Let me volunteer the most important takeaway from No.1 Alabama’s 24-20 victory against unranked Texas A&M before anyone tries to make a bigger deal out of that thing than it actually was.

It didn’t mean a thing the moment after it ended.

Know why?

It’s not because Alabama played its backup quarterback, or because Texas A&M’s offense is awful this season.

The reason is this, and it seemed to be lost on Alabama coach Nick Saban and his players after the game. Tennessee Week is here for the Crimson Tide, and for the first time in a long time the Volunteers are better than any team Alabama has faced this season.

Is Tennessee better than Alabama? It sure seems like it after what I saw from the Crimson Tide against Texas A&M.

“That was not our best football,” Saban said.

But when will we see it?

Not sure, but this is a cold truth. The deadline for tuning up the offense is over, and Saban doesn’t know who his quarterback is going to be against Tennessee. That could be a problem.

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Heisman winner Bryce Young missed the game against Texas A&M with a sore shoulder, and backup Jalen Milroe took his place. Milroe gained valuable experience, but along the way he fumbled twice and threw an interception.

Can Alabama beat Tennessee without Young? Probably not.

The passing has to be better, Saban said. He made a point not to blame Milroe, but also made it clear that Milroe’s effort wasn’t good enough. Saban also noted that Young might not be ready for Tennessee.

“We’ll see what kind of progress Bryce makes next week,” Saban said.

Hopefully all of it.

Young wanted to play against Texas A&M, but was held out. After the game, Young found Milroe and gave him a long hug. Milroe was hurting, and Young was there for him. That’s important leadership if Milroe’s time in the spotlight isn’t over.

While Alabama struggled against Texas A&M in Tuscaloosa, No.8 Tennessee thumped LSU 40-13 in Baton Rouge. Week 5 in the SEC felt like separation Saturday for Tennessee, Mississippi State and Georgia, but Alabama played its worst football of the season in a game it treated like an SEC championship.

It was understandable, of course. Not every day the coach of another team in the SEC calls Nick Saban despicable.

Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher said that and a lot of other mean stuff about Alabama’s coach over the summer, and so the Aggies had everyone’s attention. It felt personal. That’s what the entire college football world was saying all week, and then the scene on the field after Alabama’s victory was like watching an angry release of sweet revenge.

The vibrations rattling the place were of vindication, and the chaos at the buzzer was rare for Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Blowouts are usually the thing here, but this time it came down to the grizzly guts. After it was over, and that pass by Texas A&M quarterback Haynes King from the 2-yard line sailed out of bounds, Alabama’s players ran onto the field and celebrated like it was their game of the year.

Instead of smiles, though, there were a lot of furrowed brows. Chest pounding, too. Intense stares. Hateful focus.

Not only did Fisher publicly insult Saban, but Texas A&M upset Alabama last season in College Station. This was payback. The defenders rushed to each other in the end zone and safety DeMarcco Hellams launched his helmet about 25 feet into the air.

It was an exciting sequence for a team that has experienced more of them in the first half of the season than maybe anyone would have predicted. It was almost enough to make me forget how poorly Alabama played.

Truth be told, though, Alabama got lucky against Texas A&M. The Crimson Tide had four turnovers and won.

“We did a lot of things that were not winning football: penalties, turnovers and we didn’t take advantage of opportunities in the red zone,” Saban said.

It felt a lot like last season against Texas A&M, but in the rematch Fisher’s team just wasn’t good enough to close it out.

Fisher, always the talker, probably should have kept his mouth shut after Saban accused Texas A&M of cheating, but Fisher definitely will be slapping himself for telling Alabama cornerback Terrion Arnold where Texas A&M’s quarterback was going with the ball on the final play of the game.

According to Arnold, Fisher was screaming at Aggies receiver Evan Stewart at the line of scrimmage.

“I actually looked at Jimbo before the play and he’s going, ‘Evan! Evan! Evan!’” Arnold said. “I said, ‘OK.’”

Said Saban: “If we’d have played the right way, we wouldn’t have been in that situation.”

Alabama survived despite itself. That’s the mark of a good team, but the great ones know better than to mistake a sideshow for a classic rivalry against an old foe.

Joseph Goodman is a columnist for the Alabama Media Group, and author of “We Want Bama: A season of hope and the making of Nick Saban’s ‘ultimate team’”. You can find him on Twitter @JoeGoodmanJr.