Nick Saban wants to see Alabama play with 'an edge' vs. Tennessee

Nick Saban said he thought his players were anxious and “tight” prior to last year’s game at Tennessee, a top-10 matchup that Alabama ultimately lost, 52-49, in Knoxville. It’s important that this year’s team enters the Third Saturday in October with a different mindset.

“I think the big thing for our guys is we have played well when we’re a little bit upset and have an edge to us, and that’s something we need to go in this game with,” said Saban during his weekly appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. “I thought we played the game last year with a lot of anxiety. There was a lot on the line. A lot of guys put a lot of pressure on themselves. 

“We don’t really want to go there. We want to keep an edge about how we compete, how we focus, how we play because the way they play challenges you to do that.”

The Crimson Tide (6-1, 4-0 SEC) will host the rival Vols (5-1, 2-1) on Saturday, Oct. 21, for a 2:30 p.m. CT kickoff on CBS. While the Tennessee stars of last season’s meeting have moved on to the next level, the 2023 version of the Vols still presents plenty of challenges.

“When they go fast on offense, they run 2.7 plays a minute, aight,” Saban said. “That’s completely different for a defensive player. It’s a difficult preparation because you can’t get the scout team to do it right during the week of practice. They’re going to go fast, and you have to be able to get lined up on defense and not make mental mistakes and be able to execute and do what you do. You also can’t substitute in the game, aight, because they’re not going to allow you to substitute on third down. So if your third-down package is something else, you have to be able to execute with the people in the game.

“Their defense is very aggressive. They’ve got good pass rushers, and we’re going to have to do a good job of controlling the ball, try to keep it away from them some, aight, so they don’t run 100 plays in the game. And it’s going to come down to fundamental execution on offense, which has been our little bit of an Achilles heel in terms of our consistency is playing with good fundamental execution. I don’t care if it’s offensive line, receivers, pass protection, quarterback execution, whatever you want to talk about. It’s good at times, but we have to be consistent.”

Alabama’s offense has given up 31 sacks through its first seven games, which ranks 130th in the nation and is nine more than the 2022 team allowed in 13 games. The Tide will look to clean that up against a Tennessee front that ranks third in the SEC with 24 sacks this fall.

Saturday’s game will be a challenge for Alabama as it attempts to get back in the win column in a rivalry game series it leads 59-38-8. The Tide has not lost at home to Tennessee since 2003 and has not suffered back-to-back losses to the Vols since 2003-04. But attitude and focus will be key for Alabama, Saban said, in order for it to get a win Saturday afternoon.

“Success is defined by consistency in performance,” Saban said. “You do that by having great knowledge, aight, and to get the knowledge, you’ve got to go through bumps in the road. So you’ve got to learn from your mistakes, you can’t waste a failing and keep moving in the right direction, which I think a lot of our players have done that well this year. 

“And with that knowledge and experience, then you communicate better, and that communication helps everybody on your unit play better. Because a lot of times when we have mental errors and mistakes, it comes from lack of communication, which can come from lack of confidence, which can come from lack of knowledge, aight. So all those things become really, really important in games like this so you can stay focused.”

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