When Nick Saban shattered his head-set after a false start in the final minute of the first half of Saturday's matchup against Orange Bowl, he sent a message.
No. 1 Alabama (14-0) is angry, and you won't like them when they're angry. Nobody does, because you can't beat them. No. 4 Oklahoma (12-2) simply became the next team to find that out in a 45-34 victory that puts the Crimson Tide in a fourth straight College Football Playoff installment with No. 2 Clemson (14-0).
MORE: How Alabama outpaced Oklahoma in Orange Bowl
Alabama is favored to clear that hurdle, too. What else can be said that hasn't been said after seeing the Crimson Tide beat the Sooners at their own game? For a team that delivered first-quarter knockouts all season, this one was more important considering the opponent.
Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who finished 24 of 27 for 318 yards and four touchdowns, orchestrated a three-score opening act before Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray completed his first pass. Tagovailoa picked up where he left off in the Playoff with a 50-yard pass to DeVonta Smith on the first play from scrimmage and played the role of distributor from there. Nine different Alabama players caught a pass — including backup quarterback Jalen Hurts — and seven of those receivers had a catch of 10 yards or more.
The Crimson Tide brought that big-stage physicality on both sides. Anfernee Jennings pulled Murray down by the shirt on the second play from scrimmage. The defense rendered the Heisman Trophy winner into a run-first scrambler instead of a downfield-playmaker until the second half.
When Joshua Jacobs barreled through Oklahoma safety Robert Barnes for a 27-yard touchdown pass and a 28-0 lead with 13:01 left in the first half, this was over. Jacobs didn't so much run over as run through — the front-page photo that will define this game.
Saban, however, broke his headset at the end of the half after a false start forced a field goal instead of a touchdown. It was the difference between 35-10 and 31-10 at that point, but he was right. Oklahoma cut the lead to 31-20 in the third quarter before Tagovailoa led an early fourth-quarter touchdown drive capped with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Smith to put the game out of reach.
It's almost as if Saban knew the Sooners would turn this into the shootout it was supposed to be in the second half. Murray finished with 308 passing yards and 109 rushing yards, but the Crimson Tide still won by double-digits because of that first-half punch.
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That's the edge from a coach who is on the cusp of passing Bear Bryant with a seventh national championship but is always demanding more from a four- and five-star roster that rarely fails to live up to expectations. There is almost always something to correct.
Alabama lost its first College Football Playoff semifinal in a 42-35 shootout against Ohio State in the Allstate Sugar Bowl. In the four semifinals since, the Crimson Tide has outscored Michigan State, Washington, Clemson and Oklahoma by a combined score of 131-47.
As usual — or three of the last five years — Clemson is the last team standing in Alabama's way of another historical mark: the first 15-0 season since Penn in 1897. The matchup of 14-0 teams will set the standard for future College Football Playoff teams to follow. There's always a carrot for the Alabama dynasty, and that is one Saban can use for motivation after missing that chance in the 2017 championship game against the Tigers.
There is always something to chase, and Oklahoma was simply the latest team in Alabama's way. The 28-0 start left other fan bases like Georgia, Ohio State and UCF openly wondering what would happen if they were at the Orange Bowl, but it's easy to say "We want Bama" when that's a hypothetical discussion. For what it's worth, Georgia got its opportunity and nearly missed.
If you have to actually be on the same field with Bama, then it's different story. Just don't make them angry.
We've seen the outcome on that too many times.
