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The mike was hot and so was Nick Saban, hotter than the torched Texas turf as he advanced to midfield. Before he could meet, greet and congratulate Steve Sarkisian for the way his protege's Texas team had pushed Alabama to the brink, before he could process how his Crimson Tide had managed to escape its order of magnitude of mistakes to prevail 20-19, the man had more coaching to do.
Saban spotted an Alabama player or two flashing the Horns Down sign, the universal sign of disrespect for the long-suffering Longhorns. This was not the time for the Tide to add insult to injury, let alone in the face of a Texas team that looked fully SEC-ready, and Saban's face twisted into a perfect portrait of the agony of victory.
"Don't do that s..t," Saban snapped, the expletive deleted here but captured live and perfectly warranted there. This was not the Alabama standard on display in a disturbing variety of ways. The unnecessary taunting, the unearned gloating was the imperfect ending to an imperfect day. There was no way Saban was going to miss a chance to teach what it means to not waste a failure. ...
Read the rest of Kevin's reflection on what Alabama is and isn't after Bryce Young went full Vince Young to save the day. In The Lede.
