Alabama doesn’t miss any opportunity to seize disrespect.

And this week in New Orleans, a Kansas State defensive end apparently lit a fuse in the Crimson Tide locker room. In was in Bryce Young’s locker Saturday afternoon where Alabama right tackle JC Latham explained exactly how Wildcat Felix Anudike-Uzomah was an inspiration in Alabama’s 45-20 dismantling of the Big 12 champs.

Back on Tuesday, the headline ‘Heart is over stars,’ K-State player says of recruiting disparity with Alabama appeared on AL.com. Based on the interview with Anudike-Uzomah, the quote spoke for itself and apparently reached the Crimson Tide offensive line room.

“We took that personal,” Latham told AL.com in the victorious Superdome locker room. “Like, yeah, we have high-ranked players but we don’t have heart. We went into the game trying to prove a point.”

Latham is among the highest-ranked players in the program. The No. 3 overall recruit in the 2021 signing class, Latham just finished his first season starting as a bookend on the Crimson Tide offensive line. It’s a group that scored five straight touchdowns after falling behind 10-0 early Saturday.

So, Latham felt disrespected?

“Definitely, without a doubt,” he said. “I know me, Emil Ekiyor, (Darrian) Dalcourt, Tyler Booker, Kendall Randolph. All of us worked out numerous times a day during the summer and we were all highly-talented guys coming out of high school. But we didn’t care about that stuff. We knew that we had to prove something now and in today’s game …

“So hearing that just made it seem like — it was a slap in the face. Like, oh you think we only think about five stars and we don’t work hard? That’s what you’re trying to say? I take that personal. I still take that personal. That’s disrespectful in my opinion.”

On the other side of the ball, Alabama defensive end Byron Young said he saw confidence in the Kansas State offense after taking the 10-0 lead.

“But,” he said, “that didn’t last too long.”

They weren’t worried even when momentum wasn’t in Alabama’s favor.

“Not to knock any other conferences, but it’s different when you play in the SEC. We play for four quarters. I’m sure they play four quarters all year but I don’t think they played anybody like us.”

And for Latham, he was more than happy to show his heart in the Superdome.

“It means everything to us,” Latham said. “You can say it was a personal game. There were so many things people had against us. Just like, really? Of all the things? So we just wanted to go out and silence the crowd one last time before the season was over with.”

Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.