Tide Tidbits - October 28, 2008

Saban wants victories not 'style points'
He recoils from the phrase as if it were an obscenity. Prone to going without socks in the football complex on Monday mornings, Alabama coach Nick Saban right now isn't the least bit worried about any sort of "style points." "We're not concerned about rankings and ratings," Saban said. "We want our team to play the best football that they can play."

Bama in control of SEC West
No. 2 Alabama approaches the dreaded month of November on the brink of taming the normally wild SEC West. With a two-game lead over LSU with three Southeastern Conference games to play, what could happen? The Crimson Tide team have lost nine consecutive November games, including a stunner to Louisiana-Monroe last season. No wonder Tide players aren't any more eager to talk publicly about controlling the Western Division than they have been about the national title chase over the past few weeks. They're taking that cue from coach Nick Saban and talking about doing "the little things."

Tide trio running through opponents
Alabama leads the Southeastern Conference in rushing, but the Crimson Tide pounds defenses with a trio of running backs, not one star. The trio of Coffee, Ingram and Upchurch is a three-headed, six-legged monster for Alabama opponents. “No. 1 it keeps them fresh. No. 2, hopefully you minimize injury over the long haul by having guys not getting beat up as much over the course of the year,” Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban said Monday. “The last three games we’ve played have been very physical games.”

November Rain for Alabama... and other stuff!
Soon, it will be November. On Saturday, actually. Going back to the loss to LSU in 2005, that hasn't been good for Alabama. Got any ideas why? It's actually a tough question. Maybe lack of depth, injuries, suspensions, lack of focus, coaching struggles, bad luck, fate, etc. Seriously, it could be a million things, and it's tough to put your finger on one. But to a man, the Crimson Tide was intent on reversing that trend. As safety Rashad Johnson said, "We have a point to prove that we can finish."

Roll Tide!