The second it started, it was over.

But really, was Saturday really ever attempting to be a competitive college football game to begin with?

We are not here to rip the New Mexico State Aggies. They traveled to Tuscaloosa this week with a purpose beyond cashing the $1.8 million check to take the presumptive beating awaiting them. The Aggies came to win, because that’s what you do when you put on your uniform and pads.

We aren’t here to blame the Alabama Crimson Tide, either. They simply line up and bludgeon whomever is in front of them. The opponent is irrelevant if you do what you do correctly.

The problem with Saturday’s swelter at Bryant-Denny Stadium is this: Alabama has gotten so good, so dominant, so oppressively fierce that games like this are … boring?

There is a reason ticket to Saturday’s game could’ve been had for a handshake and a smile. There is a reason there were thousands less on hand than the 101,821 capacity. Everyone with a working cerebral cortex knew what was going to happen.

Alabama has completed the Death Star. Oh sure, there will be TIE fighters lost here and there when the Rebels (not the Ole Miss version …) get saucy, but this Crimson-colored version of the Imperial fleet and Darth, ahem, Nick Saban himself have fully weaponized the organization and is set on maximum destruction.

The first laser blast Saturday to poor, helpless New Mexico State came precisely with 15:00 remaining in the first quarter. Alabama started the game from their own 25 after an Aggies touchback, and on first-and-10 Henry Ruggs caught a lateral from Tua Tagovailoa and raced 75 yards untouched for a 7-0 lead.

Shock and awe continued apace, as the Tide forced a quick three-and-out and looked like they would take a 14-0 lead with a non-offensive touchdown via a Jaylen Waddle punt return TD. Alas, it was nullified by a penalty — so Alabama promptly engaged a 10-play, 89-yard drive capped by a 21-yard Tagovailoa TD pass to Jerry Jeudy.

Tagovailoa capped the quarter pretty much like how he started it, finding Jeudy on a 23-yard TD pass as the clock hit 0:00 — making it 21-0 through 15 minutes.

Alabama’s point-a-minute offense kept the pace going, as New Mexico State seemed to not get the memo that Tagovailoa was pretty good. Alabama’s sweet Hawaiian prince reminded the Aggies of his talent by hitting Ruggs for a 10-yard TD midway through the second, and then rushed for a 25-yard TD that you’ll probably see on highlights between now and the Heisman Trophy ceremony in December.

How dominant was Alabama in the first 30 minutes? Even freshman kicker Will Reichard made his field goal. A week after doinking two off goalposts in Atlanta, Reichard was true on a 48-yarder in the closing moments of the half. So effective was his team that Saban really couldn’t find anything to gripe about during his halftime TV interview.

Again, there is a certain beauty to figuring a bludgeoning is coming and then watching it happen. This is how Muhammad Ali looked against the Chuck Wepners of the world. This like watching a pretty girl shooting down suitor after suitor at a bar. This is how the sun must feel rising in the East every morning.

And that’s where Saban’s Alabama is after Saturday night’s 62-10 win.

The second half consisted of the Tide emptying the bench with abandon, as Alabama saw Mac Jones throw a TD pass to Jeudy in the third quarter and Keilan Robinson breaking off a 74-yard TD run on his third carry of the season. By the final 15 minutes, only our friends in the desert cared about the 55 points the Tide spotted the Aggies at the opening kickoff.

That’s not *quite* true. Saban actually called timeout with 8 seconds to play so he could have the opportunity to coach up the 9th-team defense when it appeared they were about to run the penultimate play of the game with 12 players on the field.

With no major injuries, Tagovailoa (16-for-24 for 227 yards and and 3 TDs in just 30 minutes of play) being predictably efficient and the Tide’s first-team defense not letting the Aggies sniff an opportunity for points, this was pretty much exactly what the doctor ordered for Alabama after a yawn-turned-blowout win against Duke in Week 1.

This is what New Mexico State was brought to Tuscaloosa for, to line up for a glorified scrimmage and fill airtime on the SEC Network. To get that final dress rehearsal in before SEC play begins next week at South Carolina — a place Saban hasn’t won in his Alabama tenure. To get freshmen defenders more playing time against live fire.

Even boring afternoons are effective when there is a clear purpose. When you’re the Darth Vader of college football, sometimes you gotta flex the Imperial muscle and squash the teams you’re supposed to squash to get your team ready for the Rebel (not Ole Miss…) forces that lurk later on the schedule.

You gotta get something for your $1.8 million, after all.