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Alabama has defeated Tennessee eight consecutive times.
Alabama plays Tennessee again Saturday.
Nobody nationally is talking about Alabama-Tennessee. The focus already has shifted to the Nov. 7 showdown, when Leonard Fournette and No. 5 LSU visit Tuscaloosa.
Javier Arenas played on Nick Saban’s 2009 national championship team. He’s been in this situation of having to prepare for one team while the noise builds around the next.
Actually, by fluke of the calendar, it was the exact same situation.
Alabama played an unranked Tennessee team at home on Oct. 24 and had a bye week to prepare for No. 9 LSU on Nov. 7.
What happened in 2009?
Alabama didn’t score a touchdown and needed to block a field goal on the final play to squeak out a 12-10 victory over a Tennessee team that finished 7-6.
“You talk about how fragile a season is,” Tide coach Nick Saban told reporters after that game. “You’re controlling a game, even though you may say it’s winning ugly. We’re still ahead 12-3 and totally controlling the game with 3 minutes, 29 seconds and the ball. That’s how fragile a season can be. You make one mistake and you have to go overcome it. I hope that there’s a lot of lessons our team can learn from this.”
‘Bama went on to handle LSU, Auburn and No. 1 Florida before winning the national title. But one kick could have derailed all of that.
Arenas said that message will not be lost on players this week.
“In this conference, every team is good,” Arenas said. “You look ahead and you lose to Tennessee, our chances at a championship decrease. You can’t look ahead.”
Arenas said it will help that Tennessee has a quarterback in Joshua Dobbs who is capable of getting anybody’s attention.
Well, anybody who doesn’t play defensive back. Arenas said defensive backs don’t change their responsibilities when facing a dual-threat quarterback.
“None, really,” he said. “We have to cover our guy, keep our eyes on our guy. And when you’re playing against a dual-threat, that’s more the case. It’s stressed even more to keep your eye on your guy because they’re a dual threat.
“If we take our eyes off our guy, he can throw it, and they’ll be wide open.”
So who in Alabama’s scheme will be responsible for keeping Dobbs in check Saturday?
“That’s the front seven,” Arenas said. “The linebackers and defensive line. Take away the edge and make him stand in the pocket and beat you.”
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