Goodman: DeBoer is a failure and a hard freeze is here for the Iron Bowl

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This is an opinion column.

Auburn is suddenly much closer to Alabama than anyone could have imagined a week ago.

And just like that, the Iron Bowl is here.

Let’s just hope SEC officials figure out the general rules of football between now and then.

If there’s a path for Alabama to the College Football Playoff after its egg-dispensing 24-3 loss at Oklahoma, new coach Kalen DeBoer is a golden goose.

Or is it smoked turkey? Because, let’s face it, Alabama’s season is cooked before Thanksgiving.

Pessimistic Alabama fans are already calling DeBoer a newer version of Shula. He can still be a good coach at Alabama, but not this season. It’s clear DeBoer wasn’t ready for the SEC. For all his brilliant records before he joined big boy football down there, that’s the hard truth. Alabama wasn’t prepared for Vanderbilt, and Alabama wasn’t prepared for Oklahoma, and that’s the season.

And in year one at Alabama, DeBoer is a certified failure.

Perhaps it would have been a different story for DeBoer with his former offensive coordinator, Ryan Grubb. But DeBoer either sold Alabama a bag of goods, assuring Greg Byrne that Grubb would also move from Seattle to Tuscaloosa, Ala., or maybe Byrne forgot to ask when he picked the successor to Nick Saban. Either way, Alabama’s offense is about as consistent as a dirt road in Winston County.

It’s a lot of fun sometimes, but occasionally you end up in a ditch.

Would things have been easier with Grubb as offensive coordinator? That’s a question DeBoer will have to ask himself with all his free time in December. Maybe he can visit Grubb and the Seattle Seahawks for some advice.

After watching Alabama roll around in that sandbox of a football field up in Oklahoma, nothing should be out of the question. And let me spell that sentence out to be clear. Someone on DeBoer’s staff probably needs to be decoupled from his commitment to Alabama football after the worst offensive effort by the Crimson Tide since 2004.

DeBoer appeared to have straightened out Alabama’s season after losses to Vanderbilt and Tennessee. But no. LSU, it turns out, just wasn’t very good at football.

After all, I always thought Alabama still had a chance to win the national championship. After all, this team was one game away from playing for the goods last season. I hate it for him, but quarterback Jalen Milroe will be kicking himself for this failed season.

But that’s not to say that Milroe is very good at kicking things, of course.

I’m still trying to figure out what he was thinking after throwing his second interception of the game.

First, it was a terrible game, so that’s on offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan. The lack of execution was all Milroe though, and it doesn’t matter that Milroe later tried to deflect blame onto receiver Kobe Prentice.

Maybe Prentice didn’t do a good enough job screening Oklahoma linebacker Kip Lewis, but Milroe should have seen Lewis move in for the interception. Lewis jumped the route and was out to the end zone.

With the ball in Lewis’ hands, it came down to an Alabama player making a game-saving tackle. But Milroe and his large frame were not up to the challenge. He had the angle, but for some reason – and I guess he thought he was suddenly playing football – Milroe tried to slide tackle Lewis as the defender raced for paydirt.

Guess Milroe makes too much money to tackle anymore.

And if it was a business decision to avoid the hit, then Milroe should probably consider playing in the bowl game for Alabama because the last thing he wants NFL executives to remember about him entering the draft is the absurd attempt in karate.

Alabama football, where champions are made to … sweep the leg?

And in the end, it doesn’t matter if the referee threw a terrible flag that nullified a touchdown catch for Alabama receiver Ryan Williams. Someone has to say it though. If Alabama doesn’t deserve to be in the playoffs, then the official who made that call should be given a pink slip by the SEC.

With Alabama down to three losses, the Iron Bowl will be for in-state bragging rights this season and nothing more. First it was Vanderbilt that knocked off Alabama and Auburn in the same season for the first time since 1955, and now it’s Oklahoma that did the trick in its first season as a member of the SEC.

Auburn finally decided to show up this season in the same week that Alabama checked out. The Tigers’ impressive 43-41 four overtime win against Texas A&M now sets the stage for a major shift in the SEC heading into rivalry week.

Ole Miss? Out of the playoffs.

Alabama? Better luck next time with the skid.

Texas A&M? No match for the Thorne stache.

Auburn and Hugh Freeze have all the momentum in the Iron Bowl, and the recruits will be watching.

BE HEARD

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Joseph Goodman is the premier sports columnist for Alabama Media Group, and author of the book “We Want Bama: A Season of Hope and the Making of Nick Saban’s Ultimate Team.”