Guarding against overconfidence was not an issue for Alabama coach Nick Saban when his Crimson Tide suffered early-season losses to Ole Miss in 2014 and again in 2015.
Alabama posted its third consecutive win over Ole Miss on Saturday night with a 62-7 ravaging in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. The program with five national championships in the past nine seasons has made Southeastern Conference history this year by scoring 50 or more points in its first three games, so Saban’s opening monologue Monday during his weekly news conference did not come as a surprise.
“I still think that after looking at the film that there are a lot of things that we can improve on,” Saban said. “The most important thing for our team right now is to maintain the standard of excellence and not allow outside voices and influences to affect our intensity and our focus on preparation. We need to understand our standard in everything we do every day.”
In other words, avoid rat poison.
The top-ranked Crimson Tide will face their first ranked opponent Saturday afternoon in Bryant-Denny Stadium when No. 22 Texas A&M visits. The Aggies are 2-1 this season, having thumped Northwestern State and Louisiana-Monroe and having lost 28-26 to Clemson.