Nate Oats blasts Alabama for 'disgusting' effort vs. Ole Miss

The Alabama Crimson Tide went into halftime of their game against the Ole Miss Rebels with a four-point lead. Still, head coach Nate Oats was clearly frustrated and shared that he felt like his team was “sleepwalking.”

In the end, Alabama was outscored by Ole Miss 42-28 in the second half and they ended up losing the game by double-digits. More than that, the Crimson Tide lost, after the game, Oats was frustrated with how his team lost the game, calling out their effort in his postgame press conference.

“It’s disgusting, to be honest with you,” Nate Oats said. “With the amount of fifth-year seniors we have and the leadership that should be shown on this team, to have guys come in ready to play, it’s – look, it starts with me, because I’m supposed to be the one motivating these guys, and I obviously didn’t motivate them very well to make sure they’re ready. So, I’m gonna have to look in the mirror and see what I did and didn’t do.”

Alabama outshot Ole Miss from the field, making 42.6 percent of their shots to 38.6 percent. However, the major issue in the game became turnovers, with the Crimson Tide coughing the ball up 21 times compared to just seven Ole Miss turnovers. Only two Crimson Tide players, Mark Sears and Aden Holloway, scored in double-digits.

“I’m gonna have to have a good talk with some of these seniors that are supposed to be on leaders and figure out why we weren’t ready to go tonight because it’s very disappointing. It’s disgusting,” Oats said. “And it’s frustrating.”

The SEC is expected to be highly competitive this season. With the loss, Alabama fell to 3-1 in conference play, putting them in a three-way tie for third place. Auburn and Ole Miss, the only two teams still unbeaten in conference play, are tied for first.

“It’s not like we lost to a bad team. This is a really good team. They’re in first place. Them and Auburn are tied now for first place in the league,” Oats said. “But we didn’t lose because they were just a far superior team tonight. I felt like we lost because they came ready to play, they brought energy, they brought effort, and we did not. That’s a frustrating way to lose.”

Nate Oats and the Crimson Tide will be back in action on Saturday with a difficult road game against Kentucky.