Alabama head coach Nick Saban during Alabama's Sugar Bowl practice Saturday at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, LA. (Photo by Trent Penny/The Anniston Star)
Trent Penny/The Anniston StarNEW ORLEANS — A time arrives when repeating “next man up” isn't enough and this cliched notion becomes incapable of motivating a team overrun with a string of bizarre injuries unseen by any of the men in charge of it.
When that exact moment came in Tuscaloosa is unknown, but rest assured it did. Maybe as early as the season-opener against Florida State, when two of Alabama’s premier outside linebackers were feared out for the season and two others were lost for nearly a month.