From the Sideline — Alabama Continues to Improve in LSU Win

The start of the 4th quarter was much like the start of this college football season for the Alabama Crimson Tide. The Crimson Tide would just miss on a flea-flicker to Kenny Bell that certainly would have gone for a touchdown. Later in the drive, a touchdown pass from AJ McCarron to Jalston Fowler would be wiped off the board because of a procedure penalty. But ultimately, the Tide would get into the end zone on a T.J. Yeldon scoring run.

Much like the season itself, it started just slightly off, had a hiccup along the way, but Alabama still couldn't be stopped. At least not yet.

Going into Saturday night's game, while the numbers all pointed to this being the biggest separation between the two teams since Nick Saban's first year at Alabama, it was still hard for me to believe that this would be a two touchdown (or more) game. Had it not been for a well-executed fake punt (actually, Coach Saban told me, "We really didn't do it right"), it may not have been. But this Alabama team still manages to make plays, flex its muscle, and run away from opponents.

During an interview with the website Campus Insiders, Bonnie Bernstein asked me if this was actually one of the weaker Alabama teams in recent years. My answer was, "It may be, but you've got to look at what you're comparing it to?"

There is still a great deal of work to be done for the 2013 edition of the Crimson Tide to finish like the ones in 2009, 2011, and 2012. However, I don't know that have seen a good team grow from week one to week nine, any more than this one has.