Alabama Football: Ranking 5 worst losses in program history
By James Bowers
2. Sugar Bowl: Utah 31, Alabama 17 (2009)
After Nick Saban’s time with the Tide got off to a shaky start with a 7-6 run in 2007, the team rebounded in 2008 to finish the regular season undefeated and win the SEC West for the first time in over a decade.
Florida dealt a fatal blow to the Tide’s national title ambitions in Atlanta. Alabama went to the Sugar Bowl in the stead of the BCS Championship game-bound Gators.
The Tide was heavily favored to beat a Utah squad that was unbeaten and raked No. 7 nationally but was at that time a member of the mid-major Mountain West Conference and had not played the same caliber of teams Alabama had faced. The Tide were expected to waltz out of the Superdome with an easy victory. Fans were aware that of the past upsets of AQ conference teams by the likes of the Utes and Boise State, but still expected that Alabama would have the weapons to best Utah with little trouble.
Utah responded with a dominant performance, jumping out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter and quelling every Alabama attempt to make a game out of the Sugar Bowl.
Alabama surrendered 360 yards of total offense and their own offensive stagnation resulted in a 31-17 Ute win. Utah’s profile increased greatly after the win, and the school’s football successes played a role in the university receiving an invitation to what became the Pac-12 Conference.
Accusations of apathy were rampant, with many Alabama fans accusing the team of “not taking Utah seriously“. The fallout from the loss was utilized as fuel to Alabama’s fire going into 2009, when the Crimson Tide went undefeated on the way to their first national championship since 1992.