With a win over Kentucky on Saturday, Alabama would clinch the SEC West for the 10th time in the last 16 seasons.
Even though it wasn't a conference loss and didn't affect the SEC standings, many did not think Alabama would be in this position after the double-digit defeat to Texas back on Sep. 9.
Senior defensive back Malachi Moore was part of a national championship team his freshman season. He was on the Crimson Tide's SEC Championship team in 2021 that fell short in the national title game. And he was also on last year's squad that failed to reach the College Football Playoff after dropping two games to Tennessee and LSU.
Moore has experienced the ups and downs of college football and knows what it will take for this year's Crimson Tide team to get back to the CFP. On Monday, he talked about the journey of the 2023 season up until this point.
"It’s been a long journey," Moore said. "I feel like this team really knows that we can’t lose another game, and I feel like that helps us a lot, in a way, just to know that we’re basically playing an elimination game every week. So that’s kind of how we approach, and that’s why we have to be so focused on details and making sure we prepare the right way and just not allowing that to happen again.”
After avenging both of last season's losses over the last two games with a 34-20 win over Tennessee and 42-28 victory against LSU, it would be easy for Alabama to let off the pedal this week against an unranked Kentucky team. But that's not how the players or Nick Saban see it.
"But I think this team has created an opportunity for itself, so everybody has to make a choice," Saban said. "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. 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. You’ve got to keep focused on what you have to do to get better and prepare for the next game.
"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. 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’ve got lots of good players. It’ll be a challenging preparation, for both sides of the ball."
Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe said that he and the team have used that early-season loss to Kentucky as a learning moment.
"Not dwell in that moment but also acknowledging some things and corrections that we need to make as a football team," Milroe said. "I can honestly say from my angle as an offensive standpoint we're steadily growing and learning. I think that's key to how our success is driven and I think experience is the best teacher and we're constantly looking to improve; I think that hunger is important for our offense. And I agree with Malachi's statement. We're just constantly learning and just trying to do our job."
Milroe is coming off one of the best game's of his career with 219 passing yards and a career high 155 yards and four touchdowns on the ground. The offensive line gave up a season-low in sacks with two against LSU. The offense is steadily improving week after week, while the Alabama defense has been lights out in the second half since the poor fourth-quarter performance against Texas.
Like Saban said, this Kentucky game will be a test for this team. Will they grow complacent after two bigs wins? Or continue to improve on the way to bigger goals ahead?
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