OXFORD, Miss. -- There were huge deficits, enormous comebacks and near defeats.
There were bone-jarring hits, oxygen tanks and IVs.
Everything that could happen would, but before all that -- before No. 1 Alabama fought and clawed and held on in the final minute to beat No. 19 Ole Miss 48-43 on Saturday -- Nick Saban talked to his team about love.
Love of the game, love of the team, love of one another; Saban wanted to know if everyone felt that. Because, he said, love is how you overcome.
"You'll have burdens in this game, and you'll have to overcome it," he told his team. "If you really love it, we'll overcome whatever we have to."
So Alabama overcame -- the dropped passes, busted coverages, penalties and careless turnovers. And that was just what was self-inflicted.
Chad Kelly tormented the Tide all game. Ole Miss' swaggering quarterback threw the ball all over the field to give his team a three-touchdown lead in the first half. And just when it looked like the defense finally had his number, intercepting him in the fourth quarter and returning it for a touchdown to put Alabama ahead by 18, he came right back. First, Kelly had a 5-yard touchdown to Damore’ea Stringfellow. Then, after an onside kick, his 37-yard touchdown to A.J. Brown made it a one-score game with less than 3 minutes remaining.
Vaught-Hemingway Stadium rocked, and all the elements of an Alabama defeat were there. Until they weren't.
On second-and-7, with the Tide clinging on to a 5-point lead, Damien Harris did what Alabama couldn't seem to do the previous two games of the season: run the football. The shifty sophomore was patient, found a crease in the trenches and rushed ahead for 17 yards and the first down. Three plays later, on third-and-1, he converted and sealed the victory, finally putting away the Rebs after losses the previous two years.
Leaving the field after the game, linebacker Reuben Foster gave Harris a bear hug and shouted in his ear, "That's Alabama ball!" Harris finished with a career-high 144 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries.
"It was a tough game," Harris said. "We definitely had to grind it out."
There were errors, Saban said, but things they could correct. His team's effort, on the other hand, was something he couldn't have been more proud of.
Assistant coaches and players alike received IV's during the game, Saban said, and more than a few sported ice packs and bandages on their way to the team bus.
"We just kept battling, battling, battling," he said.
Saban's message before the game, he said, was "pretty timely."
His team's performance wasn't altogether pretty, though. But Alabama will make due, especially on a day on which No. 2-ranked Florida State went on the road to No. 10 Louisville and was blown out 63-20.
As with Florida State, Alabama's freshman quarterback struggled to throw the ball on the road. But unlike Deondre Francois, Jalen Hurts made plays with his feet, running for 163 yards to become the first quarterback under Saban to break the century mark.
As with Florida State, Alabama's defense gave up too many yards Saturday -- just 3 fewer than the Seminoles allowed to Louisville. But unlike their ACC brethren, the Tide defenders gave just as good as they got, scoring two touchdowns of their own.
"We allowed some big plays, made some errors and there are some things we need to work on," said Alabama safety Eddie Jackson, who returned a punt 75 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter. "But it was a good win. We came out and fought."
There will be more tests like this if the Tide are to make it to the playoffs and repeat as national champions. But for at least one game, Saban's squad showed that even when it's not perfect, it can fight and overcome.