Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban. John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Nick Saban's Alabama squad with 'something to prove' is a dangerous team

The Alabama Crimson Tide are dangerous once again, and head coach Nick Saban seems to think his squad has a chip on its shoulder.

It didn't seem that way when the Tide lost to Texas at the start of the season or even the week after when Alabama squeaked by an inferior South Florida team.

The Crimson Tide have found their stride now, though. Alabama is 9-1, ranked No. 8 nationally and riding an eight-game win streak.

“I thought this team had something to prove,” Saban recently said on the Pat McAfee Show (h/t On3). “We had a lot of individuals on this team that had something to prove. We had a young team, so they were still trying to develop a reputation for themselves as players as well as how our team would develop.”

Up next for Alabama is what should end up being a blowout win against Chattanooga. That's the last easy game on the schedule, though. The Tide will have to go to Auburn to play in the Iron Bowl rivalry before a matchup with No. 1 Georgia to end the regular season.

The Tide will likely have to finish this stretch 3-0 to have any shot at making the College Football Playoff, and Saban knows his team still has work to do.

“I think that your legacy as a team and how the team gets remembered is always going to come down to how you finish,” Saban said. “So how we finish this season will be huge in terms of the positive self-gratification that this team can get for what they’ve put into it, how they’ve developed, how they’ve improved, the work that they’ve done. That’s something I’m very hopeful that I can contribute to in a positive way for them.”

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