The so-called “Game of the Century” lived up to its billing. It may not have shown on the scoreboard, but players and coaches both think that it was it was one of the toughest games they’ve been apart of.
“It’s probably the most physical game I’ve probably been in all year, maybe all since I’ve been at Alabama,” junior running back Trent Richardson said. “Both teams, we’re fighting for our season, fighting for the national [championship].”
The player who may know best was Josh Chapman. The nose tackle was battling in the trenches all night.
“It was a physical game,” Chapman said. “We knew coming in that those guys were going to be physical. I mean, it’s the SEC, you’re always going to have a physical game.”
But Alabama is ready to move forward. The Crimson Tide has to turn around and go on the road to face the Mississippi State Bulldogs this weekend. Head coach Nick Saban is getting his team focused on the future, rather than the past.
“Nothing that happened in that game we can do anything about other than what happens in the future and what we can learn from,” Saban said. “That’s exactly what we’re going to try and focus on.”
“We can’t sit there and be on ourselves about the loss,” junior safety Robert Lester said. “We have to keep pushing forward and get ready for our next game.”
Still a chance for a title?
While the Tide suffered its first loss of the season on Saturday, an appearance in the national title game may not be completely out of the picture. Alabama only fell one spot in this week’s BCS rankings, to No. 3 behind Oklahoma State. The Tide is currently ranked ahead of undefeated Stanford.
There is also a chance at a possible re-match between Alabama and LSU, who many feel are still the best two teams in the country.
“Look at the game,” Richardson said about the rankings. “We don’t deserve to be number one and number two? That’s for [Alabama and LSU]. Who wouldn’t want to see a re-match? That’s probably the biggest game you’ll ever see like that, unless we do get a rematch.”
“Our goal is to win a national championship,” center William Vlachos said. “Obviously that kind of took a hit on Saturday, but all we can really focus on is what we’re doing. The games that we have, we have to be locked-in and play our best football.”
Kickers not to blame
Alabama kickers were a combined two of six in the loss to LSU, but the four misses came from outside the 40-yard line. While some fans may blame the kickers for the loss, Nick Saban said it was more about the plays leading up to the field goal attempts.
“I think it’s not really fair to put this on the kickers, for anybody,” Saban said. “The percentages kicking the ball from the 23 yard line or 24 yard line are a lot better than from the 49, 50 and whatever the rest of the kicks were. What about the four plays that happened before?”
The players are trying to keep Shelley and Foster’s confidence up, in case the kickers are needed again in a game.
“We don’t bash one player for the team,” Lester said. “It’s a team game, and if we lost, it’s a team loss. No one player lost the game. We want to keep him up, he plays a big role on this team.”
