Nick Saban reached 80 last Saturday.
Not in age, of course, as the 12th-year Alabama football coach has a Halloween birthday and will be 67 next week.
Saban's Crimson Tide won their 80th consecutive game against an unranked opponent with their 58-21 dismantling of Tennessee. The streak is an NCAA record, with Alabama's season-opening 51-14 rout of Louisville having broken the previous mark of 72 set by Miami (1984-95) and matched by Florida (1989-2000).
"It's a work in progress all the time to keep the players playing to a standard," Saban said Wednesday during the weekly SEC teleconference, "and I think that starts with maintaining your focus and intensity and mental energy, regardless of who you're playing. We try to get our players to believe that external factors shouldn't affect how you play, and we want them to play to a high standard all the time and that who you're playing against shouldn't affect that.
"Hopefully we'll be able to continue to do it."
Alabama's closest game against an unranked team this season was the 39-10 thumping of Missouri on Oct. 13.
The top-ranked Tide's 37-point win at Tennessee came hours before No. 2 Ohio State lost 49-20 at unranked Purdue. Urban Meyer's Buckeyes lost 55-24 a year ago to unranked Iowa, while new No. 2 Clemson is undefeated this season but lost to unranked Syracuse last year and to unranked Pittsburgh in 2016.
Mastering unranked teams has not been as easy for some of Alabama's top rivals, either, with Auburn having lost this month to Tennessee and with LSU having lost last year to Troy.
"If you're in a boxing match and you drop your hands, you're probably going to get slapped or even knocked out," Saban said. "You've got to keep your hands up at all times."
The 80-game streak began after a 2007 loss to Auburn with a 30-24 triumph over Colorado in the Independence Bowl that capped Saban's first season with the Tide. Alabama (8-0, 5-0 Southeastern Conference) is off this week before traveling to No. 4 LSU, so its next unranked foe could be Mississippi State on Nov. 10.
November's challenge
Alabama's offensive line certainly has played a role in the Tide having averaged a nation-leading 564.2 yards and 54.1 points per game this season, and they lead the SEC by having allowed just five sacks through eight games.
It's a group that has pleased Saban, but he is expressing caution about a November schedule that includes the respected defensive fronts of LSU, Mississippi State and Auburn. The Tide averaged 23.0 points against that trio last season.
"All of the conference games that we play from here on out have the best defenses in our league," Saban said.
Brannon suspended
Offensive lineman Hunter Brannon has been suspended from the team after his arrest early Sunday in Tuscaloosa on a DUI charge. The redshirt freshman has not played this season and did not travel with the team to Tennessee.
"He has some internal things he has to do," Saban said. "He's not going to dress for any games or anything like that until he completes all that is being required of him."
Back at the top
Alabama, Georgia and Texas A&M each has spent time at the top of the 247Sports.com team rankings for the 2019 recruiting cycle, with the Tide currently No. 1 again.
Vaulting Alabama back to the summit was a commitment this week from Braylen Ingraham, a 6-foot-4, 260-pound defensive end from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Ingraham is a four-star prospect who is rated by 247Sports as the nation's No. 22 strongside defensive end and the No. 289 prospect overall.
The Tide have 22 commitments, with 20 of them four-star recruits.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.