Watching Alabama’s home game against the Florida Atlantic Owls Saturday revealed a lot about the tenacity, talent and attitude of the Tide.

First and foremost, Alabama again proved that it is easily the most talented team in the nation with a 40-7 pounding over the Owls. Not invincible, mind you – the Tide was held at bay too many times in the red zone to be considered unbeatable. Nonetheless, its level of play was consistent with the way it has been playing all season long: dominantly.

Defensively, the Tide looked nearly as impassable as ever. The Owls barely managed to eclipse 100 yards of total offense on the game, and the pass rush kept their quarterback scrambling for safety all day.

Despite Alabama’s convincing win, there was one moment in the game that managed to spoil the victory: FAU managed to score a touchdown on its very last drive, breaking the two-game, 11-quarter scoreless streak the Tide defense had going.

This score on Alabama’s defense, however, was more revealing about this team’s character than any other score – defensive stop or otherwise incredible play – by the Tide this season by far.

Late in the game, as Alabama was “holding on” to a 40-0 lead over FAU, the Owls got the ball for one last possible scoring opportunity. FAU made good on its opportunity, steadily working its way down field toward the Alabama end zone.

When it began to look like the Owls had a legitimate chance to score was when the true character of this Alabama team became apparent. Not only were the second-string defensive players on the field, trying to stir up crowd support, but so was everyone else on the Alabama sideline, which was apparently so hyped up the referees called a penalty against the Tide. All of this was to stop a score that had absolutely no bearing on the game’s outcome.

And when the Owls did eventually find their way into the end zone, the disappointment was apparent, both in the crowd reaction and on the faces of the team.

If you’re an Alabama fan and that doesn’t get you excited about this team, nothing will. That moment revealed a character trait of this team that every other Saban championship team has had: the drive to play, not just for the win, but to a standard. And, in the case of the FAU game, Alabama was playing for the pride of maintaining what would have been an incredible three-game scoreless streak.

For a team to fight so hard to merely keep a scoreless streak going means that it isn’t simply satisfied with winning. For now, at least, Alabama is proving that it’s not playing merely to win, but playing to a certain standard on the field. And right now, that standard is head and shoulders above everyone else in the nation.

And the best part for Bama fans is, the team said it still had plenty of room to improve this season.