Everything Nick Saban said after Alabama's 27-24 win over Auburn

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – No. 8 Alabama defeated Auburn, 27-24, on Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium. After the Crimson Tide’s regular-season finale, Alabama coach Nick Saban addressed reporters. Below is everything Saban said after Alabama moved to 11-1 on the year.

Saban’s opening statement…

“So do I need to really say anything? I mean, it’s an unbelievable game. I guess if you’re in this long enough, sometimes it goes against you in the last play of the game, and sometimes you’re fortunate and it goes for you. And our players really stepped up, got a couple stops when we needed to on defense, which we didn’t play great all day but we got stops when we needed to. And offense put some drives together and we overcame adversity – bad snap when we got an opportunity to score and then we make a great play on fourth down. So I can’t say enough about the resiliency of our players, how they competed in the game, played hard in the fourth quarter. 

“You’ve got to give Auburn’s team a lot of credit, too man. They played lights-out. Watch them play last week and watch them play this week, it’s not the same team. But we knew we were going to have a tough game here and tried to convince our players of that. But I was really pleased with the way we started the game. When we started the game, we had some great drives, we had two touchdowns called back because of penalties and we allowed them, by our inability to stop the run on defense, to get back in the game early on when we should have the game well in hand.

“Part of the strategy going into this game was we wanted to get ahead so that they couldn’t just run the ball and get them in some loose-play situations and maybe we could rush and do some things that would affect the quarterback and it would be a little bit more of a game in our favor. So it’s kind of a reality check, though, I think. It’s what I told the team afterwards. Sometimes it can not be a great thing when you don’t play really good and win, even though it’s great to win. But everybody needs to have a reality check and build on the good things that we did – and there were a lot of good things in this game – but also we’ve got to fix the things we need to fix because we’re going to play a really good team next week in the SEC Championship Game. 

“I’m happy for our players, I’m happy for our fans and this was a great win for our team. So I’m proud of this team to come from where they were early in the season to win 11 games, to win the SEC West and have an opportunity to play in the SEC Championship Game, which I think is one of the greatest venues in college football.”

Saban on Jihaad Campbell’s fumble recovery…

“It was a good punt. It had good hang time. Jihaad did a great job of covering. He was right in front of the guy. The guy misjudged the ball a little bit, was a little off-balance and Jihaad was right there to take advantage of the fumble, the muffed kick. But James (Burnip) hit a couple really good punts that changed field position later in the game, which I think was really significant, and that play was, no doubt, very significant.”

Saban on how the final throw and catch illustrates how far this team has come…

“They’ve come a long ways, but believe it or not, we actually practice that play every Friday when we do walk-through and we do special situations. We get in that formation, everybody runs down the field and runs varying routes in the end zone. Jalen made a great throw, but (Isaiah Bond) really kind of got him in position where there was room to throw it. He pushed inside and the DB was inside of him and then he came back out, Jalen threw it back out to him and it was a great catch, a great throw. But that is a play that we actually work on, and I must admit that I think you have to be a little lucky for it to work, but I’ll take it.”

Saban on if this game is a microcosm of this season…

“That’s what this team has done all year. We’ve come from behind many times, made plays when we’ve had to make them, whether it was the LSU game in the second half, whether it was the Tennessee game in the second half, whether it was the Ole Miss game in the second half. And this game today, it speaks volumes for the competitive character of these guys and the resiliency they have to keep fighting in the game. And it should be a lesson for everybody in life. Overcome adversity, man. If you’ve got the ability to do that, you’ve got a great chance to be successful.”

Saban on the 4th and Short call in the fourth quarter…

“What we did was we tried to get them to jump offsides, and we had a play if they didn’t jump offsides. We looked it. So Jalen’s under center and he looks to the sidelines, because we wanted to see how they lined up, and they had so many guys packed in to stop the quarterback sneak, we knew if we could pitch the ball, we’d have a pretty good chance on the edge. It was a good design and good situational football.”

Saban on how it felt being on the winning side of a wild Iron Bowl…

“I feel good. But yeah, we’ve had some tough ones, but still, the team that played the best always wins in this game. And we played well, but we had to overcome ourselves because of penalties and things like that, a missed field goal, not playing great on defense. But I can’t tell you how proud I am of the guys and how good I feel about winning the game. But as a coach, you always look at things like, ‘How did you play?’ Because we’re going to have to play at a higher level on a more consistent basis if we’re going to have success in the future, and that’s what you’re always evaluating. That’s the reality check that we all have to make.”

Saban on what he told Jalen Milroe on the final play…

“You tell him that they’re only going to rush three guys, sometimes two, and he’s reading the guys down the field, and they’re doing things to try to get open, and he’s got to pick the guy. He’s going to have plenty of time. He’s got to pick the guy he thinks will have the best chance to catch it. IB got position on a guy, and Jalen did a good job recognizing it and throwing it. And if the play had a name, I wouldn’t tell you what it was.”

Saban on how he saw Milroe lead the offense…

“I think he made some critical plays in critical situations, no bigger than the last one. But I thought he played really well early in the game, and I thought he played a really, really good game. I thought that a couple times that he could have run and he threw the ball when we were across the line of scrimmage, I think he just has to go because he’s hard to tackle and he’s fast. Just make a decision and go full speed. But I thought he played great in the game. His progress has transformed our team and our offense. And because he is a point guard and because he involving everybody in the game, which is the thing I think he had to learn this year, he’s now become extremely effective at the quarterback position.”

Saban on the effect luck has on this game…

“Y’all like celebrating the Kick Six? We had the ball five times inside the 25-yard line in the third and fourth quarter, and we were ahead by seven points and never scored a point. Made a field goal, got a penalty, y’all blocked the next one, ran the ball to the 7-yard line, got a dead-ball personal foul in the end zone, backed it up, didn’t score. So we’ve been on both sides of the good fortunate and the misfortune, and I’ve got to admit, we had good fortune. But it still comes down to the ability to execute. Somebody had an opportunity to make a play, whether it was their punt returner or IB in the end zone and whoever was guarding him. That’s why you play the game.”

Not a member, Alabama fans? Join BOL today!

Have you subscribed to BamaOnLine.com yet? You can sign up for ONE MONTH of premium access to our Alabama coverage for just $1! Be able to read all of BOL’s premium articles and nuggets covering Alabama sports and recruiting and also join thousands of other Crimson Tide fans around the globe on the BOL Round Table message board! CLICK HERE!