re: Alabama Football Stuff (injury updates, quotes, etc.) - October 20th

quote:

---

Alabama

National Championship Odds: 15-2

There's a good chance college football fans will look back at Alabama's Week 3 loss to Ole Miss in the same fashion as Stanford's defeat to Northwestern—odd results for complete title contenders.

Alabama took a huge step forward in the SEC West race Saturday by knocking off Texas A&M by a score of 41-23 in College Station, and the Tide's national championship odds improved as a result.

Offensively, bruising running back Derrick Henry continues his touchdown-scoring ways, and quarterback Jake Coker seems more settled in the quarterback position thanks to some breakout players out wide. Nick Saban's team is one of the best in the nation up front, and a much-improved secondary is coming off a performance in which it scored three pick-sixes on the uptempo Aggies.

"The loss to Ole Miss hurts, but Alabama has been here before," Bleacher Report's Barrett Sallee wrote. "They're hitting their stride at the right time, seem to have solved its pressing issues and has a showdown with LSU looming early next month."

Barring some surprises in the next couple of weeks, Alabama will be favored in that home matchup against LSU. All the Crimson Tide need is for Ole Miss to drop another conference game—which looks like a good bet at this point—and they'll be back on the inside track for a championship run.

---