Tide Tidbits - November 10, 2008

Alabama Has Yet to Live Up to Its Full Potential
Alabama is 10-0. They are the SEC Western Division Champions. The Tide is ranked number one in the nation in all the polls. And the scary thing for their opponents is that despite playing this well, the Crimson Tide has yet to play up to its full potential. The destruction of Tennessee came close. The wins over Clemson and Georgia were headline grabbing and the win over LSU was simply satisfying. This is a team that can be great in quarters and spurts but still has not played 60 minutes of Nick Saban football.

Crimson Tide, Red Raiders can prevent annual BCS anxiety
History and the law of averages both dictate that every contender for the national championship will play one game looking like a groom walking down the aisle with toilet paper stuck to his shoe. The best teams find a way to win that game. On Saturday, No. 1 Alabama committed three turnovers on the road and got a short field goal blocked at the end of regulation. Alabama handed No. 16 LSU, a team the Crimson Tide hadn't beaten since 2002, one chance after another to stay in the game.

Miles: Alabama game was LSU's best effort of season
It was a loss to a hated rival and coach that eliminated LSU from the Southeastern Conference West race, but the Tigers' 27-21 setback in overtime to No. 1 Alabama and Nick Saban on Saturday showed LSU in its best form since winning the national championship last January. "Except for some mistakes that we made, it may have been our best effort, most complete game of the season," LSU coach Les Miles said Sunday night in his office. "We were improved, great effort."

Saban didn't need long to get Tide thinking title
Hey, LSU, "nothing personal." Alabama coach Nick Saban stressed that point and professed his continued admiration for LSU over the weekend, but none of that changes one unsettling fact for Tigers fans. LSU's former coach got the top-ranked Crimson Tide rolling back to national prominence pretty fast.

Crimson Tide first and 10
For the first time this season, when the University of Alabama football team hit an opponent in the mouth, it hit back. While that may not have been the reason LSU was able to score two early touchdowns, on drives of just 54 and 30 yards, it was how the Tigers were able to stick around. The result was a 27-21 overtime victory for the No. 1 Crimson Tide (10-0, 6-0 SEC) in probably the most physical game anyone will see for some time, or at least until next year’s rematch at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Roll Tide!