D.C. Reeves
TideSports.com Managing Editor
Last week rolled along to the beat of that Nick Saban sound byte on loop, the one about how expectations on Alabama, even in victory, were out of control.
Then his team went out and beat a ranked SEC team by 59 points, the type of dominance that even the most optimistic Alabama fan never expected.
Thanks to that, Saban's plea to bask in victory no matter the score shouldn't last long.
After two lackluster performances on the road, the optimism is back.
Alabama jumped three spots to No. 4 in both polls on Sunday - the highest-ranked one-loss team in the nation - and it heads into a rivalry game with Tennessee as a 15 ½ point favorite.
"(Saturday vs. Texas A&M) was one of the best games overall, team-wise that we've played and we're just looking for more, definitely," junior safety Landon Collins said. "Coach Saban harped on it, that expectations were high. We knew as a defense and an offense what the expectations were and we just try to live up to it each and every day, each and every practice, day in, day out."
It was Alabama's most complete game of the year by far, and statistically, one of its most dominant in years. It was the Crimson Tide's largest margin of victory ever against a ranked opponent (Texas A&M plummeted out of the top 25 on Sunday) and its largest overall since a 66-3 win over Vanderbilt in 1979.
Alabama hopes that something closer to this win will be the standard for the 2014 team, not the one that struggled in two consecutive road games the two weeks prior.
"Definitely. Coach always said if you do it once, there's no reason you shouldn't do it twice," linebacker Ryan Anderson said of the dominating play. "If you do it once, and don't do it again, it's just a choice. I expect out of everybody on the defense and myself, to be held to that standard."
Lopsided wins have been the theme for Alabama against Tennessee as well. In the decorated history of the series, no team had won three straight games by at least 30 points. Alabama has won four straight by at least 30 coming into this weekend.
"A lot of people care about that game around this state and around this program," Arie Kouandjio said. "We have to deal with it the best we can. Tennessee's one of our big rivals and we respect them and practice as hard as we can for them."
"It's a big game. It's a big game to our fans, it's a big game to Coach Saban and definitely it's a rivalry game," Collins said. "We're ready to play them, too."
We'll see if Alabama is ready for the big expectations to return, too.
https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1694672
TideSports.com Managing Editor
Last week rolled along to the beat of that Nick Saban sound byte on loop, the one about how expectations on Alabama, even in victory, were out of control.
Then his team went out and beat a ranked SEC team by 59 points, the type of dominance that even the most optimistic Alabama fan never expected.
Thanks to that, Saban's plea to bask in victory no matter the score shouldn't last long.
After two lackluster performances on the road, the optimism is back.
Alabama jumped three spots to No. 4 in both polls on Sunday - the highest-ranked one-loss team in the nation - and it heads into a rivalry game with Tennessee as a 15 ½ point favorite.
"(Saturday vs. Texas A&M) was one of the best games overall, team-wise that we've played and we're just looking for more, definitely," junior safety Landon Collins said. "Coach Saban harped on it, that expectations were high. We knew as a defense and an offense what the expectations were and we just try to live up to it each and every day, each and every practice, day in, day out."
It was Alabama's most complete game of the year by far, and statistically, one of its most dominant in years. It was the Crimson Tide's largest margin of victory ever against a ranked opponent (Texas A&M plummeted out of the top 25 on Sunday) and its largest overall since a 66-3 win over Vanderbilt in 1979.
Alabama hopes that something closer to this win will be the standard for the 2014 team, not the one that struggled in two consecutive road games the two weeks prior.
"Definitely. Coach always said if you do it once, there's no reason you shouldn't do it twice," linebacker Ryan Anderson said of the dominating play. "If you do it once, and don't do it again, it's just a choice. I expect out of everybody on the defense and myself, to be held to that standard."
Lopsided wins have been the theme for Alabama against Tennessee as well. In the decorated history of the series, no team had won three straight games by at least 30 points. Alabama has won four straight by at least 30 coming into this weekend.
"A lot of people care about that game around this state and around this program," Arie Kouandjio said. "We have to deal with it the best we can. Tennessee's one of our big rivals and we respect them and practice as hard as we can for them."
"It's a big game. It's a big game to our fans, it's a big game to Coach Saban and definitely it's a rivalry game," Collins said. "We're ready to play them, too."
We'll see if Alabama is ready for the big expectations to return, too.
https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1694672
