As a fifth-year senior, Tim Keenan has one final opportunity to win a National Championship at Alabama. His career has been full of "almost."
In his redshirt year, Alabama finished as the national runner-up, losing to Georgia in the National Championship Game.
Two years later, Alabama fell in overtime in the College Football Playoff semifinal to eventual national champion Michigan. Last year, Alabama almost made the College Football Playoff as the first team left out.
Keenan is determined to be done with "almost." He wants to win. He was one of the most vocal in the locker room after an embarrassing defeat to Florida State in the season-opener. It's not surprising that he had something to say in the aftermath of the Crimson Tide's second loss of the season, a frustrating 23-21 home defeat to Oklahoma that removed the final margin for error Alabama had this year.
After the game, Keenan had a fiery message for his teammates as he knows the Tide's season is hanging on by a thread:
"Doing what we know to do, but doing it better," Keenan said of his message to his teammates, via 247's Mike Rodak. "Because evidently what we doing wasn't the best. We got to do whatever we were doing even better, and executing -- just even more attention to detail. When you thought you had the most, have even more. Just if you thought you was going hard, put more into it."
Alabama must respond just like it did after Florida State
Alabama took the Florida State loss as motivation that fueled them to eight consecutive victories. The team was dialed in, blowing out UL Monroe and Wisconsin in back-to-back weeks before then going to Georgia and earning an eye-opening victory in Athens.
Along the way, Alabama won four straight games over ranked opponents, knocking off Georgia, Vanderbilt, Missouri, and Tennessee in consecutive weeks. They became the first SEC team to do so without a bye week in league history.
We know this team can respond to a loss in a positive way. They have no choice now. The loss to Oklahoma means everything will be on the line in the Iron Bowl. There's no margin for error left. Either you go on the road and beat Auburn, or you watch the College Football Playoff from the couch for a second straight season.
It's as simple as that.