Nick Saban reassesses challenge to offensive line to be more physical

Earlier in the season, Alabama head coach Nick Saban challenged his offensive line to play with more physicality, and ahead of their week 6 matchup versus Texas A&M was asked about their progress so far in accepting that challenge.

“I think that in the last game they showed signs of that, they showed signs of it at times throughout the year,” Saban said.

The Crimson Tide o-line will definitely have to display some physicality this weekend, as they take on one of the biggest defensive lines in the nation in Texas A&M, which features starters Shemar Turner, McKinnley Jackson, and Tummise Adeleye, who all weigh in at 300, 325, and 290 pounds.

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Thankfully for Alabama, their offensive line is coming off their best game of the season and continuing to take steps in the right direction according to coach Saban.

“I just think your whole body of work is based on consistency and performance, that’s what defines success. So that’s what we’ve got to keep working on with them, but I do think we’re making progress and I do think that this last game was probably the best they’ve been all year,” Saban said.

Alabama’s offensive line did play a great game last week, only allowing one sack, and answering the call when quarterback Bryce Young left the game in the second quarter with an injury. The Crimson Tide switched to a more run-heavy style of offense with backup quarterback Jalen Milroe, which resulted to their biggest rushing day so far this season, picking up 317 yards on the ground behind their offensive line.

It’s still yet to be determined who will start at quarterback for Alabama this weekend, but whoever does, will definitely be relying on another great performance up front from the Crimson Tide offensive line, who can hopefully build on last week’s outing.

Nick Saban details what his team needs to learn from playing in tough games

Alabama played in a tight contest in their last game against Arkansas before pulling away in the fourth quarter where they outscored the Razorbacks 21-3. The Crimson Tide also played in a down-to-the-wire, one-point victory over Texas in week 2, as head coach Nick Saban was asked about the lessons learned from playing in and winning close games.

“Well I would say that we’ve only had two teams around here in fifteen years that have gone undefeated, that didn’t mean the teams that lost a game necessarily didn’t have, in some cases, the same amount of success as the other” Saban explained. “The question is do you need to lose a game to learn, do you need to lose a game to get it right, do you need to lose a game to say it’s important to practice the right way, do things the right way, take care of myself the right way.”

Losing is less common at Alabama than just about any other program in the country, and a loss would definitely be an effective wake up call in any given season for the Crimson Tide.

Thankfully for them, they have been able to remain unbeaten and battle adversity so far this season per usual, and Saban understands the nature of the football season and how challenging it is for his players.

“The middle of the season is no the time to think about getting rest, you rest at the end of the season. The season is a grind, practice is a grind, preparation is a grind mentally and physically on players, but you’ve got to make a choice are you going to grind through that or and continue?” Saban asked.

This season has been a combination of easy wins and gritty ones for the Tide, and their results and record is hard to dispute. Hopefully for Alabama, they can look past their blemish-free record, and continue to learn and grow from their wins this season without having to take any losses.