Nick Saban reacts to Alabama losing season opener to Florida State

Alabama‘s shocking 31-17 loss to unranked Florida State was the headline-making matchup of Week 1. Many fans have expressed their disappointment and surprise at the outcome, and former head coach Nick Saban has thrown his two-cents into the mix as well.

“Obviously for me, and for a lot of the ‘Bama fans, the disappointment that Florida State dominated the line of scrimmage of both sides of the ball,” Saban said during ESPN’s College Football Countdown before North Carolina–TCU.

“But the good news is every team has the best opportunity to improve from Week 1 to Week 2. Because really going into the season, you don’t really know what you have for sure as a coach. You’re always very anxious about what you might happen in the first game.”

The Crimson Tide will look get themselves back on track in Week 2 against UL Monroe before Alabama’s schedule picks back up against Wisconsin the following week. It may be a tune-up game, but Saban sees it as an opportunity to get better.

“I’m sure they’re all disappointed — players, coaches alike,” Saban said. “But they all do have a great chance to improve from Week 1 to Week 2. That’s when you make the biggest improvement.”

They were held to 87 yards on the ground against the Seminoles, good for three yards per carry. The Crimson Tide were more productive through the air with both of their touchdowns scored came via the passing game. New starting quarterback Ty Simpson completed 23 of 43 passes during the matchup for 254 yards.

Alabama has the opportunity to not only improve their offense against ULM this Saturday, but their defense as well. The Crimson Tide defensive unit allowed 388 total yards of offense, including 230 on the ground. Florida State scored four touchdowns on the ground against Alabama on Saturday.

After ULM, Alabama has Wisconsin to round out non-conference action before beginning SEC play against Georgia. After that, key games left on the Crimson Tide’s schedule will see Alabama will host Tennessee on Oct. 18, travel to South Carolina on Oct. 25, host LSU on Nov. 8 as well as Oklahoma on Nov. 15 all in consecutive matchups. All of those teams were ranked in the preseason top 25.

For now, the Crimson Tide will get to battle UL Monroe during Week 2 as Alabama seeks its first win of the season. Kickoff is set for 7:45 p.m. ET live on the SEC Network.