Alabama Football: Crimson Tide Can Now Turn Their Attention To Auburn

You always hear Coach Saban and the Alabama football team preaching on not looking ahead to your next opponents. After the 48-14 win over Western Carolina, the Tide can now give the Auburn Tigers their full and undivided attention.

The truth be told, the Tide could have been looking ahead for the first bit of the game on Saturday. The Catamounts accomplished something against Alabama that hasn’t been done this season: Score a touchdown on the opening drive against Alabama.

Saban remarked about it in his opening statement after the game. “I don’t think that we started the game out the way we’d hoped to or how we planned. We wanted to maintain focus, and I thought the players did a really good job all week of practicing well and preparing for the game”, Saban said. He added, “It’s really up to me to make sure that the guys have the right psychological disposition when we come out and play a game. We just didn’t have much energy in the beginning of the game, and just didn’t have much energy and enthusiasm in pregame.”

More from Bama Hammer

After things settled down, the Tide ended up putting 612 yards of offense on the board, outscoring the Catamounts 48-7 minus the initial drive to give Western Carolina the opening touchdown.

Now with all that wrapped up, Saban and the staff as well as the team can turn their attention, game planning and practice to the Auburn Tigers. The match-up is set for Saturday evening and if the Tide wins, they will clinch the SEC West and will represent the division in Atlanta.

Don’t tell Saban, but this one has been on their minds for a while. If I was a betting man, I would wager that so many replays of the “Kick Six” hasn’t helped matters at all.

Nov 15, 2014; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide linebacker Reggie Ragland (19) hits Mississippi State Bulldogs running back Josh Robinson (13) from behind at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports

“This game is circled on our calendar 365,” Ragland told Al.com after the game. “It’s time to come out and watch film and do the things we’ve got to do to prepare for it.

“Anytime you play Auburn, it’s exciting. It’s the biggest college rivalry in history. Of course you’re going to want to have fun and do the things you got to do to prepare for it.”

Landon Collins said in interviews that the players were just wanting to get this game over with so that they could start to prepare for Auburn. “It’s a big game for us and definitely looking forward to playing those guys. We have a little chip on our shoulder”, Collins said. On the “Kick Six”, he laughed and added, “It shows up on the TV again and it just breaks our hearts. That one second took our chance of winning anything”.

When asked about focus and preparation for the Auburn game, Cyrus Jones said, “”It’s no secret how big of a game this is for us – the tradition, the whole community. It’s just big for us to come in and prepare like we are supposed to, to come out and put a good effort on the field.” Jalston Fowler added, “We’ve been waiting for this game for a long time.”

You can tell the players are ready and I know the fans are, too. Hopefully late Saturday night, the proper steps will have been taken to restore order in the SEC West and to give the Tide another start to December in Atlanta.

Home/Alabama Crimson Tide News