As chaos ensued around the college football world on Saturday, Alabama’s day already was done.
The Crimson Tide watched as the nation’s No. 2, 3 and 4 teams all lost Saturday.
What is clear is the fact that Alabama is the only undefeated team from a Power 5 conference.
“The message is when you win, you control your own destiny,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said Monday. “When you don’t, you allow someone else to determine what your fate’s going to be. We have all these teams that lost one game now. Somebody has to decide who gets to do what.”
Top-ranked Alabama (10-0, 7-0 SEC) hosts Chattanooga on Saturday before closing out the season vs. Auburn in the Iron Bowl.
In the midst of all of the craziness, Alabama also clinched the SEC West with Georgia defeating Auburn on Saturday. That means no matter what happens in the next two games, Alabama is a lock to play in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta on Dec. 3.
Alabama has won three of its national championships under Saban despite having a regular-season loss.
Still, Saban wants his players to understand they can’t have any slip-ups this year.
“If you put yourself in that situation, you let somebody else decided what your fate is,” Saban said. “If you take care of your business and do things the way you need to do it, then maybe you can control your own destiny in the way you play.
“That’s certainly much more the way we would like for it to be from our perspective. We’ve got lots of tough games we have to play between now and then. We want to take it one game at a time and focus on improving.”
Alabama has been the model of consistency during Saban’s tenure in Tuscaloosa. Even after losses, the Crimson Tide have remained among the college football elite every year since 2008.
Alabama is on a 22-game winning streak, the longest of Saban’s tenure and the third longest in program history. That type of consistency can’t be overlooked.
“That’s something that we take and try and keep going,” Alabama wide receiver ArDarius Stewart said. “Coach talks about it every week, all week, that you can’t get complacent and you have to do all the little things right. That’s something we take pride in and try to do every week.”
NOTES, QUOTES
PLAYERS TO WATCH
–QB Jalen Hurts became the first quarterback in Alabama history to throw for 300 yards (347) and rush for 100 yards (100) in the same game. Hurts accounted for 447 yards of total offense vs. Mississippi State, which ranks as third-best in school history.
–TE O.J. Howard caught 6 passes for a season-high 77 yards. He averaged 12.8 yards per catch with four of his six catches going for a first down.
–LB Ryan Anderson recorded 4 tackles, including 2 tackles for loss (-12 yards) and a sack for a loss of 10 yards.
–DL Da’Ron Payne accounted for 5 tackles and one of the Crimson Tide’s 12 quarterback hurries.