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The 2025 college football season got off to an inauspicious start for the Alabama Crimson Tide, who shockingly lost to Florida State.
That prompted former Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel to tell PK Press Club Digital that “nobody’s scared” of the Crimson Tide anymore. He wasn’t the only one, as the post-Nick Saban era under Kalen DeBoer didn’t seem to have the same fear factor, especially considering their 9-4 record in 2024 with a few surprising losses sprinkled throughout.
But Alabama has been a completely different team since its opener against the Seminoles, reeling off five straight wins including the last three against ranked opponents — Georgia, Vanderbilt, to whom they lost last season, and Missouri.
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Quarterback Ty Simpson of the Alabama Crimson Tide passes during the game against the Missouri Tigers at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium on October 11, 2025 in Columbia, Missouri. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Damien Harris, the former Crimson Tide star running back and current college football analyst, was the perfect man for PK Press Club Digital to talk to about this Alabama resurgence — a resurgence he called “just incredible.”
“You’re talking about bouncing back from a loss to Vandy a year ago, bouncing back from a week one loss on the road in a hostile environment,” he said while emphasizing his partnership with Dr. Pepper. “They’ve done nothing but take responsibility. They’ve just raised their standard – I won’t even say try to get back to the Alabama standard. But they have their own iteration of the Alabama standard. They’ve gotten better every week.”
Fear of the Crimson Tide, now sitting at No. 6 in the AP Top 25 poll entering this crucial week against No. 11 Tennessee in Tuscaloosa, is certainly back, if at all.
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Harris, however, explained why he liked playing against teams that didn’t fear Alabama. And he thinks this program thinks exactly the same thing.
“It makes me think of the time when I reached a certain age and I looked at my mother and told her I wasn’t afraid of her anymore,” he said, smiling. “You know what she told me? ‘You don’t have to be afraid of getting your butt ripped out of the frame.’ You don’t have to be afraid. This heartthrob is going to feel the same way.
“[Vanderbilt quarterback] Diego Pavia, he wasn’t afraid to go to Tuscaloosa because he had already beaten Alabama. It doesn’t matter, he didn’t win. Georgia, they weren’t afraid to see Alabama play at night in front of a power outage, they weren’t afraid. What does this mean? What does that have to do with anything? If you no longer fear Alabama, if you no longer respect Alabama, that’s perfectly fine. It’s OK. For what? Because that’s not what Alabama cares about.
“We don’t want people to be afraid of Alabama. We want people to go into Alabama thinking they’re going to win. Either way, it doesn’t matter.”
Ryan Williams of the Alabama Crimson Tide rushes against the Georgia Bulldogs during the second quarter at Sanford Stadium on September 27, 2025 in Athens, Georgia. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
That mindset seems to be what the Crimson Tide have shown in recent weeks, especially because they had to play two SEC road games, which are always tough. But they came away with victories in all of them, while getting their revenge on the Commodores on October 4.
Harris has been impressed with Ty Simpson, the Crimson Tide quarterback who he believes should be the Heisman favorite entering the season given his production. Simpson totaled 1,689 yards through the air with 16 touchdowns to just one interception, while rushing for two scores.
“The most blatant thing is that they do it without [star receiver] Ryan Williams. It’s all on the shoulders of Ty Simpson and Kalen DeBoer,” Harris added. “They took this team, almost grabbed them by the collar if you will, and said, ‘Look, we’re better than that.’ Turn around, look in the mirror and evaluate how you played last year.
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“Ty Simpson should be the Heisman favorite. This group of Alabama wide receivers has become the best group of wide receivers in all of college football, again without Ryan Williams. You look at how dynamic this offense is getting, how much they’re doubled down with the addition of Jam Miller. This defense is playing better than we gave them credit for. They’ve made Missouri the No. 1 total offense. 4 of the country, they looked pedestrian. So you want to talk about the X’s and the O’s, yeah, they do it on the football field with a plan, with a game plan, with a formula, with everyone doing their job. But they also have the type of hunger that I know and understand. »
Perhaps the outside noise is fueling this year’s Crimson Tide team, a group hungry, as Harris said, to get to the College Football Playoff and prove once again that it deserves to win the national championship.
Again, this group seems so close-knit that the detractors, the haters, the skeptics on the outside – they become one when the focus is solely on the inside of the locker room.
“What did they do? They grabbed each other in the locker room and came close and said, ‘We are all we have and we are all we need.’ If you’re not in this locker room, sweating with us, bleeding with us, suffering with us, watching all this movie we’re watching. If you’re not here with us, your opinion doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter what you think about us and there’s nothing you can do that will help us win football games,” Harris said.
Head coach Kalen DeBoer of the Alabama Crimson Tide before their game against the Louisiana Monroe Warhawks at Bryant-Denny Stadium on September 6, 2025 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (Michael Chang/Getty Images)
FEEDING RIVALRIES
While Harris provides keen analysis of the college football game throughout the season, he is completely invested in his No. 6 Crimson Tide, especially this week as they host No. 11 Tennessee in Tuscaloosa.
Dr Pepper is hosting a special game day event to launch “The Pepper Portal,” which is a one-of-a-kind fan experience connecting rival college towns before the big game. Harris will represent the Crimson Tide, while current Patriots quarterback Josh Dobbs, a former Volunteers signal-caller, will be on the road with him.
These two will interact with fans through the Pepper portal, meet local NIL talent onsite and share their thoughts on who will emerge victorious on Saturday night.
