From the Sideline — Bama Moves Forward and Tries to Stay There

Saturday night's win over Ole Miss was obviously a big one for Alabama. Not only was it big because it keeps the Tide perfect at 4-0. But in my opinion, what made the magnitude of the victory so great, was the fact that Alabama got better.

After beating Texas A&M, there wasn't much of a pulse from a drained and slightly hobbled squad against Colorado State.

The Tide now owns three wins by 25 points each, and can also lay claim to the most impressive road victory of the season. Each of the three previous wins came with glaring weaknesses for the Crimson Tide in each outing. And while Bama was far from perfect in the win over the Rebels (i.e. three fumbles in the first half, each of which UA was fortunate to recover), there was obvious improvement in all three phases of the game.

Nick Saban had been looking for consistent effort and execution throughout a game. Saturday night was the closest that Alabama has come to showing that.

That's why this week is such an important one for the Crimson Tide. Clearly, Alabama is an overwhelming favorite over Georgia State, and likely won't be challenged in terms of the outcome.

However, if this 2013 version of the Tide is truly developing consistency, and moving toward the standard of excellence that Saban preaches (and Alabama fans have come to expect), they won't sleep walk through this week in preparation for the Panthers.

The Crimson Tide took a major step forward against Ole Miss. They can not afford to waste this week against Georgia State, and take even a half-step back.