BAMANEWSBOT
Staff
A brutal stretch concludes Alabama’s regular season, but the team still controls its own destiny when it comes to the four-team playoff.
“Obviously that means everything,” offensive lineman Austin Shepherd said. “Pretty much you go out there and lose a game, you’re done. So it’s kind of our own four-team playoff now. We win out, we control our own destiny, so that’s what we’re trying to do.”
Alabama final stretch includes three home games but three opponents are ranked in the top 20 in the College Football Playoff rankings.
The gauntlet begins with a trip to No. 19 LSU on Saturday. Then No. 1 Mississippi State comes to Bryant-Denny Stadium on Nov. 15. The break comes the following week with Western Carolina in town. The season wraps up with the Iron Bowl, and Auburn is ranked third.
“I feel like it happens every year,” Shepherd said. “It comes down to those (SEC teams) every year, and I think we’re ready for it.”
Mississippi State and Auburn are in the same position as Alabama. The Bulldogs are one of two undefeated teams left and the Tigers are a highly regarded one-loss team.
Once one of those three teams comes out on top in the West Division, it’s on to the SEC Championship Game against the best from the East Division, potentially two-loss teams Georgia or Missouri.
“What matters is the games you play and how you play in the games and how much success that you can have in the games that you play,” coach Nick Saban said. “It’s just in my thought, but we have three really, really good teams that we have to play in our (conference) to finish the season that are all ranked very, very high.”
Getting through the final stretch will be difficult. Alabama has never gone undefeated with a schedule of that magnitude.
The best the Crimson Tide has done is a 3-1 stretch in 1999, but that was in September and October, and not a pressure-filled final month. There were wins over No. 14 Arkansas, No. 2 Florida and No. 22 Ole Miss, and then a loss to No. 5 Tennessee.
LSU and Auburn have been stumbling blocks to the Crimson Tide over the years. Upstart Mississippi State makes the stretch even more treacherous.
The pressure will build each week as any loss would eliminated Alabama from consideration.
“Coach does a good job of making sure there are no outside distractions,” Shepherd said. “We try to keep that out of there and don’t worry about it. If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen. Just focus on one game at a time.”
And it begins with LSU. Alabama matches up well with the Tigers. Both like to play straight-ahead power football.
“We’ve just have to try to work on consistency,” Shepherd said. “We just try to get better every day. Coach just harps on every day that we have to get better at one thing every day, so that’s what we try to do.”
Decatur Daily—Continue reading...
“Obviously that means everything,” offensive lineman Austin Shepherd said. “Pretty much you go out there and lose a game, you’re done. So it’s kind of our own four-team playoff now. We win out, we control our own destiny, so that’s what we’re trying to do.”
Alabama final stretch includes three home games but three opponents are ranked in the top 20 in the College Football Playoff rankings.
The gauntlet begins with a trip to No. 19 LSU on Saturday. Then No. 1 Mississippi State comes to Bryant-Denny Stadium on Nov. 15. The break comes the following week with Western Carolina in town. The season wraps up with the Iron Bowl, and Auburn is ranked third.
“I feel like it happens every year,” Shepherd said. “It comes down to those (SEC teams) every year, and I think we’re ready for it.”
Mississippi State and Auburn are in the same position as Alabama. The Bulldogs are one of two undefeated teams left and the Tigers are a highly regarded one-loss team.
Once one of those three teams comes out on top in the West Division, it’s on to the SEC Championship Game against the best from the East Division, potentially two-loss teams Georgia or Missouri.
“What matters is the games you play and how you play in the games and how much success that you can have in the games that you play,” coach Nick Saban said. “It’s just in my thought, but we have three really, really good teams that we have to play in our (conference) to finish the season that are all ranked very, very high.”
Getting through the final stretch will be difficult. Alabama has never gone undefeated with a schedule of that magnitude.
The best the Crimson Tide has done is a 3-1 stretch in 1999, but that was in September and October, and not a pressure-filled final month. There were wins over No. 14 Arkansas, No. 2 Florida and No. 22 Ole Miss, and then a loss to No. 5 Tennessee.
LSU and Auburn have been stumbling blocks to the Crimson Tide over the years. Upstart Mississippi State makes the stretch even more treacherous.
The pressure will build each week as any loss would eliminated Alabama from consideration.
“Coach does a good job of making sure there are no outside distractions,” Shepherd said. “We try to keep that out of there and don’t worry about it. If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen. Just focus on one game at a time.”
And it begins with LSU. Alabama matches up well with the Tigers. Both like to play straight-ahead power football.
“We’ve just have to try to work on consistency,” Shepherd said. “We just try to get better every day. Coach just harps on every day that we have to get better at one thing every day, so that’s what we try to do.”
Decatur Daily—Continue reading...
