TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — University of Alabama senior fullback Jalston Fowler didn’t mince words with his assessment of last Saturday’s loss at Ole Miss.

“It’s like we were scared to lose,” Fowler said. “Everybody wasn’t playing their A-game. They were just, ‘Oh, if we escape with a win we’ll be alright.’”

There’s absolutely no doubt that he’s correct, and it’s something that’s not new with the Crimson Tide. Although some people want you to believe otherwise it’s an issue that goes back to last season and began to develop well before Auburn’s Chris Davis returned the missed field goal 100-plus yards to stun the college football world.

Alabama has lost its killer instinct.

That’s not to say it can’t re-find or develop one, but right now it’s simply not there. Otherwise the Crimson Tide would have put away a very good Ole Miss team when it had the chance in the third quarter, and not get outplayed yet again in the fourth quarter.

Championship teams don’t let opponents stick around, especially when they have the crowd on their side. It’s something that this Crimson Tide team, which hasn’t earned anything and is very close to being out of the running for all its goals, has to figure out.

Maybe Alabama taking its earliest loss since 2007 will serve as a wake-up call, but right now its identity is a team that doesn’t finish — go ask Oklahoma.

Although only a handful of Crimson Tide players made themselves available to reporters this week too many of them were saying things like “Things like that happen,” and “We bounced back fine.”

No, this team hasn’t, just like the Alabama fans found it easier to sort of ignore and try to forget Davis’ return last year. Except for safety Landon Collins saying that he still can’t stomach to watch it there’s been no outrage or collective chip on its shoulder.

The Crimson Tide should be mad. It should be disgusted about missed opportunities and angry that opposing fans have been storming fields. It also needs to play that way Saturday (6 p.m. ET, ESPN), because Arkansas certainly will.

The Razorbacks have lost the last two meetings 52-0, and that’s not a combined score. You think those players and fans aren’t embarrassed? After losing 10 straight in the series Ole Miss was foaming at the mouth for some payback and so was Auburn when Alabama visited last fall. They weren’t just hungry, but desperate to win.

Consequently, the Arkansas game isn’t just the midway point of Alabama’s regular season, it’s the crossroad for this team. Either it comes storming back and begin a run at the Southeastern Conference’s Western Division title, or fans can start thinking about another postseason trip to Orlando or worse.

“It’s all about how you respond to the loss,” has been Nick Saban’s message this week. “Playing in our league is like climbing a mountain. Every game is a critical game, every game is an important game and every team that you play in our division could beat anybody. And there are some very, very good teams in our league, including the one that we’re playing this week.

“So people make assumptions that just because it’s a certain team that you’ve beat for the last 10 years that you’re going to beat them again. I don’t think that’s necessarily true – especially this year, especially the competition that we have.”

It’s a nice way of saying that this team’s attitude is lacking.

Granted, this is a young group that’s still coming together and figuring things out, but it has to grow up and fast. The stupid penalties and turnovers have to stop. The players who aren’t focused need to be benched. Alabama needs an enough-is-enough moment to send a message to every remaining team on the schedule.

In 2009 Alabama knocked off Florida because it wanted it more. In 2011 it came back with a vengeance against LSU. In 2012 it absolutely crushed Notre Dame. The Crimson Tide didn’t just earn those rings, it took them.

So far with this team we’re left with just one conclusion, that just like 2013-14 it simply doesn’t want it enough.