ATLANTA — When it came time for Nick Saban to give his quarterback some advice before playing in the biggest game of his life, the University of Alabama coach didn’t exactly hit the mark.

“I told him I want a redo of Cool Hand Luke, and he looks at me and says, ‘Who the hell is that?’” Saban said about the 1967 movie starting Paul Newman about a prisoner who refuses to submit to the system.

The point Saban was trying to make was that he wanted his quarterback not to be too emotional and play with poise and determination.

After the 42-13 victory over Missouri in the SEC Championship Game, though, he could be as emotional as he wanted.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever been so anxious to want to win a game for a group of guys who did a phenomenal job all day long, are working to improve, overcoming adversity, did a great job with their competitive character in some really tough circumstances,” Saban said.

“I’ve backed them when I needed to back them, and I booted them in the butt when we needed to boot them in the butt, but they’ve always responded the right way. I’ve never wanted a group to have a chance to be successful in a game as I did tonight in winning the SEC Championship.”

Although this was Saban’s fifth SEC title, and third with the Crimson Tide, it stood out for a variety of reasons:

It was led by a quarterback who few thought had a chance to start this season, and also had to work with a new offensive coordinator. The defense had essentially seven new starters and even though the coaches had amassed a lot of talent most of it was on the young and inexperienced side.

Moreover, the SEC West was so tough this season that it caused comparisons to Thomas Hobbes describing the life of man in Leviathan: solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.

In other words, this championship was hoped for, but really not expected, especially after the way last season ended.

Yet here Alabama is, the SEC champion and heading to the inaugural college football playoffs as the likely top seed.

Consequently, the Crimson Tide is going to enjoy this one a little.

“We faced adversity in every game,” junior safety Landon Collins said.

Actually the championship was in many ways like the season. Although many feared an emotional letdown following last week’s Iron Bowl, Alabama blew in, took over from the start and established itself as the team to beat.

Then came the adversity in the form of three long passes: a 32-yard completion on third-and-4, a 63-yard bomb on third-and-10, and a 47-yard throw, again on third-and-10. All involved Missouri quarterback Maty Mauk making something out of nothing, and each came against a different Crimson Tide defender. They resulted in two 33-yard field goals and a 1-yard touchdown pass on fourth down.

Only that was it for Missouri, similar to the eye of a storm passing by. Alabama responded with a 90-yard touchdown drive in which anyone not named Amari Cooper, DeAndrew White or T.J. Yeldon had a big play, Collins forcing and recovering a big fumble, and two Derrick Henry touchdowns.

“Everyone was getting it done and making plays,” said senior wide receiver Christion Jones, who scored on a 6-yard reception and then made the tackle on the subsequent kickoff. “It’s all about patience.”

With that, the Tigers limped back home from Atlanta for the second straight year having been blown out by the SEC West champion – and defensive standout Shane Ray got an early start after being ejected for targeting.

Alabama, meanwhile, acted like it had won its first championship, which for many of the players it was. They didn’t have to play it cool any longer.

“When you look back at some of the things that happened during the season, you look at where we were at against West Virginia or Ole Miss, and some of the weeks we didn’t start out real great,” junior center Ryan Kelly said. “The road that you take to get here, I think that’s what’s special.

We were never perfect or anything like that, there was always a bump in the road and we continued to be resilient.”

“Our chemistry,” senior linebacker Trey DePriest said. “Everyone on our team was making plays and every time something went wrong we kept saying ‘Keep pushing, keep pushing.’

“Every time we just had to have it … ”

So they busted out the championship caps, Sims ran to the stands to grab his daughter, and senior safety Nick Perry put a vice grip down on one of the SEC signs – just like he did in 2011 and 2012.

They hugged, celebrated with fans and then went back to do some more back in Tuscaloosa. Alabama might still have the 24-hour rule to enjoy victories, but this will linger a little past Sunday morning when it finds out the next opponent in New Orleans on Jan. 1.

Maybe by then Sims will have seen the movie his coach was talking about.

“We’ve got to get that on Netflix or something,” Saban said.