Great Win for Alabama, but Don't Put Tide in College Football Playoff Just Yet

Was Alabama's 20-13 overtime victory over LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Saturday night thrilling? Absolutely.

The feverish drive to kick a game-tying field goal in the closing seconds was nothing short of impressive, and the game-winning drive in overtime was creative and well-executed—particularly the "rub route" on the fade from quarterback Blake Sims to receiver DeAndrew White to win the game.

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Was it important? Absolutely.

The fifth-ranked Crimson Tide not only earned a feather in their cap with a tough road win over a ranked team but did so on a day that saw No. 3 Auburn go down at home to unranked Texas A&M.

Is it a sign that all is right in Tuscaloosa and this team is ready to not only make the inaugural College Football Playoff but make a run to its fourth title in six years?

Not yet.

The Crimson Tide will likely land one of the four spots in the new College Football Playoff rankings when they're released Tuesday night, but Saturday's win over LSU exposed more holes for a Crimson Tide team that was far from stable coming in.

The play-calling up until overtime from offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin left a lot to be desired. The offense was wildly unbalanced, attempting 46 passes to only 29 running plays. Sims completed just 20 of those passes for 209 yards and averaged only 4.6 yards per attempt.

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He redeemed himself in overtime with the play where Cam Robinson lined up wide and Sims found tight end Brandon Greene for a completion down to the 1-yard line. Greene was cleverly hidden and largely ignored by the defense.

The game-winning touchdown was nice, too. The Crimson Tide properly executed the pick play on a fade to White, which is something that Notre Dame couldn't do at Florida State in October.

Those were the exceptions Saturday night.

Neither of these two teams were great, as Nick Saban pointed out in the postgame press conference, per Cecil Hurt of The Tuscaloosa News:

There's no "probably" about that. It wasn't.

When the opposing quarterback goes 8-of-26 for 76 yards, one touchdown and one pick, an elite football team is supposed to make the game a laugher. LSU's Anthony Jennings did just that Saturday night, and Alabama not only made it a nail-biter but had to scratch and claw simply to force overtime.

It made for an exciting ending to the game but certainly is cause for concern long term.

On top of that, Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper was held in check, by Cooper standards, thanks to the LSU pass defense. And Tide running back T.J. Yeldon twisted his ankle late, which caused a fumble.

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This wasn't a classic SEC slugfest or an old-school battle. It was a sloppy football game that Alabama managed to survive with its C-game.

Good for Alabama. Good teams are able to do that.

But the taste of this "thriller" better be left in the state of Louisiana because No. 1 Mississippi State is heading to Tuscaloosa on Saturday with an offense that can put pressure on teams in a variety of ways.

If Kiffin, Sims and the rest of the Crimson Tide don't come out hot this week, Mississippi State is more than capable of putting them into a hole that they can't dig out of.

There are no great teams in college football this season, but there are seven or eight good ones.

Alabama had a chance to step out of that pack in Death Valley and simply couldn't.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a co-host of the CFB Hangover on Bleacher Report Radio (Sundays, 9-11 a.m. ET) on Sirius 93, XM 208.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of cfbstats.com, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.