Alabama’s comeback win over Oklahoma on Friday night led to some quick mea culpas from members of the media.
The Crimson Tide rallied for a 34-24 victory in the first round of the College Football Playoff after trailing 17-0 in the first quarter in Norman, Okla. Many observers wrote off Alabama in the first half (maybe even including this reporter), while still others never really believed in the Crimson Tide in the first place.
Among ESPN’s College GameDay panel, only former Alabama coach Nick Saban picked the Crimson Tide to win the game. Current head coach Kalen DeBoer appeared on GameDay Saturday morning, and was on the receiving end of apologies from both Pat McAfee and Desmond Howard.
“Coach, I apologize,” McAfee said. “I picked Oklahoma because I was in there, and it was insane. I mean, it was. Yeah, I’m sorry. I know. I know. That’s 100% on me, coach. I should have known that your boys had all the grit needed to be able to battle through that atmosphere last night.”
Said Howard, “Coach, congratulations on the hard-fought victory. Like Pat, I picked OU too, but for other reasons.”
McAfee also made note of Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson “thanking” the media for giving the Crimson Tide the motivation it needed to pull off Friday’s win. He asked DeBoer to send a message to Simpson and his team.
“Coach, please tell Ty and the boys that any of us that picked against them is not disrespect,” McAfee said. “We are still big fans. Because I heard Ty afterwards shout out to media for being the motivator. We would like to not be on that side of things because it feels like we’re going to see a lot.”
DeBoer took the “apologies” in stride, but acknowledged he wasn’t going to waste an opportunity to repurpose the faulty predictions in future motivating tactics. Alabama faces Indiana on a College Football Playoff quarterfinal game at the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1.
“There might be pictures that go up on our screen,” he said with a chuckle.