Nick Saban on start vs Ole Miss: Gotta do better job putting our kids successful spots

Alabama is in a hole early against Ole Miss, entering the second quarter down 7-0. It’s an important game for Nick Saban, not wanting to see his team suffer a second loss of the season. But if Lane Kiffin has anything to say about it, the Rebels are going to put up a fight on the field.

After playing 15 minutes, Saban actually looked at what Alabama is doing on the field and wasn’t pleased with how it all unfolded citing some first-quarter errors.

“We messed up a formation down here, which gave us a bad play on second down,” Saban said. “Then we got sacked on third down. We shot ourselves in the foot. I mean, same thing on defense when they made a big play to get down there. We had them third and 10 and quarterback draw is always going to be their play in empty. And we weren’t in a very good defense. So, we just got to do a better job to put our kids in a place to be successful.”

The play Saban is likely going to be the most upset about is the quarterback draw Jaxson Dart ran in for a touchdown, giving Ole Miss the lead. It was third down and the Alabama defense was looking to get off the field. Saban claims to have known Kiffin was going to call QB draw, with the two working together for plenty of years.

Saban was not too happy with defensive coordinator Kevin Steele on the play call, giving Dart a wide-open lane down the middle of the field. The Ole Miss quarterback waltzed into the end zone nearly untouched.

On the offensive end, Tommy Rees may be hearing from Saban over the headset moving forward.

A lot has been made about the quarterback situation and rightfully so. Jalen Milroe was benched against USF, with Tyler Buchner getting the start. When disaster struck with the Notre Dame transfer, Ty Simpson came into the game but was not too inspiring.

Milroe has stepped back in as the starter but results have mixed through two drives. Rees has called at least one designed run, having some success. But Saban still wants to see better plays called down from the box.

Thankfully, there are three more quarters for changes to be made. Adjustments will be needed for the Crimson Tide if they are going to avoid a second loss.