Nick Saban explains his sideline intensity in the final drive of the game vs. Mississippi State

With just 20 seconds left in the game and his team up 30-0, Alabama head coach Nick Saban went viral for his clear frustration over a late penalty called against his team. After the game was over, Saban used his press conference to explain why he was so upset over the call.

“I think the guys got a lot of pride in what they do,” Saban said after the game. “The whole emphasis is get back to playing for 60 minutes, don’t look at the scoreboard, quit worrying about outcomes and play one play at a time and keep playing in the game. I thought they tried to do that. I thought we had some opportunities to make plays in that drive and we didn’t. And they took advantage of it.”

Just one week after giving up 52 points in a loss to Tennessee, Saban’s defense was spectacular against Mississippi State. The Crimson Tide won 30-6 on Saturday night and nearly got the shutout. Alabama kept the Bulldogs off the board until the final play of the game when Jo’quavious Marks scored on a one-yard touchdown run. Still, the Crimson Tide had a very impressive defensive performance.

Mississippi State had just 293 yards of offense in the game and a mere 62 yards of that came on the ground. Will Rogers threw the ball 60 times in the game and completed 30 of those passes for 231 yards but he did not have any passing touchdowns, resulting in the near shutout.

Alabama and Saban improved to 7-1 overall with the win and 4-1 in the SEC. The Crimson Tide are still tied for first place in the SEC West and have a path to the SEC title game but the next two weeks will be very telling for those hopes.

The Crimson Tide will be off this coming weekend but will take the field again on Nov. 5 when they hit the road to face No. 18 LSU. Following that, Alabama will face No. 15 Ole Miss on the road, which will impact who represents the league in the conference title game.