There may not be a more underrated player on the Alabama roster than senior TE Josh Cuevas. He continuously comes up big for Alabama in critical situations. He may not put up the eye-popping statistics, but he's there when you need him.
Just last week against South Carolina, Cuevas caught a Ty Simpson touchdown pass on 4th-and-goal late in the first half to put Alabama up 14-6 at halftime. Following Alabama's 4th quarter touchdown to cut South Carolina's lead to two, the two-point conversion was drawn up for Cuevas. Simpson's pass floated into his reliable hands for the game-tying score.
Cuevas has been a difference-maker as both a blocker and receiver. He's as rock-solid as it gets. He'll be a guy Kalen DeBoer and company continue to rely on down the stretch of the regular season and into the postseason.
After practice on Thursday, reporters caught up with Cuevas, and he revealed the team's mindset heading into the November stretch run.
"I think we're treating it like we're still in the gauntlet," Cuevas said when asked about Alabama's mindset after enduring a brutal five-game stretch. "Coach DeBoer is preaching, you know, we're not done, we're still in the middle of it. He puts a big PowerPoint slide with 'November has the games you're going to remember.'
"So just kinda treating it like that and not taking a single day off...and treating every team like they're a National Championship."
Alabama has treated every game since the FSU loss as the National Championship
Going undefeated - or even escaping the regular season with only one loss - is no longer a prerequisite to being in the National Championship hunt. Not in the days of the expanded College Football Playoff.
But Alabama used up a mulligan before the calendar even flipped to September by losing to Florida State in the season-opener. That caused an early sense of urgency for the team.
Alabama has responded.
Following the loss to Florida State, the Crimson Tide reeled off seven consecutive victories heading into their second and final bye week of the regular season. That included four straight wins over ranked SEC opponents, and arguably the most impressive of the bunch was last week's comeback road win over South Carolina.
This is a team that has plenty of flaws. We could spew 2000 words talking about them all. But this team also has something that they didn't have last year: a championship mentality, a resolve to make plays when their backs are against the wall.
Cuevas embodies that mentality. So do Simpson, Germie Bernard, Ryan Williams, Jam Miller, Deontae Lawson, and plenty of others.
DeBoer's ability to get the team to refocus when everyone gave up on them after one game is the stuff legends are made of.