Nick Saban addresses how Alabama offensive line can improve vs Georgia

As Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide prepare to face Georgia in the SEC Championship, the offensive line must improve. After making several shifts over the past weeks, including in-game changes, the group must anchor down against college football’s best front seven.

Nick Saban addressed the need for improvement on the offensive line and offered solutions for his inexperienced group during his Monday press conference.

“I think we’ve got to play more physical,” said Saban. “I think we’ve got to be more aggressive in terms of how we come out of our hips, play with power or whatever it is. We’ve got to try to dictate when we’re in the run game and get moving. We did a better job of that in the second half (against Auburn). And we’ve got to give our players a good chance with some advantage runs when we do try to run the ball.”

With goals in mind to help fix the run game, which has struggled throughout the year, running back health is also an issue. After senior Brian Robinson went down against Auburn, sophomore Trey Sanders stood as the last running back on the roster. With Jase McClellan, Roydell Williams and Camar Wheaton out, linebacker DeMouy Kennedy and wide receiver Christian Leary could also spend time in the backfield during the SEC championship.

While there is no easy fix, Saban continues to show confidence in his players and staff to figure things out before the clock runs down.

“I think there’s a lot of things we’re capable of improving and I have a lot of confidence that the players will go about it the right way to try to get that done this week,” said Saban.

Nick Saban on pass blocking

Nick Saban also addressed Alabama’s pass blocking, which prevented the Crimson Tide from dialing up some of its deep shots throughout the week against Auburn. With Georgia’s talented linebacker corpse, Bryce Young’s read and the offensive line’s pickup will be critical.

“Pass protection was an issue at times, but we’ve just got to do a better job of staying square,” said Saban. “Quarterback’s got to do a good job in the pocket so that the o-line knows where he’s going to be. There’s a lot of things that we need to work on when it comes to pressures. We’ve got a good plan for how we block them.”

With Jameson Williams back in the lineup after a targeting call Saturday, the Crimson Tide will hope to regain its deep ball offense.