All you need to ask is: do we look closer to Alabama than we did before Pruitt?
Well, Bama has evolved, into a scoring machine. Which makes it appear like a larger gap. I think we are closer, today, than 2016 and 2017. But, Bama was a more ground and pound, and play great defense, kind of team. Which I think Nick is anxious to return to, BTW.
To beat the current Bama team, you have to play complimentary football, with results. As in, score TD's, not FG's. You can't turn it over. You have pin them deep, and make them drive the length of the field. Which is a common formula, for victory, against nearly everyone.
We were inches, and one bad decision, away from making a game of it, in Tuscaloosa, this past year.
We moved the ball, on their defense, and our defense caused some confusion, in the execution of their offense.
Maybe we don't win that game. But, it was going to be alot closer than Nick was hoping for.
The turnover, at the goalline, for a TD, just took all the wind out of our sails. 28-20 is alot different situation, for a shot-caller, than 35-13.
We score there, and get the ball back, and Bama is in real trouble.
CJP will be the first Sabanite to defeat the professor. I really believe that.