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OL says Alabama 'didn't have the best energy' in practice before Texas loss

1918632_10206777287683070_1367905321192383146_nby:Charlie Potter•09/12/23•

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Alabama OL vs. DL
OL vs. DL (Courtesy of Alabama Athletics)

Alabama offensive lineman Tyler Booker didn’t think the Crimson Tide’s energy in practice was where it needed to be ahead of the team’s primetime matchup with Texas last week. Alabama eventually lost to the Longhorns, 34-24, in Bryant-Denny Stadium, forcing the Tide to go back to the drawing board. On Tuesday, Booker said that begins on the practice field.

“Last week, we didn’t practice the best, by any means, on either side of the ball,” said Booker in his weekly appearance on The Next Round. “We’re going to have a different attitude coming into practice today just because we’ve seen what happens when we don’t practice to the Bama standard. So we’re very excited about practice today.”

Alabama (1-1) opened the 2023 season with a convincing 56-7 win over Middle Tennessee but dropped its next game versus Texas, one that was the most-viewed ESPN Saturday game since 2014. It marked the Tide’s first non-conference loss in the regular season since 2007.

“I feel like we probably just took winning for granted, like we did last year,” Booker said. “We beat Middle Tennessee and we just had to bring a different energy level and bring a different level of focus. There was energy and there was focus, but it just wasn’t where it needed to be.”

Two members of the Alabama staff who also played for the Crimson Tide have talked to players on the year’s team about the importance practice has on the outcome of Saturday’s games.

“We didn’t have the best energy last week, and we know that whenever we have a great week of practice, that makes the game easier,” Booker said. “Just talking to some alums like Denzel Devall and Josh Chapman, they said practice was hard, so the game was easy. The game was fun. We just want to have fun. We want all that hard work during the week to pay off. 

“So the harder we work during the week, the more fun the game will be on Saturday. So we’re very excited to put in that work.”

Alabama will return to the practice field later this afternoon to continue to prepare for its first true road game of the season, a trip to Tampa to take on the South Florida Bulls on Saturday, Sept. 16 (2:30 p.m. CT on ABC). Head coach Nick Saban said he would be “shocked” if the Tide does not respond well after the Texas loss, but he didn’t see a dip in energy last week.

“I think the energy level was good,” Saban said. “I think we started out the game really good. Did we sustain it for 60 minutes in the game? No. Did we play well in the fourth quarter? No. 

“But it’s not as much about how you started. We started out, I thought, really well in the game. Good energy, physical, knocked the ball off of them a couple times, ran the ball effectively in the beginning of the game. But our ability to sustain was not where it needs to be, and we didn’t play well enough in the fourth quarter.”

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