TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) -Alabama players got to spend an evening critiquing coach Nick Saban for a change. Of course, the dark theater supplied the safety that comes with anonymity.

The second-ranked Crimson Tide watched ``The Blind Side'' last Friday night before playing Mississippi State the next evening, checking out their ultra-intense coach playing himself on the big screen.

``We were laughing and taunting and all kinds of stuff,'' quarterback Greg McElroy said Monday. ``He was red as my shirt as we boarded the bus to go back to the hotel. I think he was taking a pretty good amount of heat.''

The movie about former Mississippi and current Baltimore Ravens offensive lineman Michael Oher included Saban recruiting Oher while he was LSU's coach, part of a cast that included Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw and ex-Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer among others.

The review from cornerback Javier Arenas? ``He did all right. Not necessarily an Oscar nomination. He already knows that. It was an outstanding movie, one of the best movies I've seen.''

They might not really be able to give an honest assessment of Saban's performance since guard Mike Johnson said the players were ``hooting and hollering'' during his lines.

Johnson said Saban took the teasing ``in stride and seemed to enjoy the movie.''

``It was pretty funny,'' Johnson said. ``He seemed to think so, too.''

Saban will stick to coaching, where he has the Tide (10-0, 7-0 Southeastern Conference) with only two more obstacles remaining before a potential matchup of unbeatens in the league championship game against No. 1 Florida.

First up, heavy underdog Chattanooga visits on Saturday. Then, Alabama travels to rival Auburn the day after Thanksgiving hoping to complete a second straight perfect regular season.

Saban dismissed the possibility of overlooking Chattanooga. ``Our best game is somewhere out there still,'' he said. ``We need to keep working for that.''

But enough about football. The routine of taking the players to a movie on Friday before night games had a different feel for the Tide watching their coach, and not just because he was back playing the role as coach of SEC West rival LSU.

``He didn't recruit me, so I got a chance to see how he actually goes into someone's house and recruits,'' Arenas said. ``It was an interesting experience, just the fact that he was sitting in the same theater as us.''

But, he noted, Saban was wearing suits in his scenes, not LSU garb.

``We were laughing at it the whole time,'' Arenas said. ``The parts that weren't even funny, we were laughing. He got the hint, though.''

Saban said the role gave him a chance to appreciate the precision and attention to detail it takes to make a movie, things the perfectionist coach can relate to.

``When you watch the movie you then realize, 'Wow that's how they do this,''' he said last week. ``You just think they have one camera rolling and getting the shots that they need and go from there. I guess that was one of the things that was really surprising.''

Saban said Bullock and McGraw and director John Lee Hancock were helpful in coaching the amateur actor. Chances are, it was a one-time deal, though.

``I'm not ready to change professions or get rid of my day job to do that,'' he said. ``But it was a wonderful experience.''Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.