Once all the drama dies down over Ohio State receiver Evan Spencer’s comments on facing Alabama or Florida State … Oh wait, it already has. Every Crimson Tide fan – most of whom hadn’t even heard of Spencer before he voiced his opinion that his Buckeyes would “wipe the field” with Alabama or Florida State in a hypothetical national championship game – went into a manufactured outrage for roughly 24 hours over his comments.
The fact that true fans would get bothered over someone who’s only caught four touchdowns in three seasons with the No. 3 team in the nation speaks volumes to the lack of a villain for Alabama this season. The Crimson Tide’s scoring defense has been the equivalent of a brick wall this season in allowing just more than 10 points per game, six if we’re counting after the Johnny Manziel-Mike Evans duo wreaked havoc on the Tide secondary.
The offense is 12th in scoring, ahead of every SEC team, save for Texas A&M. The LSU Tigers came to town and mustered negative yardage in the fourth quarter while famously giving up four straight sacks on one late drive in Crimson Tide territory.
The Alabama defense being more stubborn than a U.S. congressman debating the recent government shutdown has Alabama fans programmed to attach to any perceived antagonism, including empty words meant to liven up a news conference.
The hypersensitive fan base’s reaction was obviously enough to catch the attention of Buckeye head coach Urban Meyer, who issued a swift apology on Spencer’s behalf and added he won’t be speaking to the media “for a long, long time.”
I can guarantee you Meyer is only doing damage control at this point. He doesn’t want to give the Tide or the ’Noles bulletin board material should Ohio State actually make it to the title game. We’ve seen what effect comments can have against the Alabama defense (see: Bo Wallace).
While Spencer’s wisdom may be in question, his confidence surely is not.
Some college athletes practice quiet confidence, while others might be more outspoken about it. It’s easy to see if Spencer is on the Deion Sanders side or the Tom Brady side. Both of these iconic NFL players have/had differing levels of swag, and both have been successful. There is no prescribed way to exude intrepidity for our finest athletes.
While Meyer might have preferred Spencer go the Tom Brady route of praising his opponent ad nauseum and keeping mum on everything else, it can’t hurt to know Spencer believes in his team. So, to Alabama fans who had a bone to pick with this young man, I would implore you not to be so sensitive. These comments are harmless and keep the weekdays interesting.
After all, he did say he was a “little biased.”
