Nick Saban: 'I'd be shocked' if Alabama doesn't respond well to Texas loss

Alabama found themselves on the wrong side of the final score this weekend in their primetime matchup with Texas. However, with one in the Tide’s loss column already, moving forward isn’t something that’s worrying Nick Saban.

Saban said as much about his team during his press conference on Monday. He said that he hasn’t met with them since leaving the locker room on Saturday night. However, when he sees them today, he has every expectation to find a focused team today that’s desperate to respond.

“I haven’t talked to the team since after the game,” Saban said. “I’ll see them today when we watch the film. But I would be shocked if this team does not respond in a really positive way to try to get better, to try to do the things they need to do to get it fixed.”

Considering how things played out against the Longhorns, especially in the second half, Saban realizes how much work that both his players as well as he and the staff need to do. As far as effort and drive, though, he knows his team didn’t lack that in their preparation for or against Texas. To him, that shouldn’t change for the rest of their season either.

“We have to have better execution,” said Saban. “We’ve got to do the simple things better. Whether it’s pass protection, blocking, controlling the line of scrimmage, not giving up big plays on defense. Whatever. Those are things that are going to change.”

“This is not just about attitude of players. They all wanted to win more than any fan, more than anybody in this room,” said Saban. “They put all the work and preparation into it. And I feel badly for them that we weren’t able to do whatever we needed to do as coaches to try to help them have a better chance to be successful in the game.”

As a team, they all hold some share of the blame for Saban’s ninth-ever home loss at Alabama. However, it’s officially in the past. Their next order of business is now a practice today and practices this week that will require a locked-in approach to get them ready for the rest of their campaign.

“We’re all responsible for it and we’re all going to try to work hard to get better,” said Saban. “So I would be shocked if these guys don’t come in here today with the attitude that we’re going to go out there and try to improve and get better.”

“The future is now. We’ve got to do it now,” Saban said. “That’s the main thing.”