Sabin gets paid to win and win impressively. Winning big intimidates future opponents in many ways. Its all about winning and the bucks winning brings.
It was definitely out of character for Saban. I’ve been a Bama fan for over 40 years. I have never seen Saban score under similar circumstances. That said, I think it was personal for Saban. It wasn’t like they ran a gimmick play to score- just a hand-off up the middle.