By Michael Casagrande
Correspondent
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Alabama football coach Nick Saban put his own spin on the six-degrees-of-separation theory in relation to first-year program Georgia State's Thursday night visit to Bryant-Denny Stadium.
"[Georgia State] played to overtime against Jacksonville State, who beat Ole Miss," Saban said. "We respect the players that they have. We respect the good job of coaching that they do. They present issues and problems that we need to resolve on offense, defense and special teams just like every other team that we play.
"Even though they have a lot of young players, they have some good players, some very good players."
Maybe so, but it can't be an easy sell convincing a team that won a national title a year ago to see the upset potential from a program that didn't even play games last November. In their first season of existence, the Bill Curry-coached Panthers are 6-4 against an assortment of lower-division opponents. But there is that scare that Georgia State delivered to the team ranked sixth in the FCS in week three, a 34-27 JSU win.
The Panthers have a quarterback Alabama fans might be familiar with, but Crimson Tide transfer Star Jackson hasn't found much playing time in Atlanta, either. Through 10 games, Jackson has appeared in just three and has two interceptions among his nine passes and just four completions.
Most Las Vegas sports books aren't even offering a spread on the game, but 5dimes.com puts Alabama as a 57 1/2 point favorite.
Still, Alabama safety and SEC defensive player of the week Robert Lester said the short week of preparation can't be overlooked in the equation. He also couldn't understate the importance of staying focused on the challenge the Panthers present as opposed to looking forward to a highly anticipated Iron Bowl.
"We don't want to just not look at Georgia State and let them have the advantage," Lester said. "Because if we're so worried about Auburn, then Georgia State would have a good chance to come in and upset us."
The Panthers were off Saturday, just as the final six SEC opponents on Alabama's schedule this year. Alabama paid Curry's team an extra $35,000 beyond the $400,000 contract amount to move this game up two days so the Tide could have a little extra time to prepare for Auburn.
Tide running back Mark Ingram said he has a new-found respect for teams in the Mid-American Conference and Conference USA, which regularly play on weeknights for national television coverage.
"Definitely. I always wondered how somebody could play on, like, a Tuesday or a Thursday, things like that," Ingram said. "I know it's difficult having a short week. We do have a tremendous amount of respect for them just being able to always prepare in a short time."
The Tide practiced indoors Monday because of weather on a day that resembled more of a Wednesday in a regular game week. Saban said the team is cutting out a lot of the fundamental work it would normally do to work with the scout team on game planning.
And noseguard Josh Chapman promises, that's preparation for Georgia State and not Auburn.
"You can't look past any team in college football," Chapman said. "It's not like high school ball when you try to look past a team you think you can beat. Any team can be beat any given day."
Contact Michael Casagrande at sports@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6273.