Nick Saban explains what he meant by Iron Bowl win being dangerous

Something about Jordan-Hare Stadium brings out the dramatics in the Iron Bowl. Alabama will be thankful the game went their way this time, with Jalen Milroe pulling off a miracle 4th and 31 touchdown in the final seconds. A win folks in Tuscaloosa will never forget and one Alabama certainly will not apologize for.

While a win is a win, even Nick Saban admitted his team got lucky. Alabama did not have a great game and needs to find a way to get better throughout the week. Georgia is next on the schedule, with the SEC Championship looming in Atlanta.

“I think sometimes when you win and don’t play like you’d like to have played, players aren’t as interested in the ‘Why do we have to make these corrections? Why is this so important?’ You have to have a certain maturity about you as a competitor to understand that there’s lessons to be learned when you win as well as when you lose,” Saban said.

Saban is obviously happy with the win. Alabama was going to play in the SEC Championship no matter the result against Auburn, clinching a couple of weeks prior after taking down in Kentucky. But a loss would have ended the Crimson Tide’s chances at making the College Football Playoff.

Finishing the season 11-1 after the Texas loss was all you could ask for. A great response over the past 10 weeks, especially getting a win against a bitter in-state rival. Not too many thought Milroe would play well enough to have Alabama in this position.

Even so, Saban is going to use the Auburn game as a lesson for his team. Just because the end result was positive does not mean the process was. After all, a much tougher opponent is going to be on the field next time, with Kirby Smart and Georgia looking to

“When you lose, everybody’s really, like, humiliated and really wants to go focus on all the things they need to do to play better because they don’t feel good about themselves,” Saban said.

“Having the maturity to be able to manage and learn and build on the good things that you did as well as still be able to learn the lessons that go with some of the mistakes that you made, I think that’s the key to the drill. I think our players have handled that pretty well this week.”