Nick Saban reveals biggest concerns in Alabama's win over Florida

The No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide faced their toughest task to-date on Saturday, traveling to Gainesville to play the then-No. 11 Florida Gators, and head coach Nick Saban left with no reason to dip below the No. 1 ranking, as Alabama won 31-29.

The game was a thriller, and could very well be remembered as one of the best games of the season, as Alabama — once leading 21-3 at the end of the first quarter — saw its lead dissipate in the fourth quarter. The Emory Jones-led Florida Gators offense was able to climb back into what was once a blowout game, leaving Nick Saban unsatisfied with his team’s performance, despite the victory.

“What concerned me most is that we could not sustain our intensity, especially on defense,” Saban said in the postgame press conference. “We had a lot of mental errors. They did a good job. They did a really good job, had a really good plan. When you’re playing the option, everybody’s got to be disciplined. Somebody’s got the quarterback, somebody’s got the pitch, and because we weren’t doing that correctly, I think we were afraid of doing a lot of other things that we had planned in the game.”

Saban and the Crimson Tide, after allowing just nine points the entire first half, surrendered 20 second-half Florida points. Furthermore, Florida had a chance to tie the game with just over three minutes remaining on a two-point conversation that ultimately fell short.

Saban criticized his defense’s apparent inability to stop Florida on third-down conversions, too. Although Florida only converted four of 12 third-down attempts, some of their conversions were long-distance gains, which caught the attention of Alabama’s head coach.

“We didn’t get off the field down on third down, either. We had several opportunities, especially in the fourth quarter, to get off the field on third down when we created a long yardage situation, and they’d go 99 yards for a touchdown,” Saban said. “We’ve got to get off the field. There was another situation where it was third-and-18 and they completed a pass for 16 yards, they’d go for it on fourth down and convert. So, you’ve got to get off the field on third down. So, all in all it was just our execution on defense and the fact that we didn’t get off the field on third down.”

While the first-half score seemed like Alabama would dominate the Gators, the second half told a much different story. By the end of the game, Saban’s defensive unit had allowed over 400 yards of total offense to the Gators, forcing just one turnover. Furthermore, Alabama’s 11 penalties for 81 yards proved to hold back the Crimson Tide second-half attack.

Alabama might have plenty to improve on, according to Saban, but the Crimson Tide should have no problem implementing changes in next week’s game, as they’ll face the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles.