Alabama's opponent this week, Middle Tennessee State, put up 70 point last week against Jackson State last weeked, while accounting for over 630 yards and allowing just 14 points.
Sure, I know what you're thinking - those stats are against an FCS opponent who won just five games last season. But Nick Saban was quick to jump on reporters who have already chalked the Tide's upcoming game up as a win.
Saban's response to a question about being a heavy favorite and possibly using that to get multiple quarterbacks playing time with "live bullets firing" to stoke some competition started off calm, but by the end he was clearly bothered.
"I don't look at it like that at all. We're going to do what's best for our team in terms of getting ready for our game."
Then, after that first sentence or two, you could tell the tone of the question really started to bother Saban.
"Here's the one thing that everyone has to keep in mind. Everyone has good football players, and everyone needs to respect the opponent. I don't care if we're favored in a game, or not favored in a game, the most important thing for our players is for them to focus on doing what they need to do to play their best."
"We're approaching this game like it's the most important game of the season for us because it's the next game, and it's the next opportunity for us to get better. We're not trying to create anything based on who we're playing because we respect who we're playing and I expect that everyone else does too. I mean they did just put about 700 yards on a team." Saban explained, his tone becoming increasingly more annoyed.
As the next question was asked, Saban couldn't help but reflect on the previous question.
"Being able to concentrate on the right thing, at the right time, is critical to being successful. Alright? So what's the right thing at the right time now? Improving our team."