TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Alabama’s season may have aged coach Nick Saban a bit, but he’s not complaining.
Nothing has come easy so far for the ninth-ranked Crimson Tide.
Alabama eked out a win over Arkansas, sputtered at South Florida, survived the Mississippi game and needed a huge second-half surge to defeat Tennessee on Saturday and jump back into the top 10.
All that’s mostly OK with Saban. Or at least it was in the afterglow of that 34-20 victory over the Volunteers, the team’s sixth straight win.
“I love it. It’s been great,” Saban said after the game. “The challenges are great. I enjoy coaching this team. That’s not to say that they’re not taking years off my life, but I’m OK with that.”
Alabama (7-1, 5-0 Southeastern Conference) went into its bye week as the only SEC Western Division team without a league loss. Next up: hosting No. 15 LSU, the biggest remaining division challenger, in two weeks.
The Tide hadn’t really looked like a national contender from start to finish of any game this season. They didn’t again early Saturday, finding themselves down 20-7 at halftime.
Then Alabama dominated the second half, 27-0, making key stops on defense and big plays on offense. It was a vintage Tide performance — for 30 minutes.
But, quarterback Jalen Milroe said, “winning is hard,” especially in the SEC. Especially for a team that had been plagued by penalties, sacks and turnovers.
“I think what we showed is that we don’t quit,” he said. “Here, we don’t quit. That’s the biggest thing and what we harp on in the offseason.”
Milroe overcame a fumble and an interception in the end zone. But Alabama committed only one penalty for 5 yards and allowed just one second-half sack after giving up three before halftime.
The Tide had a school-record 17 penalties in last year’s 52-49 loss in Knoxville.
“That was a tremendous focus,” said linebacker Chris Braswell, whose fourth-quarter sack and forced fumble led to a scoop-and-score touchdown. “We always talk about playing to the ‘Bama standard and playing disciplined.”
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