Nick Saban reveals his message to Alabama players ahead of Tennessee rivalry game

Alabama head coach Nick Saban believes that his team is at its best when it plays with an edge. The Crimson Tide failed to do that in last year’s loss to Tennessee.

Saban wants to see that change when Alabama hosts the Vols on Saturday.

“Well, I think the big thing for our guys is we have played well when we’re a little bit upset and have an edge to us. And that’s something that we have to go into this game with,” Saban said on The Pat McAfee Show on Thursday. “I thought we played the game last year with a lot of anxiety. There was a lot on the line. A lot of guys put a lot of pressure on themselves. We don’t really wanna go there. We wanna keep an edge about how we compete, how we focus, how we play.”

Tennessee earned a 52-49 win over Alabama last fall, ending a streak of 15 straight wins by the Crimson Tide in the series.

As you can see from the score, Alabama really struggled defensively in 2022.

Saban has no problem admitting that Tennessee’s offense is hard to defend, but he feels that Alabama contributed to last year’s 52 points the Vols scored.

“The way they play challenges you to [play with an edge]. When they go fast on offense – they run 2.7 plays a minute. That’s completely different for a defensive player. It’s a difficult preparation, because you can’t get the scout team to do it right during the week of practice,” Saban said. “And they’re going to go fast, and you have to be able to get lined up on defense and not make mental mistakes and be able to execute and do what you do. You also can’t substitute in a game, because they’re not going to allow you to substitute on third down. So third down package is something else that you have to be able to execute with the people in the game.”

Saban added that the Tennessee defense is also tough to go up against. The Vols offense gets plenty of attention nationally, but the defense has improved this year.

The Vols are allowing only 17 points per game, which ranks No. 17 nationally. The Vols are also No. 17 nationally in total defense at 303 yards per game.

“Their defense is very aggressive. They’ve got good pass rushers. And we’re gonna have to do a good job of controlling the ball, try to keep it away from them some, aight, so they don’t run 100 plays in the game. And you know, it’s going to come down to fundamental execution on offense, which has been our little bit of Achilles heel in terms of our consistency is playing with good, fundamental execution,” Nick Saban said. “I don’t care if it’s offensive line, receivers, pass protection, quarterback execution, whatever you wanna talk about. It’s good at times, but we have to be consistent.”

It has been an up and down season for Alabama so far, although the Crimson Tide have been playing better as of late.

Alabama has won five straight games since falling to Texas in Week 2. Nick Saban would love to see his team win a sixth straight game and start a new winning streak against the Vols on Saturday.

“Success is defined by consistency and performance. You do that by having great knowledge, and to get the knowledge, you’ve got to go through bumps in the road. So you’ve gotta learn from your mistakes. You can’t waste a failing. And keep moving in the right direction, which I think a lot of our players have done that well this year,” Saban said.

“And with that knowledge and experience, then you communicate better. And that communication helps everybody on your unit play better. Because a lot of times when we have mental errors and mistakes, it comes from lack of communication, which can come from lack of confidence, which can come from lack of knowledge. So all those things become really, really important in games like this, so you can stay focused.”