Alabama Travels to Kentucky after "Most Complete" Game of 2023

Ahead of the 2023 college football season, we did not know what the Alabama Crimson Tide would look like when they made the trip to Kroger Field in November. Fresh off an underwhelming season that finished outside of the CFB Playoff, Nick Saban lost Bryce Young and Will Anderson, two of the top three picks in the NFL Draft. He also had to replace his offensive and defensive coordinators, and he did so with names that did not generate much fanfare.

We’ve finally arrived at the tenth week of the college football season and Alabama is doing what Nick Saban always does, win.

“He is like a machine,” Mark Stoops said Monday.

We saw some cracks in the foundation early in the season. Jalen Milroe struggled in a home loss to Texas and was benched. Tyler Buchner and Ty Simpson struggled a week later in a 17-3 win at South Florida. Since that moment in late September, Alabama has ascended back into National Championship contention.

Alabama Blitzes LSU

The battle between two of the top teams in the SEC West was tied at halftime. Alabama ended the game with three unanswered touchdowns to leave LSU in the dust with a 42-28 victory.

“It was probably the most complete game we’ve played all year, especially with the way we executed in the second half,” Saban said at Monday’s press conference. “I thought, offensively, we controlled the line of scrimmage, we had great balance, Jalen (Milroe) played really well, obviously.”

Milroe was named SEC Co-Offensive Player of the Week after he rushed for four touchdowns, setting a new Alabama single-game record for a quarterback. He tallied 155 yards on the ground (9.2 ypc.) and 219 through the air in the biggest win of his career.

Fresh off back-to-back emotional rivalry wins, Alabama is hitting the road for the first time since they escaped Kyle Field with a one-score win more than a month ago. Even though he was complimentary, Saban is doing everything he can to get his players to avoid the complacency rat poison.

“This team has created an opportunity for itself, so everybody has to make a choice. What do you want to do? To prepare and continue to play at the level we’re capable of playing at and continuing to improve. I don’t think this is a time for anybody to be complacent,” said the Alabama head coach.

“I know that even Sunday morning when I got up, I was like, ‘Wow, I’m tired,’ but you’ve got to go, man. You’ve got to keep going, you’ve got to keep grinding, and you’ve got to keep focused on what you have to do to get better and prepare for the next game.”

Nick Saban Compliments Kentucky

“Kentucky is a completely different kind of team than what we played against a week ago and what we did last week is not going to have any impact on what we do this week. They’re tough, they’re physical, they’re well-coached,” said Saban.

“Coach (Mark) Stoops does a really, really good job with his team, in terms of the competitive character that they play with and the intangibles that they have. They’re 6-3. They’ve got some really explosive players on offense. The quarterback has played really well for them. They’ve got great balance on offense. Their defense is tough and physical and really well-coached in terms of what they do. Barion Brown is a really good returner. They’ve got lots of good players. It’ll be a challenging preparation, for both sides of the ball.”

Hear more from the second-winningest coach in SEC football history before the Crimson Tide come to Lexington.

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