Alabama had something to prove Saturday.
They heard the whispers coming off an uneven Week 2 win over South Florida heading into a hostile Camp Randall Stadium at Wisconsin. Where in the past, blocking out the noise was a mandate, Crimson Tide running back Jam Miller seemed to embrace the hate before heading to Madison this weekend.
The 42-10 domination of the Badgers was the intersection of talent and anger.
“We heard a lot on the internet coming to this stadium,” Miller said after running for 71 yards on nine carries, “and we just had to come out and show them what the SEC was about.”
That rare venture into Big Ten land came against a program now outside the league’s top tier but Alabama didn’t do anything to hurt the SEC’s argument for conference superiority.
This was a Crimson Tide offense that struggled for long stretches of a 42-16 win over South Florida just seven days earlier. It responded with a balanced attack (226 passing, 181 rushing yards) and scoring touchdowns on six of its 12 possessions.
The outcome was never really in doubt after taking a 14-6 lead early in the second quarter as the Crimson Tide took advantage of Wisconsin fumbles for the first of two quick-strike touchdowns.
Miller found motivation in the questions expressed about the post-Nick Saban era in Tuscaloosa.
“People were saying Alabama was the best of the best,” Miller said. “Now people this year really don’t think we’re the best because we have a new head coach, a new OC. We just have to prove a point to people.”
A 32-point win in Madison accomplished that, at least for this week, Miller said.
That satisfaction won’t linger with an open week followed by a visit from No. 1 Georgia on deck Sept. 28.
Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.
