Key to the Ole Miss Game? Intensity for the ENTIRE GAME!

The Crimson Tide ventures back into Southeastern Conference play this weekend, with a trip to struggling Ole Miss. Though Alabama (4-2, 2-1 SEC) is certain to be a heavy favorite against the last-place Rebels (2-4, 0-3), the Crimson Tide has had trouble putting teams away after building early leads this season.

Saban openly questioned his team's ability to sustain its intensity for an entire game, both after Saturday's win and again in his Monday press conference. Defensive end Wallace Gilberry said the players had already noticed the problem by the end of the Houston game.
'It's kind of funny, man, because that's how we've been playing... it's like a video game,' Gilberry said. 'Once you and your buddies are playing, when you get up 21-0, you put the sticks down and cut the game off. We need to realize that this is real life. There is no starting over.

'The team on the other side of the ball is trying to come back and win. Once we get that NCAA 2008 (football video game) mentality out of our heads, we are going to be pretty good.'

But realizing the problem and correcting it are too different things. Rest assured, though, Saban and the Crimson Tide coaches will drill sustaining intensity into their players' heads during this week's practice sessions.

'It's a habit, like anything else,' Saban said. 'I don't think you can just tell everybody to focus, and everybody focuses. They're gonna focus for five minutes, or they're going to focus for three hours.

'You can't get a shot for it. There's no vaccine for that. That's learned. It's a habit. We've got to make the players aware of it. They have to practice with focus, because it carries over into the game.'

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