Nick Saban turned around. On his way off the field following Alabama football’s 34-20 victory over Tennessee, he doubled back to the student section, waving at the Crimson Tide faithful, most of whom were enveloped in a haze of cheap cigar smoke.

The head coach celebrated with the fans for a moment, then sprinted off the field, heading to the locker room at record speed.

“Since I’ve been here, I’ve never seen him run like that,” quarterback Jalen Milroe said after the game. “He must be happy.”

Saban was indeed happy. Before Saturday’s game, he went on his weekly radio show with a message to share.

He wanted fans loud for the Tennessee game. It was Alabama’s chance for revenge after last year’s loss in the Third Saturday in October rivalry and he felt the Crimson Tide needed the crowd to make an impact.

“You create the momentum of the game by what you do as fans,” Saban said during the show. “Don’t worry about the players to do it. You create it for them. One time. One time I’m asking you to do that.”

Pregame, it was obvious the request worked. The crowd at Bryant-Denny Stadium was the loudest it had been all season.

When a portion of the radio show request was played on the video screens, it blew up even more. The Crimson Tide nearly squandered the home field advantage, falling behind 20-7 at halftime.

But then, spurred on by the environment, UA kept its SEC record untarnished with a second-half comeback.

“I messed with that,” defensive back Malachi Moore said afterward. “I loved how the crowd was rocking today.”

Late in the game, Tennessee had a chance to pull within one score multiple times. The drives were hampered, in part by crowd-driven false start penalties.

As time drew short, matches and lighters appeared in the audience. The clock dipped under two minutes and cigar smoke began to overtake the typical scents of Bryant-Denny.

Even as fans started to celebrate, they remained alert, delivering the noise Saban had requested.

“I know how much it means to our fans,” Saban said. “This game, the rivalry of this game, Tennessee. But I also wanted to thank them because of what a great job they did. The impact that they had on this game, the atmosphere of this game. I think it kept the energy level up for our team and kept the momentum rolling in the second half for us. So it was fantastic and I wish I could thank each one of them personally.”