Bama on guard against letdown

TUSCALOOSA — Alabama coach Nick Saban has railed against what he calls “negative motivation” aimed at his team.

The coach would rather get his message across with positive reinforcement. In other words, it’s not what you can lose in a game, it’s what you have to gain.

But there’s really not much upside to this morning’s game against Chattanooga.

Even Saban understands that a 10-0 season, No. 2 national ranking and hopes of playing for a national championship can be undone if the unthinkable happens today.

“There won’t be one thing that anybody ever remembers about this season if we didn’t have success against a team like this,” Saban said this week.

As the coach often says, “It is what it is.” Alabama has much bigger plans and far bigger obstacles ahead than this morning’s 11:21 kickoff against the Mocs.

But that doesn’t mean the Crimson Tide is looking past this one. It is the home finale — the final game at Bryant-Denny Stadium for a senior class that has played a huge role in the program’s change of direction the past two seasons.

Javier Arenas, who may epitomized the undersized, overachieving characteristics of this class, has big plans for today.

“Hopefully, it’ll be an astounding performance by me and my teammates,” Arenas said. “But I’m just trying to make it one to remember.”

Arenas said he wanted a win, of course. But he added, “I wouldn’t mind scoring a touchdown or two.

“Honestly, just to execute each and every play, each and every play, do my job and do it to the best of my ability. That would be good enough.”

That would probably be more than enough today. Chattanooga coach Russ Huesman has done a remarkable job, taking a team that won one game last season to 6-4 in his first season as head coach at his alma mater.

But even Huesman understands what his team is up against.

“This is going to be a hard one,” he said. “You know it; everybody knows it. We’re playing a great football team, and we can’t have big mistakes. If we’ve got a chance to get a guy on the ground, we have to do it. We can’t make any mental mistakes in this football game.”

In fact, the coach said Arenas presents a big threat in this game as Alabama’s return specialist.

Arenas is 106 yards away from Lee Nalley’s long-standing SEC record of 1,695 set from 1947-49. Arenas is 172 yards away from the NCAA record of career punt return yardage held by Wesley Welker.

“Special teams, I think, is where the huge difference is in games like these,” Huesman said. “There is so much space and you’re using the whole field at all times.

“Their punt return guy is the best in the country and has been for a long time. ... It’s just an unbelievable challenge for our kids and our coaches.”

Chattanooga does have weapons. Quarterback B.J. Coleman is a University of Tennessee transfer and has triggered the Mocs’ resurgence.

“They’re not a slouch team,” Alabama linebacker Eryk Anders said. “Their quarterback is pretty good. He’s got a nice arm. We have to get in his face and put the pressure on him.”

Coleman has thrown for 2,312 yards, fourth on the school’s single-season list, and 17 touchdowns. His favorite target is senior wide receiver Blue Cooper, who has 82 catches and 817 receiving yards this season.

The Mocs have done a good job protecting Coleman. He’s been sacked only nine times all season — and hasn’t been sacked in Chattanooga’s last three games.

Told of those numbers, Alabama jack linebacker Eryk Anders smiled.

“Well, he’s coming to Alabama now,” Anders said. “We’re going to put the pressure on him.”