What Alabama said about Georgia this week

Nick Saban

“Georgia’s got a really good team. They’ve got great balance on offense, defense, special teams. They’ve got really good specialists. So this is a really, really good all-around team.” 

On Brock Bowers…

“I think this guy is one of the premier players in college football. I know he’s just a freshman.

But this guy’s got great size. He’s a good blocker. He’s physical. He’s tough. And he’s got wide receiver skills in every way, shape or form, which makes it difficult being a bigger guy for bigger guys to cover him and it makes it also difficult for smaller guys to cover him.

So this guy is just a phenomenal football player all the way around. They do a really good job of featuring his talents as well. And he’s been extremely productive in a lot of ways.

I know everybody always knows the passes he catches, but also a really good blocker and does a good job in his part of executing whatever he needs to do to help his teammates have success as well.” 

On being an underdog…

“Being an underdog is being an underdog. They have a really good team that’s very well respected. We have a tremendous amount of respect for them.

And I think it’s important for our players to know what they need to do to be able to continue to have success in the next game, regardless of what happened in the last game. And regardless who was favored and who was underdogs and all that kind of stuff. Everybody has pride in performance. Everybody wants to go play well. And we certainly want to do everything as coaches that we can to help our players go out and play well and compete well in a game.”

Will Anderson

“You know, that was last game. We have to focus on this game. It’s going to be a whole, totally new game, new area, new setting, everything. So we’re going to see something different that we probably haven’t seen before. We have to be prepared for it. And we’re going to approach this game like we always approach every game — same mindset, same intensity, same energy. We’re not going to try to do anything other than what we already do, just going to go out there and play Alabama football.”

On beating a team twice…

“We don’t really listen to all that stuff. We can’t pay attention to that stuff. We know the challenge ahead of us. Georgia has a very good football team, very good players, very good coaches.

We just have to be prepared for anything. And no matter the outcome of the game we just have to play, no matter where it’s at, we just have to play.” 

On Stetson Bennett…

“To me, he’s the leader on the offense. He helps them in tremendous ways. He gets them set up. He gets them lined up right. He really takes over on the offensive side.

His ability to move out of the pocket, I think that’s one of his biggest and strongest abilities he has. He can extend plays with his arms as well. But we just have to contain him. I think that’s the biggest part of his game is his legs and him running all around the field. We just have to contain him in the pocket and make sure he’s not running all over the field on us and stuff like that.” 

Defensive coordinator Pete Goulding

“I don’t think it’s tough having to play somebody twice. I mean I know everybody talks about that and all that. But if you look at the NFL, you’re playing everybody in your division twice.

I mean, I think the big thing is, in any quarterback, what they see is not what they need to get every snap. And I think you’re trying to make him make the decision of what coverage it is, what front is it, what pressure is it once he’s got the ball in his hand.

I think the key is, in a pre-snap read, he thinks he’s getting this look and then the ball turns over now and it’s a different coverage or it’s a different pressure, it’s a different front. And now he’s got to think. I think there’s no difference in disguises to me on defense from the front, the coverage and like that, and on offense with motions and shifts and trades.

They don’t put in new plays each week. They’re just getting to them differently. It’s a different formation, different shift. They’re putting a guy in a different stop. They’re tweaking things. But it’s still what they do, it’s their bread and butter.

Defensively how can you keep things the same but make them look different. That way your guys have carry-over. They understand the rules where if they see something new they can let the rules apply.

Absolutely it’s playing the game, making him think. They got a lot of weapons at a lot of different spots that create some matchup issues. They’re going to move this tight end around and try to create the matchups they want with him. They’ve got really good backs that are an issue covering out of the backfield.

You’ve got to pick your poison sometimes. You’re not going to get everybody doubled or the person you want on them based on their formation. Our guys will have to cover well and play well.”

“They do a really good job. Coach Monk is a great coach, offensively, they use the horizontal width of the

field. They’ll stretch you vertically, make you account for all gaps. They’ve got those three big tight ends they’ll put on the field a lot at the same time to create extra gaps. And they’re good pass catchers. You can’t forget, obviously, the backs and the run game, that’s one thing, and you’ve got to gang tackle him, you’ve got to pepper the ball.

We’ve got to get there especially in space. I think 4 is special in space. That showed up a couple times last time we played these guys.”

Offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien

So it’s a tremendous challenge. Coach Smart, Coach Lanning, Coach Muschamp, those guys are at the top of their game when it comes to defensive coaching. And then they have the players that can make it happen. So we’ve got a big challenge. We’re excited about it. We’re practicing hard. Our guys always practice hard. That’s the way this program’s been built. And we’ll be there Monday night but it’s going to be a tremendous challenge for us. 

Henry To’oto’o

“Looking from the outside in, it’s always been a hard-fought game. Georgia is going to come out and play the hardest game. They’re a great team. And I don’t think they have any mental or kind of something blocking them mentally from winning.

I think Georgia is going to come out and play hard, fast and physical as they usually do. They’re going to play their game. Georgia is a tremendous team. And it’s up to us to answer the bell, how we respond, how we execute, how we do, how we play. And we’re excited for the challenge.”

“Georgia’s always been Georgia — big, fast, physical. Trying to punch you in the mouth every single down. Like I said before, it’s a huge challenge for us being able to answer the bell.

But my fourth time playing them now, I’m excited. It’s always a huge challenge. It’s always one of those games that I mark on my calendar to be able to execute. I’ve got to put my best foot forward. That’s every single game but Georgia has that extra fight, that dog in them that they’re never going to back down and they’re always going to keep punching.”

Phidarian Mathis

“Georgia is a great team. They always — they come to play their best game. And we do too. So I really don’t think about all the past stuff. I’m just real about what’s in front of us now. I can’t really speak on the past things we’ve done against those guys.”