What's left for Alabama football after LSU loss? Soul-searching for Nick Saban and team.

BATON ROUGE, La. − Three weeks ago, the Alabama football team merely lost a game when its 15-year win streak over Tennessee was snapped in Knoxville.

On Saturday night, the Crimson Tide lost a game and a lot more.

LSU's 32-31 overtime victory over Alabama essentially put championship aspirations to sleep in Tuscaloosa, requiring coach Nick Saban's team to recalibrate mentally. To reconcile what slipped away with what can still be. To, somehow, adhere to Saban's rule about turning the page on games just played after 24 hours.

Losses like this one have a way of lingering a lot longer.

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A cursory recognition of the slimmest of mathematical possibilities at least bears a brief mention: Alabama (7-2, 4-2 SEC) won't formally be eliminated from SEC West contention until the Tigers, or Ole Miss, have clinched it. With head-to-head wins over both Alabama and the Rebels, a hot and confident LSU squad will finish its SEC slate against two floundering teams in Arkansas and Texas A&M. The likelihood of an LSU collapse from here on can reasonably be dismissed.

Linebacker Will Anderson Jr. wanted this much clear about the loss: There was no shortage of desire on the players' part.

"I'm super proud of all those guys because Monday through Friday we work our asses off," Anderson said. "There's no (bull excrement), and all those guys are locked in. Effort is not the issue."

Saban pinned the loss on his own sleeve.

"Look, I can’t blame the players. I’m responsible for all this stuff. If we didn’t do it right, that’s on me," Saban said.

What's on the team as it turns to its next opponent, Ole Miss, is playing with the same effort Anderson praised despite its hopes of winning a conference or national championship ostensibly being decimated. Its pride has been damaged, its place in Alabama history now crouching beneath a lowered ceiling. Alabama players made a relatively quick exit to the visiting tunnel as thousands of joyous LSU fans poured onto the Tiger Stadium turf for the second field storming of the season following an Alabama loss.

This time, the goalposts were spared.

Alabama's ego wasn't.

But while the LSU crowd was shocked enough by the upset to rush the field, Alabama fans probably weren't nearly so surprised. The flaws that have plagued the Crimson Tide, especially on the road, showed up yet again. An abundance of penalties (nine for 92 yards) made their appearance with clockwork timing. An Alabama defense that has struggled to create turnovers this season stayed in character by forcing none.

What is left for Alabama now? Saban said he'd like to see this team reach the 10-win mark. The 2010 Alabama team that found itself in a similar circumstance captured win No. 10 over Michigan State in the Citrus Bowl. This team can reach win No. 10 sooner than that. But first, certainly, will come some soul-searching. Because while playing with the effort Anderson praised is hard, doing it after goals fall out of reach is even harder.

Reach Chase Goodbread at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter @chasegoodbread

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama football searching for answers after crushing loss to LSU