As the day began, the outlook was positive. Eddie Jackson, Bradley Sylve and Geno Smith, among others, had the opportunity to shine as an Alabama cornerback with Deion Belue sidelined for the game due to his toe injury.

“I told them that they have a great advantage,” safety HaHa Clinton-Dix said of his pregame coversation with them. “My freshman year, I didn’t get a chance to start a game, so for them to come out and show their skills at such a young age, just be happy. Just go out there and have fun.”

And from his standpoint, everything went just fine.

“They came out and did a very good job,” Clinton-Dix said. “They played fast, played physical and I was very happy with them.”

Others saw some weaknesses.

“We need to play better in the secondary,” Alabama head coach Nick Saban said. “We still gave up four big-play passes in the game. They weren’t 70-yarders but they were 20 or 25-yarders. And most of them were some sort of mental error by somebody, not always in the secondary but somebody.

“Most of it is technique and doing your assignment and understanding how to do your job.”

Without Belue, Alabama allowed 228 passing yards to the Rams, the most Alabama has allowed against a nonconference opponent in a regular season game since it gave up 232 to Tulane on Sept. 6, 2008.

Alabama also allowed four passing plays of over 20 yards against the Rams after allowing just 35 such plays in all of 2012 (2.5 per game).

“In reviewing the last game, almost every player that plays on our team has shown at some point in time that they can play really good football,” Saban said. “I think that we’re certainly capable of that. But I think to get more consistency as a team, we have to do a better job of not making mental errors, playing better fundamental techniue and then being able to take that to the game by having very good preparation by the way we practice and the way we mentally prepare for the game.”

The Crimson Tide will have a high premium on that as it prepares to face Ole Miss, which has a top 40 rank with 38 points per game.

“This is a very good SEC team, and we’re certainly going to have to play our best football to have any kind of success against them,” Saban said of the Rebels.