You, reader of this column, could’ve talked yourself into your team beating Alabama in Tuscaloosa with how rough that first half was.

Plenty of Tennessee fans were feeling justifiably confident after putting together the most impressive first half in Tuscaloosa since Joe Burrow waltzed into Bryant-Denny Stadium like he owned the joint back in 2019. For real. The Vols’ 13-point lead was the largest halftime lead anyone had against Alabama in that building since 2019 LSU. Not even Texas did that in Week 2.

But unlike the Longhorns in Week 2, Tennessee was reminded that Alabama is a quarter-to-quarter team. You can convince yourself that an upset is brewing one second and feel totally helpless the next. Alternatively, you can feel totally helpless for 3 quarters like free-falling Arkansas did last week, only to suddenly climb back late to back it a 60-minute game late.

Welcome to the modern-day Alabama experience.

A bumpy ride? That’s reserved for that past-its-prime roller coaster. This version of the Tide can make the strongest of stomachs queasy.

That’s the only way to explain Alabama’s 27 unanswered points to pull out a 34-20 win against Tennessee.

A first half that made Tide fans sick was overshadowed by a second half that ended with victory cigars filling the early evening air. It was the 4th time this season that Alabama went into the locker room facing a deficit. That’s the first time that’s ever happened for a Saban team at Alabama. Also of note, that was the third time that happened at home this season. Mind you, this was only Week 8.

That should terrify everyone.

Alabama just overcame its first multi-score halftime deficit since the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship, wherein Jalen Hurts was benched at halftime and Tua Tagovailoa did the whole “2nd-and-26” deal.

But unlike that historic night in Atlanta, the Tide didn’t need to make a quarterback switch to push the comeback button.

This Jalen (Milroe), stayed in the game and took over against the SEC’s No. 3 scoring defense. It didn’t deter him that he was completely outplayed by Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton in the first half, or that he went into the break with 2 turnovers behind one of the leakiest offensive lines in America.

Milroe and the Tide didn’t need the entire 30 minutes of the second half to regain the lead. That deed was done 11 minutes and 18 seconds into the 3rd quarter, thanks in part to this throw to a wide-open Isaiah Bond to start the second half:

Milroe, who entered the day tied for No. 1 among Power 5 quarterbacks with 6 touchdown passes in the 3rd quarter, didn’t leave points on the board in the second half. Of course, he still took 4 sacks, which marked the 7th consecutive game in which the Tide surrendered that many sacks. According to SEC Football Final last week, Alabama was the only SEC team in the past 20 years to have 6 consecutive games allowing at least 4 sacks.

That’s a wild thing to say about a team that’s 7-1.

In some ways, Milroe has become a microcosm of this Alabama team. In-game adversity is going to come. It could come in the form of a strip sack, or it could come in the form of Milton having an out-of-body experience in the first half. And sure, Texas showed that Alabama isn’t a given to overcome that. It’s a flawed team.

But it’s impossible not to see how comfortable — and not panicked — Saban’s squad is in those moments. It actually goes beyond the 2023 version of Alabama.

Since the start of 2021, the Tide played in a total of 21 SEC games. A whopping 16 times, Alabama found itself in a 1-score game in the 4th quarter. That included Saturday — until the Tide got to Milton and forced a scoop-and-score to put the game on ice:

Yep, that’s the “joyless murderball” that we were promised from this Alabama team. So, too, was the defense holding the SEC’s top rushing attack to just 14 rushes for 33 yards in the second half. One wouldn’t think that a team trailing by 13 at half would dominate the second-half rushing battle by 89 yards.

One also wouldn’t think that a team that has played in so many late 1-score games would have national title hopes heading into November yet again. After the bye week, Alabama will return to Bryant-Denny Stadium to host a de-facto SEC West title game against LSU. A tight game late feels inevitable.

If anything, though, that would favor the Tide. Yes, even after last year’s overtime thriller in Baton Rouge. Why? Well, that was 1 of 3 Alabama losses in SEC play since the start of 2021. So yeah, a team with 16 1-score games in the 4th quarter against SEC competition is still 18-3 in conference play in that stretch.

Is that simply the byproduct of having the G.O.A.T. on the sidelines? Perhaps. Nobody is going to credit a couple of new coordinators for that, and while the 2023 squad has taken on more in-game adversity than seemingly any post-2007 Saban team, it’s worth remembering that Alabama entered the year ranked No. 122 out of 133 FBS teams in percentage of returning production. This inexperienced group is gaining exponential experience with each heart-stopping victory.

In many ways, Milroe embodied that. Since his Week 3 benching, he led 3 second-half comebacks. The Third Saturday in October was his most significant yet.

Milroe and the Tide earned that traditional victory cigar for roaring back against the Vols. So did Saban, though as CBS’ Jenny Dell referenced in the postgame interview with the Alabama coach, he’s not one for cigars.

“Well, I’ll chew on one for a while,” Saban said with a laugh as he accepted the cigar from Dell.

Milroe belted out a boyish laugh before redirecting his focus to the afternoon of work he put together. Another week, another resilient Alabama comeback. Will that be the formula en route to a national title run?

The rest of the college football world can chew on that.