Everything Nick Saban said after Alabama's win at Mississippi State

STARKVILLE, Miss. – No. 12 Alabama defeated Mississippi State, 40-17, Saturday. After the Crimson Tide’s SEC road opener at Davis Wade Stadium, head coach Nick Saban addressed reporters. Below is everything Saban said after Alabama advanced to 4-1 on the year.

“There’s a lot of things that we can improve on, but I also think that there’s a lot of good things that we need to build on. And I think there’s signs of the way we played in the second half against Ole Miss, and at times, the way we played in this game tonight, where we’ve just got to build on that. Not where we want to be, we’re not where we need to be. Players have to be committed to continuing to try to stack on the improvements that we’re making at every position and do a better job. 

“Obviously, we didn’t play the run as well as we’d like to tonight, but they were more committed to running it than we thought they’d be, especially on third down. But I think that when the defense started out great and finished the game great, got three turnovers, and I think the offense controlled the line of scrimmage and played pretty well. I think Jalen was efficient, but there are still times where I think with more confidence he’ll even be more consistent, and his ability to make plays with his feet is always something that can be a great benefit.

“I believe in this team. I like this team. We’ve got some guys beat up and it hurts a little bit. Lawson, the signal-caller out there, Trezmen Marshall did a really good job, but Jihaad’s a little inexperienced. Those two guys playing together has been really good for us. I don’t know when those guys will be back, so don’t even ask. We probably won’t know until midweek. Nobody is really banged up bad tonight that I know about.

“This is a tough game for us. It always is. We’ve been coming over here for lots of years, and we’ve had a lot of tough games. And it was a physical, tough game tonight, and I’m proud of our players for the way they finished and the way we competed in the game.”

Saban on being animated on the sideline…

“Well, Miss Terry told me if we’re not playing good to get on their butt, so I just did what I was told.”

Saban on how the non-offensive touchdown took pressure off the offense…

“I think it was great. We had great field position early in the game. James (Burnip), what was it, a 67-yard punt or whatever, which was helpful. I think scoring on defense is always something that players dream about, think about, always want to do. So it was good to see. Hopefully, we can keep getting turnovers and not turning the ball over. We had a couple balls on the ground tonight that we didn’t lose. So ball security is really important. But if you’re going to score on defense, you’ve got to get turnovers, and Bras did a great job on that one. We run the pressure into the boundary – he was playing defensive end, and he dropped to the field. I think it probably confused the quarterback a little bit, and he did a great job. A big play in the game.”

Saban on what Jalen Milroe needs to do to instill more confidence…

“I think he’s building more confidence every day. I think he’s played better in each game, and I think he’ll continue to do that as he gets experience. I think we’re all a little smarter as we get older because we have more experience, and I think as he gains more experience, he’s going to gain more confidence. He’s very committed in preparing the right way and doing the things that he needs to do to be able to play well in the game, and I think as he gets more comfortable understanding defense, he’ll be able to make quicker decisions and he’s going to be fine.”

Saban on if the offensive line played one of its best games…

“They played really well. Those guys – I mean, even you all can tell that they were plugging and stunting a lot, right? It’s what I told you they’d do (laughs). And that’s really tough on offensive linemen, when you have to block movement and pluggers all the time, and I think the offensive line did a fantastic job controlling the line of scrimmage. I don’t know what we ended up rushing for. And I think that’s important to our team to have that kind of balance.”

Saban on short-yardage situations in the pistol, shotgun…

“I watch games on TV, and everybody’s in the gun. Some people never get under center. When we’re in the gun, we clap. The players get in a rhythm. When you get under center, you have to go on voice command, and it was pretty loud out there on a couple of those occasions and I think we had some things that we wanted to do in short-yardage with the quarterback under, but I think we were a little apprehensive about using verbal cadence. When I played, everybody was in an I-formation and the quarterback was under center. We watched a movie last night called The Program, which was like 30 years ago, which I played 30 years before that. And that’s the only formation there was in the whole game was the I-formation, all under center. So now the quarterback’s never under center. You’ve got to worry about getting the snap and you’ve got to worry about voice command. But I do think there is a place in short-yardage situations where the quarterback being under center and not handing the ball off five yards deep in the backfield – but you can’t allow penetration like we did either. So it still comes down to executing. All them other plays that we ran in the game that made – how many yards did we have rushing? 193 – we were in the gun every time. Explain that to me. You’ve asked about this two times in a row, so I know you’re a quarterback under center guy. I know that.”

Saban on who replaced Deontae Lawson as the defensive signal-caller…

“Trez did. Trez did it. He did fine. We had a couple mistakes with the ‘backers. When they run sliders and the tight end comes across the backfield, depending on what the defense is and what the fit is, everybody’s got to know how do I slide back in my gap and who takes the guy? Well, a couple times – one time for sure – we didn’t take him. A couple other times, we took them when we weren’t supposed to take him. So that linebacker that was taking him should have been playing a gap. And that comes with experience. But Trez did a really good job in the game. I was really pleased with him. He’s been a really good addition for us. He’s got maturity. He’s an older guy. He doesn’t get rattled out there. He’s got a lot of mental toughness. And he’s been a really solid player for us all year.”

Saban on limiting Will Rogers over the last four years…

“He’s a really good player. I didn’t really realize what you just said. But he’s a really good player. The last couple years when they were always in four wideouts, we did all kinds of junk where you knew they were going to pass. Well, we had some of that junk out for them tonight, and they ran the ball every time on 3rd and 8 and made a first down. So I just think the guy’s an outstanding player. I’ve got a tremendous amount of respect for him. I thought our players did a good job of not allowing them to have explosive plays, especially throwing, because that was my concern going into the game. I was concerned about can we stop them running, which we didn’t do a very good job of. But they ran the ball in some situations that we didn’t think they would. And we were able to limit the explosive plays that he made in the game, and I think early pressure on him was a positive thing for us.”

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