Game Day - Oct. 18th

Ole Miss vs. Alabama

A week after watching three of the top five teams in the nation — Oklahoma, Missouri, and LSU — fall, Alabama returns to action to see if the Tide can keep the same thing from happening to them.

No. 2 Alabama (6-0, 3-0) hosts Ole Miss (3-3, 1-2) Saturday in Tuscaloosa.

This is the kind of game Nick Saban has been preaching about since the season-opening victory over Clemson, the kind of game where everyone is telling his team how great it is, and they begin to listen to it and forget what got them to this point.

Watching top teams lose over the weekend was the perfect illustration for Saban to use to get his team's attention; that, plus an Ole Miss team that handed Florida its only loss of the season.

But the Tide is healthy, and as long as the offensive line is together, Alabama will continue to control time of possession (an SEC-best 33:17 per game). What's most impressive is the Tide's first-half success, particularly not giving up a point in the first quarter of a game this season.

If Alabama is vulnerable, it appears to be in the second half, when inevitably the Tide has a letdown. However, maybe that's the natural byproduct of having a big lead.

Ole Miss had a week off after being shredded by South Carolina for 300-plus passing yards. With quarterback John Parker Wilson and receiver Julio Jones waiting, the Rebels could get torched again.

Everyone else is already pointing to that Nov. 8 showdown with LSU in Baton Rouge. Nick Saban is only interested in getting past Ole Miss this weekend.