Nate Oats explains Alabama's response to having a target on its back

Alabama has been as impressive as any team in the nation this season, specifically over the last month. It’s been especially impressive considering the age of some of their best players. Still, Nate Oats says that, although they didn’t show it against Mississippi State, he thinks his team is great at handling the fact that everyone is aimed at them because of their maturity.

Following last night’s close call against the Bulldogs, Oats realizes that point didn’t seem too valid considering they nearly laid an egg on Wednesday with their highest ranking of the year so far. He thinks they’ve done a great job of it so far considering all things, though, and hopes that their latest performance was just a one-off.

“Based on tonight, it didn’t look good. That was the worst game that we’ve played in a while,” said Oats. “I personally thought we’ve been handling it pretty well up until tonight. We’ve also had a lot on our plates the last week and a half. I thought we did well at Vandy, thought we did pretty good at Missouri. Maybe some of that’s catching up. I don’t know. But I don’t this is a group that’s going to let too much of that get to their head.”

“To me, listening to them talk, talking to them one on one? I think they all understand there’s plenty of room to get better and we’ve got to get better,” Oats said. “I don’t know what the deal was tonight. Based on tonight’s play? It doesn’t look like we’re handling it well. But I honestly don’t think that’s the case within the group.”

The Crimson Tide came into Wednesday’s matchup having won eight straight by an average of 20.9 points per game. They picked up their ninth last night but it was their toughest hill to climb in awhile with Mississippi State leading by as much as 11 in Tuscaloosa. However, ‘Bama came all the way back to tie it with under 10 to go and build enough cushion to get away with the three-point victory.

Oats thinks his team will be better this weekend at Oklahoma because of how their experiences have helped them grow this season. He hopes this taught them a lesson so that they can get back on track and do their part for their league on Saturday in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.

“I think we’ll bounce back and hopefully we can learn off a win,” said Oats. “A mature group can come in after a win and learn just as much as they can after a loss. We didn’t play as well as we needed to. But, hopefully, we learned the lessons we need to after a win and get a little bit better for Saturday.”