Nick Saban on Alabama's defensive issues vs. Florida: 'We didn't execute'

No. 1 Alabama remained undefeated on Saturday with a close, 31-29 victory over No. 11 Florida. Alabama got off to a 21-3 lead at the end of the first quarter, but Florida controlled the game from there. Coming out of the game, Alabama head coach Nick Saban was not pleased with what he saw from his defense.

Saban: Alabama players didn’t adapt

Alabama’s defense struggled to contain Florida quarterback Emory Jones. Jones threw for 195 yards and an interception, but also had a touchdown and 77 yards on the ground behind 19 attempts. Running back Malik Davis also had 86 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. As a team, Florida ran for 245 yards and four touchdowns on 43 carries. Florida’s comeback and Alabama’s late game struggles came from a lack of execution on defense, according to Saban.

“Well, we didn’t execute,” Saban said to reporters on Monday. “I think there was maybe one time where we had a pressure on, and they ran a speed option or something and we didn’t have enough guys there. But it really came down to executing. It really came down to players. They did some different things, but you have to adapt to those things on principle and at times we didn’t do that very well. We weren’t very aggressive, we didn’t get off the field on third down, especially in the second half.

“We had opportunities to get off the field on third down and did not do it. On the 99-yard drive we had several opportunities to get off the field. We had a third and 19 and didn’t get off the field. Those are plays that you have to make in a game. So, that’s something that we need to continue to work on.”

Saban takes responsibility for defensive effort

While the players ultimately control their play on the field, Saban took some blame for not having his team ready to defend the option correctly. That is a big part of Florida’s offense, and can be one of the trickiest things to defend in football. Linebacker Drew Sanders was one player who Saban thought had a good game for Alabama on defense.

“Drew Sanders did okay in the game,” Saban said. “I think we all could have done a little bit of a better job playing the option. We focused a lot on the quarterback runs, we focused some on the option. I think there were times in the game where we didn’t play the option correctly. Therefore, as coaches we’re responsible for that so we need to do a better job with all the players being able to do that and have a better understanding of how to do that.

“That’s definitely something we need to work on, we’ll see some of those same things this week.”

Alabama hosts Southern Miss on Saturday. Then, the Crimson Tide must face No. 13 Ole Miss and No. 7 Texas A&M in back-to-back weekends.