Tide's maturity faces test this week

Alabama has relied on its experience and maturity throughout the season — on and off the field.

That maturity will be tested, displayed and expected in a city almost synonymous with, uh, “distractions” for college football players.

Alabama players report for the final week of Sugar Bowl preparations Saturday in New Orleans. The team will practice late in the afternoon for the Jan. 2 game against undefeated Utah.

For all of Alabama’s ties to New Orleans and the Sugar Bowl — this will be the Tide’s 13th appearance in the game — this is the first trip since the 1993 Sugar Bowl. Most Alabama players have never been to New Orleans. Rashad Johnson, Andre Smith, Antoine Caldwell, John Parker Wilson know the city only by reputation.

“I’ve never been. It’s my first time. I’ve heard it gets pretty crazy. There are a lot of things that can distract you from playing football down there,” said Johnson, the All-American safety. “I definitely think the leaders on the team, the captains and the seniors, are in charge of making sure guys are being responsible about what they do. ... It’s definitely important to be responsible for what you do and not do anything to embarrass the program, embarrass your family or embarrass yourself.”

Saban has credited his team with handling the distractions of an undefeated regular season remarkably well. He expects good decisions to be made off the field, too.

But Saban said he’s not interested in being a hall monitor next week in New Orleans.

“I can’t go on Bourbon Street until three o’clock in the morning, walking up and down with my whistle like I do in practice, saying, ‘you can’t do this and you can do that,’” Saban said. “I am going to be in bed because I can’t make it past 11 o’clock. But I do trust our players to make good choices and decisions, for themselves and for each other.”

Linebacker Cory Reamer said if guys want to look for trouble, they’ll find it no matter where it is.

“You can get in just as much trouble in Shreveport. We found that out last year,” Reamer said. “There’s just as much to do there with the casinos and everything. We had some issues last year, so I’m sure (Saban) is going to make the point that we have parts that are off-limits, so that we’ll stay out of trouble.“

Actually, Saban said there are very few places that are off limits, even after a rocky first year on and around the area in Tuscaloosa known as “The Strip.”

“I know you all think I can control what they do when they go on The Strip, but I don’t,” the coach said. “What I trust them to do and educate them to do is make the right choice and decisions when they go on The Strip — and that is why we don’t have problems now, because they make them.”

Of course, Bourbon Street is The Strip on steroids. Saban said the team will help decide its own limits.

“The way I managed it before is I say, look guys, I want your input on the curfews,” Saban said. “We make a decision on it. And you’re responsible for it. If somebody doesn’t make it, it’s done, there is no more going out.”

Quarterback John Parker Wilson said, “I think we’ll be in a pretty tight lockdown. I don’t worry about any of the guys going out and getting in trouble. We’re down there to play football. You can have fun after the game.”

Wilson, voted one of three team captains, said looking out for his teammates is part of his job.

“If you see somebody going and doing something they’re not supposed to be doing, you bring them back. That’s part of being a leader, keeping everybody locked down and not get in trouble and doing something that could jeopardize the rest of the team,” Wilson said.

Saban said he will educate his team about the Big Easy. But a bowl trip is part of the complete college experience that Saban says players should enjoy.

“We will have people talk to them about what to do and not to do in the city of New Orleans, which we have done before,” the coach said. “We will have curfew. But I think some of what we do is to reward the players, and we trust the players to make good choices and decisions on their own every day. We can’t control what the players do.”

Offensive lineman Mike Johnson said players won’t abuse that trust.

“I think coach Saban said it a few times this year — we’ve become pretty mature as a team,” the left guard said. “It’s going to be fun to be down there, but at the same time, we’ve got to realize why we’re there and try to get better as a football team.”