Tide Tidbits - September 15, 2008

Saban hopeful lessons learned
In the aftermath of a crowd-pleasing third win, Nick Saban was tougher to convince Saturday night. He didn't smile or celebrate. He simply jogged into Alabama's locker room with direct words prepared long ago. "Everything we've done to this point is to get ready to play in the SEC," Saban told the team. "So if we don't learn our lessons and we don't improve with each game, it'll show up when we start playing the kind of competition we're going to play in the future."

Tiffin's experiences in Arkansas not all good
The junior from Muscle Shoals will never live down the nightmarish struggles he endured in Razorback Stadium as a freshman, missing three field goals and an extra point in a 24-23 overtime loss in 2006 that sent the kicker to the bench for the remainder of the season and started former coach Mike Shula's final season as the Crimson Tide coach spiraling toward a 6-7 finish.

Michael Bowman commits to cap a positive day for Tide
Georgia receiver Michael Bowman visited and committed, just like said he would earlier this week. Bowman is No. 51 on the Press-Register's Super Southeast 120. He grew up a fan of Georgia but was reportedly waiting to receive a full scholarship offer from the Bulldogs. He is thought to still have work to do academically to qualify for 2009.

Tide prepares for first SEC test
Ninth-ranked Alabama has completed its September portion of non-conference play with convincing wins over Clemson and Western Kentucky and a walk-through against Tulane. Next up for the Crimson Tide is the Southeastern Conference opener with Arkansas on Saturday morning at Razorback Stadium. "I know that Arkansas is a difficult place to play," Alabama coach Nick Saban said. "We've got to show some competitive character in how we deal with adversity when you play on the road and how we can stay focused and not get affected by external things. And this is going to be an opportunity for our team to show that kind of maturity."

Roll Tide!