Everything Nick Saban said after Alabama's 24-10 win over Ole Miss

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – No. 13 Alabama defeated No. 15 Ole Miss, 24-10, Saturday. After the Crimson Tide’s SEC opener at Bryant-Denny Stadium, head coach Nick Saban addressed reporters. Below is everything Saban said after Alabama advanced to 3-1 on the year.

“We sort of told the players that we believe in our team, and it was important for them to believe in each other. But there’s a responsibility that goes with that belief in terms of being accountable to do your job, play with discipline, try to play with the kind of toughness and physicality that we want to play with as a team and eliminate the ‘my bads’ that have been really critical in us being successful. And I thought the team did a fantastic job of that in the second half. I mean, we played hard, the guys competed, played really physical, dominated the line of scrimmage, got off the field on third down on defense and kept them off the board. So I was really proud of the way the team played in the second half.

“First half, we’ve got 1st and 1 at the 1 and snap the ball before the snap count, lose a bunch of yards, take points off the board. Those are the kinds of things to me – we had another touchdown today that was called back because of a penalty. That’s the fifth one this year. So those are the kind of lessons that we want to continue to teach our team so that we can continue to improve and get better and they can develop the kind of confidence and trust in each other and themselves so that we can play better and we can play better week in and week out and do it every game that we play. But man, guys played hard, competed hard. These guys are hard to play against. They do a lot of formations, a lot of motions. I thought our guys did a pretty good job of adjusting to it in the game and especially did a good job in the second half. So really pleased. 

“I thought Jalen played really, really well. They played trap down there – you guys don’t know what that is – but somebody zones off in the flat and everybody’s playing man-to-man. It’s something we do, something Pete does, and he got fooled by that when he threw the interception. But other than that, I thought he played well. He got a little dinged up, but he’ll be fine. I thought he showed a lot of leadership out there, made some good throws. We made some explosive plays. So we’ve got to continue to try to create opportunities for our players down the field.”

Saban on how Jalen Milroe responds to adversity…

“I think that’s the one thing that guys learn. I think if you ask him, he’d probably say he got a little bit affected by the first interception in the Texas game, but you have to learn that have to go play the next play. You can’t let one play lead to several bad plays. You’re a point guard, so you can’t turn the ball over, and you’ve gotta get assists. And if you have one turnover, don’t let it lead to two and just keep executing and believing and trusting in what you’re doing so that you can continue to distribute the ball where you need to, which I think he’s growing and done a really good job of that.”

Saban on three-play sequence in the third quarter that set the tone for the team…

“Yeah, I think the momentum of the game in those course of the plays that you described right there really shifted for us. The energy went up, and I think that was demonstrated by how we continued to play the rest of the game. I’m always happy to see guys make those kind of plays.”

Saban on Deontae Lawson…

“He’s got a sprained ankle. He’s gonna be day-to-day. It’s a pretty good one, so nobody knows exactly how long it will take for him to respond. So that’s all I can tell you about that one.”

Saban on Alabama’s run game…

“I think we know we’ve got to create balance on offense. We’ve got to be able to run the ball. We’ve got to be able to throw play-action passes and take some shots like we hit a couple big plays on today. But we’ve got to be more efficient in the passing game, as well. I mean, we still had four sacks today. We’ve got too many drive-stoppers, penalties, whatever. We’ve got to continue to clean it up so that we can stay ahead of the sticks. I think you can always play better offense when you can stay ahead of the sticks. So that’s what we’re going to keep working on to try to improve on.”

Saban on patience when grooming a quarterback…

“I think you have to take advantage of the lessons. I meet with the quarterbacks on Sunday. I meet with them on Thursday. I just have some things that – ‘OK, here’s what you really did well, and here’s some things I want you to look at, whether it’s footwork and how you’re setting up and how it affects your accuracy. What maybe the other team plays or does.’ You’re really just trying to teach. I think you want to try to teach in a way that’s going to impact and affect them in a positive way. And Jalen’s really good about that. I mean, he really wants to learn. He really listens. Tommy does a good job with him.

“It takes a lot of patience on my part when you score five touchdowns and have them called back. So that takes patience, too. It takes patience when you’re 1st and 1 at the 1 and you don’t score a touchdown. That takes patience. So I’ve got a lot of things testing my patience.”

Saban on Alabama’s drive to go up 24-10…

“I think that was one of the most critical drives in the game, and then we got a couple stops on defense after that. It changes the game a lot when it’s a two-score game, especially in the fourth quarter. So we were able to pressure the quarterback a couple times on third down and create some situations where they couldn’t go for it on fourth down. But that drive was the drive that was the difference in the game.”

Saban on if he learned anything from the second-half performance…

“Yeah, but I also think that they need to learn about themselves in terms of having confidence in what they can do when they do things correctly and how important that is. When they’re physical, they compete in the game, they’re relentless in their effort and how they try to dominate their box and they play with more discipline and we don’t have the negative plays that we keep sort of shooting ourselves in the foot with too often. So we’ve got to eliminate those, and I think that every one of those are an opportunity to learn. You don’t want to waste a failing, you’ve heard me say many times before, and how you respond to those things, I think, are very important.”

Saban on the explanation he received when Alabama was shorted a down…

“I got hot about that one. But most of the time, the guy that marks the ball will signal first down. He came and marked the ball, and when they put their hand down, it’s like it’s short. So we assumed that it was short. Called a quarterback sneak, which cost us a down, and we tried to do it fast before they could line up. Well, then all of a sudden, like right when we were snapping the ball, they’re moving the chains. I mean, the chains didn’t move until we were snapping the ball. Now, the referee says, ‘I signaled first down.’ I said, ‘Well, why didn’t the guy spotting the ball signal first down?’ When stuff like that happens, the football gods aren’t with ya because it’s just a miscommunication. And we did not think in the press box that the guy made a first down. Most of the time, right away, it’s a first down, and then the guys marking the ball didn’t signal first down. It was bad on our part. If we weren’t trying to go fast, we would have been able to recover the situation, and that cost us, really. We ended up kicking a field goal.”

Saban on his assessment of both left tackles…

“I can’t tell you that. I mean, you probably had a better seat in the house to watch them play than I did. I’ll be glad to tell you on Monday after I watch the film. I think both guys are improving, but I can’t really tell you. I don’t watch the left tackle every down to see how he’s doing. We wanted to play both guys today to see how they did, so we got an opportunity to do that, and we’ll evaluate it when we watch the film.”

“Great crowd today. I mean, it was a great atmosphere, great crowd. Really appreciate the fans supporting the team and creating such positive energy for us. Thank you.”

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