51ºÚÁÏ

“I’m sure they’re all disappointed — players, coaches alike,� Saban said. “But they all do have a great chance to improve from Week 1 to Week 2. That’s when you make the biggest improvement.�

Yeah. Well, nice try, Coach.

Then-No. 8 Alabama looked completely overmatched while failing 31-17 at Florida State. The Crimson Tide face-planted against a team that finished 2-10 a year ago.

That nonconference loss was a painful blow for the Southeastern Conference. Another one occurred in Columbus, where Ohio State stuffed then-No. 1 Texas and overhyped quarterback Arch Manning 14-7.

SEC temperatures are already rising. Second-year Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer is under extreme duress, and Texas coach Steve Sarkisian is circling the wagons around The Next Manning.

Meanwhile, LSU fans are dreaming of a national title after watching their team subdue Clemson 17-10, thanks to its rebuilt defense directed by former Mizzou defensive coordinator Blake Baker.

Auburn coach Hugh Freeze started his make-or-break Season 3 with a 38-24 victory at Baylor. South Carolina remained on track for a breakthrough campaign by handling Virginia Tech 24-11.

These nonconference victories remind us the league’s depth remains as strong as ever — which only adds to the angst of Alabama and Texas fans after what they saw in Week 1.

The Crimson Tide could plunge way back into the SEC pack. They are 5-5 since starting last season 4-0. Those five losses equal more than 20% of the total from Alabama’s previous 16 seasons combined.

“I choose to believe we’ve got a good football team,� DeBoer told reporters. “But we can’t play on our heels. We’re not going to be what we think we can be, what we want to be, if that’s the case. And that falls on everyone. I don’t just point the finger at the players.�

He can’t pass the blame while earning $10 million this season. DeBoer is on the hot seat, although his $63 million buyout offers substantial insulation.

His support eroded last season with losses at Vanderbilt (Alabama’s first to that perennial doormat in 40 years) and at Oklahoma (a 24-3 no-show against the dispirited Sooners, who finished 6-7).

SEC high priest Paul Finebaum cut to the chase with this view of Alabama on ESPN:

“Let’s not forget, this was a national championship contender. They have enormous talent. Probably the second most talented team roster wise in the country, but they looked soft. DeBoer looks clueless at times. It feels like a house of cards.�

Alabama will play four times before coming to Boone County to face Missouri. Its game at Georgia will be especially problematic if DeBoer can’t pull his team together.

After dealing with Truman, the Crimson Tide will host Tennessee, play at South Carolina and host LSU during their next three weeks.

So it goes in the SEC. If a program slips, the resulting fall can become devastating.

Texas has scheduled victories against San Jose State, UTEP and Sam Houston up next, so the Longhorns can regroup. Sarkisian can expand his play list after sheltering the jittery Manning against Ohio State.

“It wasn’t just him being young, (we’re) young on the offensive line with new faces — a new receiver, a new tight end — some (different) people playing in this environment,� Sarkisian explained. “So you try to do the things that you think they do well, especially with a new defensive coordinator which we didn’t have a bunch of information on of what they were going to do (defensively) from his past and what they’ve done at Ohio State.�

OK, but Sarkisian makes $10.3 million per year off his reputation as an offensive mastermind. It’s reasonable to expect him to devise more creative plays for Manning than the timid calls he made in Columbus.

Again, we’ll defer to Finebaum:

“Well, the truthful thing to say is, it was a disastrous beginning. Now you can look inside and find good things, but mostly he was not ready for the moment, and neither was his coach. I was more disappointed in Steve Sarkisian, who I had believed was the best offensive play caller in America. He just did not dial up very much. He was outmanned on the defensive side by Ohio State, and I came away optimistic that Arch would get better, but that’s not what we were expecting and that’s not what we got.�

What happened to Alabama and Texas energized fans elsewhere in the SEC. Georgia and LSU are widely considered serious College Football Playoff contenders, along with those two storied programs. They gained a leg up in the chase.

South Carolina, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Florida want in on that action too. Texas A&M, Missouri, Auburn and Vanderbilt also possess aspirations this season, and Oklahoma seeks a big rebound with Brent Venables on the hot seat.

Any sign of weakness at the top of this cutthroat conference is well received by the others. One program’s pain is every other team’s gain.

As we like to say in this space, in the SEC it’s just more mean.