What Happened In 2006 Before Nick Saban Joined Alabama

Hey y’all, welcome back to Three-Point Stance.

With the timing of the Three-Point Stance Summer Series, we have lots of room to get creative and reminisce before the start of next season. Today’s topic: The BS (Before Saban) Era.

Whether you were a little on the younger side (I was 13 years old) at the time or just don’t remember the 2006 season, I hope this piece is a pleasant reminder of what the college football world looked like before Nick Saban’s Alabama Reign of Terror truly began. As always, if there’s a particular topic you’d like me to touch on, drop me a line and I’ll see what I can do.

Former Alabama head football coach Nick Saban left an undeniable impact on the world of modern college football. His tenure was so prolific and changed the trajectory of the game to such a degree, that it deserves a designation like the BC (Before Christ) time period. I hereby decree pre-2007 college football as the BS Era (Before Saban).

When it was announced that Saban was retiring, it felt like one of those moments you’ll always remember where you were when you heard the news. That afternoon, and for the subsequent days afterward, it felt like the college football world stood still, if only for a moment.

For many of us (myself included), Saban was a huge part of our formative years of college football, and it’s going to feel quite strange to not have him as part of it moving forward. Before we embark on our first post-Saban at Alabama season, let’s go back in time and revisit what the sport looked like in 2016, before he set foot on campus in Tuscaloosa and piloted the Alabama Death Machine.

Below are seven of the most fascinating, jarring and hilarious things (in no particular order) that happened the last time we didn’t have Nick Saban in our college football lives.

Cinderella stories are usually reserved for March Madness but in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, little ole Boise State—championed by rising star head coach Chris Petersen and future NCAA Football 08 cover boy Jared Zabransky—shocked the college football world with their upset over Oklahoma.

From the build-up to the final play, everything surrounding this game felt like something out of a Hollywood script. David vs. Goliath. Pedigree vs. Promise. The game and ending were so good, that it almost didn’t feel real.

That magical Fiesta Bowl game featured a furious fourth-quarter comeback, 37 points in the final two minutes of regulation and overtime, three mind-blowing trick plays and an on-field marriage proposal. It. Had. Everything.

Long live the Statue of Liberty and that loveable 2006 Boise State team.

Former Ole Miss linebacker Patrick Willis is the greatest pure tackler of my lifetime and no one will ever convince me otherwise.

The pro and college football HOFer is largely known for his short-but-mighty eight-year NFL career with the San Francisco 49ers. And don’t get me wrong, he was awesome in the pros. But 2006 Ole Miss Patrick Willis was a Tazmanian devel, God-tier headsmasher and the streets will never forget.

Growing up in Mississippi, I got a close view of Willis crushing fools. As a Mississippi State fan, I was envious that he wasn’t on my team.

No play better sums up Patrick Willis than his life-altering hit on LSU’s Justin Vincent.

LSU lined up in its goal-line package in the I-formation, and Willis saw the play coming from a mile away. He read the run straight away and delivered perhaps the purest tackle I’ve ever seen. 15/10, no notes.

What went through Willis’s head in that moment? “I was like, ‘I’m fittin’ to bury you through the ground, man.”

A true king amongst kings.

Beating your rival feels good. Beating your rival when you’re incredibly mid and they feel destined for the title game? Even better.

In the final game of the regular season in 2006, a very average 6-5 UCLA team hosted then No. 2 USC and delivered a delightfully tasty 13-9 knuckle sandwich straight into the Trojans’ gullet.

With a backup quarterback leading the charge, UCLA mucked the game up in a big way. They scored only one touchdown and kicked an additional two field goals. The game ended in a sweet/sour way depending on who you ask. Attempting to lead a game-winning drive, USC John David Booty did a three-step drop and tossed a quick pass. The pass got deflected and floated into a UCLA defender’s arms to seal the victory.

Despite the loss, USC capped the year with a Rose Bowl victory over Michigan. But the upset snapped a then 13-game win streak for the Trojans and stuck in their craw for quite some time.

This section speaks for itself. Rutgers almost made the BCS. And no, I’m not on drugs.

Greg Schiano earned a well-deserved Coach of the Year honors with his work on the ‘06 Rutgers team. This scrappy, underdog group chopped wood all the way to national prominence and an 11-win record. It feels so preposterous at the time and almost more so today.

That year, the Scarlet Knights climbed to No. 7 in the rankings and lost their only two games by a combined five points. Remarkable!

Author and Shutdown Fullcast podcaster Jason Kirk has a truly remarkable timeline of events on the shortcomings of Bobby Petrino. I just want to share Jason’s work and laugh at Petrino’s decision-making. Below is what Kirk wrote about Petrino in 2006.

Petrino signs a 10-year contract extension with Louisville, telling the world he isn't going anywhere:

Long before the days of gunslingers like Johnny Manziel and Patrick Mahomes, we lived in a world where up-tempo and high-scoring offenses weren’t always the norm. They were way more few and far between.

However, in 2006, we had a truly remarkable group of rowdy cousin quarterbacks, and these delightful young men should never be forgotten.

This feels like some Ryan Nanni ass trivia but in 2006 the International Bowl was born, and in my opinion, this short-lived bowl deserves a moment.

Today’s bowl games are headlined by a revolving door of corporate sponsors, ranging from military weapon companies (hello, Northrop Grumman) and badass lawn equipment (what’s up, Bad Boy Mowers). But 2006 was a simpler time, and thus the International Bowl was born.

The International Bowl was played at the Rogers Centre in Toronto and was the first football game to be played in Canada under American football rules since a former NAIA school joined the CIS. Totally normal, right?

This gone-but-not-forgotten bowl game debuted in 2006 and lasted just four seasons. The Mark Dantonio-led Cincinnati Bearcats and Western Michigan Broncos had the distinguished honor of playing in the 2006 installment of the game.

Eighteen years removed, I only have one thing left to say: Bring back the International Bowl!