Having swept the ranked trio of Arkansas, Tennessee and Texas A&M the past three weeks by at least 19 points, Alabama does not seem in dire need of the lone open date in its college football season.
The Crimson Tide will take it, though.
"We went through a group of teams that were really good, and it's nice to have a little bit of down time to rest up," redshirt junior center Bradley Bozeman said after Saturday's 33-14 win over previously unbeaten Texas A&M.
Alabama coach Nick Saban is welcoming the reprieve as well and is giving his team today off before practicing Tuesday through Thursday. The top-ranked Crimson Tide next play at LSU on Nov. 5, which is expected to be the Southeastern Conference's lone CBS prime-time telecast for a sixth straight season.
That announcement should be made today.
"It's good to have a week off," Saban said. "I want the players to get some rest, relax, and get healthy, but we can't be relieved. We can't be relieved that we won this game. It's a big difference in resting, relaxing and working to improve, and being relieved.
"We've got lots of games against a lot of good teams coming up when we start back playing again that can have a tremendous impact on what kind of season that we have. We've got to continue to be able to persevere as a team."
This is the eighth time in Saban's 10 seasons in Tuscaloosa that the Crimson Tide (8-0, 5-0) will have an extra week to prepare for LSU.
The Tigers (5-2, 3-1) improved to 3-0 under interim coach Ed Orgeron with a 38-21 home win Saturday night over Ole Miss. LSU junior tailback Leonard Fournette set a school record with 284 yards on 16 carries.
Alabama players know what's next on the schedule, and many felt this would not be much of an off week.
"It's important for us, and we're going to take a lot of time to recover and rest, but we're not taking any days off," sophomore running back Damien Harris said. "We know that we have a lot to do and a lot of games left, so we've got to continue to prepare."
Said redshirt sophomore cornerback Marlon Humphrey: "We get rest, but we've still got to work even though we're off. We've got to take advantage it. It comes at a good time after playing Tennessee and Texas A&M."
One objective will be adjusting to a secondary that no longer has senior safety Eddie Jackson, who suffered a fractured leg on a punt return early in the fourth quarter Saturday.
Alabama will seek its fifth straight victory over LSU before closing out at home against Mississippi State, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Auburn. The latter has become formidable with recent wins over Mississippi State and Arkansas by a combined score of 94-17, but Saban could look from within these next few days before turning his attention to the road ahead.
"There are many, many things that we need to improve on, but I've been proud of the improvement that this team has made and the way they have responded and the way they have competed all year long," Saban said. "This has been a tough stretch for us. We've had four really tough games, and they've done a good job of playing with consistency, which is the number one thing we always strive for."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.