They knew what was coming.

Alabama players didn't see their coach say he was "embarrassed" by the first-half performance in an ESPN2 interview heading to the locker room. They were fully expecting an earful when Saban stepped through those doors.

So a few leaders were proactive. Several players described a halftime locker room setting led by their own in the Crimson Tide's ugly 31-3 win over Chattanooga.

"We had to do something about it before the coaches were there so they won't always be the principal," senior defensive lineman Dalvin Tomlinson said.

Jonathan Allen, Jalen Hurts, Reuben Foster and Tomlinson were some of the loudest voices, running back Damien Harris said. They led 14-3 after trailing by a field goal after the first quarter. The FCS team had more first downs and outgained the No. 1 team for a good part of the half.

Saban said his halftime message to the team was simple.

"Do you believe me now?" Saban said. "I've been telling them all week and do you believe me now ... the rest I think we'd better bleep out."

This wasn't a completely unfathomable situation for Saban. He'd been beating the drum all week about not overlooking a team that had been ranked in the top 10 of the FCS.

A first-half performance like that isn't something foreshadowed only in pregame warmups. The seeds were planted much earlier.

"I worried about it all week long," Saban said. "When you're playing conference games every week and other big games every week it's really hard to get guys not to have a let-down. When you use the word 'just' - 'just' racing against this guy; I'm 'just' playing this team - you set yourself up for thinking something is going to be easy, and you can be complacent. You don't have to have the same kind of energy level to go play the game. So I think that's deeply rooted."

Tomlinson said he didn't necessarily notice the energy lagging in practice this week. It was smack-you-in-the-face obvious in the first quarter Saturday night. He knew this team wasn't playing like itself against Chattanooga.

So he knew Saban would be what everyone expected he'd be at halftime.

"He was angry because Saban is always angry," Tomlinson said. "He just got on everybody to make sure we were focused."

There were lessons learned.

"It goes to show you that you can't take any team lightly," said safety Ronnie Harrison.

That's true

"This is what happens when you don't come ready to play," Harris said.

That's when the veterans and the freshman quarterback stepped up.

"Sometimes we have to take it on ourselves," Harris said. "We knew we weren't playing very well at all. The defense played pretty well but for the most part, we weren't playing very good. That's the job of the leaders on the team to address things, even though we knew the coaches were going to be on us. It's part of being a leader on this team."

Each of the players interviewed promised nobody was looking forward to the Iron Bowl, set for 2:30 p.m. CT Saturday in Tuscaloosa.

Games like Saturday's just happen sometimes.

Saban acknowledged the difficulty of playing with the amps cranked to 11 every week of the season.

"I see it in practice," Saban said. "I see it in meetings -- attention to detail, how they prepare -- all those things are indicators of how important something is to them ... how bad do you want to win the game on Monday? That's how we're going to be on Saturday.

"Everybody wanted to go out and win the game today. They just didn't think they had to do a whole lot to do it. And they got put on notice for that."