Nick Saban assesses Alabama's O-Line play after in-game shake-up

Alabama’s offensive line looked a lot different after Darrian Dalcourt went down with an injury. This week, coach Nick Saban gave his thoughts on the new-look line’s performance.

Dalcourt suffered an injury in the first quarter and missed the rest of the game. That meant Chris Owens had to jump over to center, and Damieon George slid over to right tackle in Owens’ spot.

Saban was asked about how Dalcourt’s absence impacted things in Alabama’s win over LSU.

“I think Darrian going out certainly didn’t help the issue any,” Saban told reporters on Monday. “Chris got moved in [and we had a] new right tackle. Right tackle [George] did pretty will in the game, actually. Chris hadn’t played center for a while. We had a couple snap issues. A couple times, he probably could’ve executed things a little better. I think he did a good job relative to the reps that he had.

“So we have to be more prepared that if something like that happens that guys are going to be confident enough … [to] go in there and get the job done and do well. But that’s no excuse. We need to be able to execute and everybody’s got to be able to do their job.”

Dalcourt is day-to-day with a sprained ankle sprain, Saban said, so his status for Alabama’s game against New Mexico State is up in the air.

“I can’t really make a call right now,” Saban said. “He’s not able to do some things in practice tomorrow, he dressed out today. Didn’t really do a whole lot. If he can do some things tomorrow then maybe he can play in the game. We’ll have to just wait and see.”

Nick Saban on replacing injured players: ‘It’s no different at center than any other position’

In Monday’s press conference, Saban discussed what he’s looking for in Dalcourt’s replacement.

“It’s no different at center than any other position,” Saban said. “You got to do your job .. got to block the right guy .. finish the block. Got to play the technique correctly so that you have the opportunity to have the best chance to be successful at the position.

“I know everybody tries. But the performance has got to be evaluated in a way that we’re fair and honest with every player that’s competing at every position. If somebody can play better, then that’s what we have to evaluate and sort-of decide and determine.”

Alabama has three games left on its schedule, starting with New Mexico State this weekend in Tuscaloosa.