The 2009 Alabama Crimson Tide and 2010 Auburn Tigers are the only football teams in Southeastern Conference history ever to post 14-0 records.
This year's Alabama team has a chance to go 15-0, but the top-ranked Tide's 11th win - Saturday night's 31-3 defeat of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga - was among their more trying. Alabama trailed 3-0 after the first quarter and led just 14-3 midway through the third, and the experience left coach Nick Saban balancing anger with teachable moments with putting things in proper perspective.
"We've won 11 games so far and have had great competitive character," Saban said Saturday night in his news conference. "We've had to play some tough games in some tough places, and our players have come through when they needed to. I'm responsible for how they played tonight. We weren't perfect today, but we still won 31-3.
"Everybody wanted to win the game today. They just didn't think they had to go out there and do a whole lot to do it."
Alabama, which defeated UTC 45-0 in 2009 and 49-0 in 2013, was outgained 77-70 in the first quarter and held just a 164-161 yardage edge midway through the third. The Mocs forced six JK Scott punts and sacked Jalen Hurts three times.
The Mocs never allowed a sack.
"They were a pretty good team," Tide senior defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson told reporters. "They had a good game plan against us, and they were executing a lot more early on in the game, but we came out in the second half and executed a lot more than the first half, which helped us get a little more momentum."
Hurts completed 15 of 21 passes for three touchdowns, including a 47-yard strike to Calvin Ridley in the first minute of the second quarter that put Alabama ahead to stay, but the Mocs kept the Tide's aerial attack mostly contained. Take away Ridley's score, and Alabama's 14 other completions totaled 89 yards.
The Tide were coming off a 51-3 blistering of Mississippi State in which Hurts passed for 347 yards, but Mocs defensive backs proved they can be successful against more than just Football Championship Subdivision opposition.
"Their guys break on the ball, and they do a great job of reading the quarterback's eyes," Saban said. "They do a pretty good job of mixing up their coverages to make it more difficult for the quarterback. It's mostly split-safety stuff, but they do it in different ways, and the combinations are difficult for the quarterback to read sometimes.
"We had a couple of times where we were afraid to pull the trigger, so there are lessons to be learned."
Most of the lessons Alabama learned from Saturday night will not be applicable the rest of this season, because the Tide should have no problem gearing up for rival Auburn this week and for Florida in the SEC title game Dec. 3 at the Georgia Dome. Wins in those two games would enable Alabama to clinch the top seed in the four-team College Football Playoff.
Auburn improved to 8-3 Saturday night with a 55-0 thumping of Alabama A&M, and Tide graduate transfer Gehrig Dieter already was looking forward to his first Iron Bowl after snagging two touchdown receptions against the Mocs.
"I feel like everyone in the country kind of watches this game growing up," Dieter said. "I always watched it growing up, and it's exciting that I have the chance to play in it. We will come out next game and have an intensity about us."
Stewart sidelined
Alabama redshirt junior receiver ArDarius Stewart did not play against the Mocs, and Saban explained why afterward.
"Sometimes we have players who have a violation of our standard of behavior," Saban said. "Everybody wants to play, and sometimes you have to tell guys, 'We're not going to play you.'"
Tide tidbits
When the Iron Bowl kicks off, Saban will be coaching the top-ranked team in the Associated Press poll for the 47th time, which is a record for any college coach at his school. Alabama has not allowed a touchdown in 207 minutes and 54 seconds of game time, which dates back to early in the third quarter of the Oct. 22 game against Texas A&M. Hurts rushed for 88 yards against the Mocs and has 823 yards this season, breaking the school's single-season rushing mark for quarterbacks held by Steadman Shealy, who had 791 in 1979.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.