TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama survived its first SEC road test against Arkansas over the weekend and will now return home for a much-anticipated game against Texas A&M on Saturday. The No. 1 Crimson Tide is currently a 17-point favorite over the Aggies.
Monday, Nick Saban got a little testy when speaking with reporters ahead of the matchup. Here’s a transcript of what he said as well as my take on what it means.
Opening statement
“How's everybody today? Good. After reviewing in the film, I don't feel a whole lot different than I did after the game. You know, we did a lot of really good things, you know, in this game. Made a lot of explosive plays offensively. Did a good job of creating balance, run and pass. Defensively we played really well for the first couple quarters of the game, but really we lost our intensity in the third quarter. Had a disastrous third quarter relative to statistics, relative to errors in the kicking game, relative to feel position, time and possession. Whatever you want to talk about, but have to give the team a lot of credit for gaining the resiliency to come back and play really well in the fourth quarter, which was really the difference in the game.
So a lot of lessons to be learned here. And hopefully our players will learn that I think we had the right mindset playing on the road. We started out the game really, really well. I don't think we sustained it like we need to. And you know, that's the next step of what we need to learn.
“But Texas A&M has a really, really good team. These guys have a lot of good players. You know, Jimbo does a really good job of coaching them. A lot of challenging things on offense. That's always been the case with him being a really, really good offensive coach and play caller. They got some very explosive players on offense. Evan Stewart's a really good receiver. Achane, I think I'm saying his name correctly, No. 6 is really an explosive player, not only as a returner, but as a runner and a receiver. I mean, this guy is a very, very talented guy. So they've got a really, really good offensive team. They've got a really good defensive team, one of the top defensive teams and the SEC. They've got really good specialists. So this is a really good team all the way around. And what happened in last week's game is not gonna have any effect on what happens in this game. You know, we could go say it was the same situation a year ago. They're gonna play really well against us, and we got to be ready to play our best, you know, as a team to be able to take advantage of it.
“I know you're interested in the injury situation. Really there's no updates on Bryce. You know, he's got a little bit of a shoulder injury. It's not a long term, you know, type injury. He's gonna be day to day when he can get back to, you know, throwing, and we'll just have to evaluate it day to day. So I can't tell you if that's going to be today, tomorrow or the next day. Brian Branch, not going to practice today but should be OK after today, Justin Eboigbe has got a neck injury that we're having specialists look at to make sure we manage correctly and we're not going to allow him to play until we can get the exact most expert plan of action for him and his future.”
Tony’s take: Starting with Saban’s breakdown of the Arkansas game, it’s easy to see why he’s generally positive about the 49-26 road victory over the Razorbacks. Take out Alabama’s disastrous third quarter, and it outscored Arkansas 49-10 while outgaining the Razorbacks 556-236.
The problem is, in football, you can’t pick and choose what parts of the game you want to keep. Those third-quarter miscues give Saban free butt-chewing material as he tries to make sure his team doesn’t become stagnant heading into an important stretch of its season.
As for Texas A&M, the Aggies weren’t ranked when they beat Alabama last year, so the Crimson Tide should know better than to overlook them. Texas A&M has one of the SEC’s best running backs in Devon Achane, who has 466 yards and three touchdowns on the ground and 95 yards and another score through the air. He’s also a special-teams threat, averaging 34.25 yards on eight kickoff returns, including a 95-yard touchdown against Appalachian State.
Achane returned a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown during last year’s game against Alabama. He also carried the ball seven times for 34 yards and caught three passes for 45 yards.
Concerning the injury news, we probably won’t know much about Bryce Young’s status until later in the week when Alabama has seen him more in practice. As for Branch, he appears to be fine for this week’s game. Eboigbe’s injury sounds a bit concerning, but Alabama has one of the best medical teams in the nation and should be able to find the right path for him moving forward.
On if Kool-Aid McKinstry is getting more training at Star
“Yeah, well, we trained them and I guess I wasn't totally specific or wasn't trying to be dishonest, but we trained them in fall camp to be able to do this, so it wasn't like he's never done it before. We just hadn't practiced him because we thought we had three capable Stars. Jahquez Robinson you know not being available for the game because of an injury left us two and both of them went down in the game. If we have three, I'm fine with that. But if we need to we will train him some at that position. Kool-Aid's a really bright guy. He's very smart. He understands football. So it's not really hard. He's not one of those guys that need a whole bunch of reps to be able to play a different position, because he has a pretty good understanding of the concept, but we will.”
Tony’s take: Following Saturday’s game, Saban said McKinstry was a bit underprepared after getting forced into an appearance at Star. Branch had already left the game with an injury, and Malachi Moore was cramping, so Alabama had to call on its starting cornerback to make a temporary positional change. According to Saban, McKinstry had to receive instructions from Jordan Battle on his assignment every play.
All that said, McKinstry has taken reps at the Star position in the past, and Alabama should be able to manage if it finds itself in a similar dilemma down the road. McKinstry is one of the smartest defensive backs in the secondary and has the size to play in multiple spots on the field. It’s part of what makes the five-star defender so valuable for Alabama.
On the offensive line’s performance on the road
“They did a good job in this game, especially. I think this was the best game we've played. I think they've shown improvement every week. I think that's important. I think that you're talking about a team that had 15 sacks going into the game, led the league in sacks. And they say they got one sack. I guess it must have been on Bryce's scramble. He must have lost a half an inch or something on that play.
“I thought they did a great job in pass protection, too, against some pretty good pass rushers and a pretty good pressure scheme.”
Tony’s take: Once again, outside of an abysmal third quarter, Alabama was dominant. That’s especially true for the offensive line which cleared the way for three 70-plus runs in the fourth quarter while keeping Young and Milroe clean in the pocket.
On preparing for Texas A&M with the Aggies’ uncertainty at quarterback
"We've seen a little bit of both guys. We don't really know the circumstances of the situation but we have to prepare for both guys. I mean, we do this a lot, especially when the skill-set of the two guys is a little bit different. We have no way of knowing if 13 plays, if they're going to do something different with him.
“We just have to prepare for what we know they've done in the past and be ready to adjust in the game if there's something different.”
Tony’s take: Texas A&M is also dealing with an injury to its starting quarterback as Max Johnson left the Aggies’ loss to Mississippi State over the weekend with an injured thumb. He was replaced by Haynes King, who was Texas A&M’s starter to begin the season.
King is more of a scrambler than Johnson, so not knowing who Texas A&M will go with on Saturday could provide a complication for Alabama this week. That being said, Saban isn’t going to change up his defensive scheme too dramatically either way.
On the benefit of have a tough game
“I would say that we've only had, what, two teams around here in 15 years that have gone undefeated. That didn't mean that the teams that lost a game necessarily didn't have in some cases the same amount of success as the other. The question is, do you need to lose a game to learn? Do you need to lose a game to get it right? Do you need to lose a game to say it's important to practice the right way, do things the right way, take care of myself the right way.
“The middle of the season is not the time of the season to think about getting rest. You rest at the end of the season. The season is a grind. Practice is a grind. Preparation is a grind, mentally and physically, on players. But you've got to make a choice: Are you going to grind through that and continue or can you learn from the lessons when you win as well as when you lose? Or do you have to lose to learn the lessons?
“And I think that's a dynamic that every team has to prove that they can continue to do these things over the course of the season.”
Tony’s take: Alabama was caught sleeping against Texas and almost let a four-touchdown lead slip away against Arkansas. Will those two scares wake up the Crimson Tide for good, or will it take something more drastic? Alabama can’t afford to keep flirting with disaster as it continues into SEC play. Saban will make sure to get that message across to his team moving forward.
On how Alabama has handled similar shoulder issues with Young in the past
"Well, there's nothing to handle. What do you want me to handle? I mean, the only thing I would tell Bryce is, don't put yourself in a bad position. He could have thrown the ball away before and he could have just let the guy tackle him.
‘In either case, he probably wouldn't have an issue. But putting himself in the awkward position of trying to throw the ball on his way down, and then landing the way he did, just try to avoid those types of circumstances and situations for any injury.
“But again, that's not a criticism, it's a teaching moment that players have to learn. And the thing about great competitors, and Bryce is a great competitor, is they always want to make a play. They're going to go to the last nth degree to make a play. But sometimes you've got to know when there's no play to be made. And now it's time to not put myself at risk.”
Tony’s take: Alabama isn’t going to get into medical procedures with the media.
On if there’s a package for Jalen Milroe regardless of Bryce Young’s status
“We already have one. You want us to put a new one together just cause he might play or use the old one? I mean, we can do either one. I'll go to the offensive coaches and see.”
Tony’s take: Noted, and not necessary.
On if there’s a plan to use it
“I don't talk to Jimbo on a regular basis, but I'll call him and tell him right after the conference if you want me to. You guys think I'm going to tell you what we're going to do with our offense and our team? You might as well make it up.
“I saw today where there was headlines in the paper that I'm going to keep it a secret what we're going to do with Bryce. It sounded like me making that statement. (voice rising) I never said that, but it was there in black and white. So you can make up whatever you want to make up. Look at somebody else's running quarterback and say they should put these plays in. I think that'd be a better way to do it.
Tony’s take: Welp, there goes that question by from. It looks like Alabama does have a Milroe, but Saban isn’t going to give away any secrets about it.
On Kool-Aid McKinstry’s character
“Kool-Aid is very competitive, a very smart guy, is a hard worker. Kind of understands what it takes to be successful, does a really good job of applying techniques and trying to do things the right way. And I think that has played well for us so far this season, done a really good job on the punt return. But I think the punt return team has done a really good job of executing, as well. But I think these kinds of guys that have this kind of competitive character are smart, make good choices and decisions in the game, whether it’s what technique to use. The guy I’m covering, how do I need to do it? All those things enhance a guy’s ability to be successful, and Kool-Aid does that extremely well.”
Tony’s take: McKinstry seems like he is becoming a player Saban can truest both on and off the field. He figures to be a leader of the defense down the road.
On handling social media, outside noise, etc
“Obviously, at times, we haven’t handled it very well because I was talking about rat poison last year when we played this game, and nobody wouldn’t listen. Players wouldn’t listen, y’all didn’t listen. They had lost the week before. We were big favorites. It was like no big deal, just show up for this game and go play the next game. I don’t get affected by it because I don’t listen to you all. I don’t really don’t have any interest in what anybody thinks about any of this stuff. I do have an interest in how it affects and impacts the players on our team, and I think it does. And I think they have to show maturity in how they manage and know that external opinion, external noise, whatever you wanna call it – rat poison, whatever it is – absolutely has nothing to do with the outcome of the game.
“Just like fans have nothing to do with the outcome of the game. They don’t block, they don’t tackle, they don’t catch passes, they don’t make sacks. All they do is make noise, and if you wanna take them out of the game, just play well, execute and then they won’t be there. They’ll leave. So there are external factors that cannot affect how you think as a competitor in terms of respecting winning, respecting what you have to do to win and how important it is, knowing that we’re going to get the other team’s best game because they can all get well beating us. So that’s how I try to handle it. Does anybody listen? Sometimes, sometimes not.”
Tony’s take: Saban got hot on this question. There’s obviously going to be a spotlight on this week’s matchup given the feud between Saban and Jimbo Fisher over the offseason. Expect Saban to be a little testy over the next few days as he looks to make sure his players don’t buy into rat poison or provide any bulletin-board material for the Aggies.
On how blocking sets up Jahmyr Gibbs’ cutback lanes
“I think that’s the sign of a really good running back is you help the offensive line by how you stretch the play, press the hole, whatever it is so that you lead them to their blocks. Then when people overplay the blocks or get hooked, you stick your foot in the ground and hit it. And that’s what he did on both of his runs. That’s what he does very well, whether it’s an inside run or an outside run. So that’s part of being a good back. It’s not just take the ball and run it. You have to understand how are we blocking this play? How do I set these blockers up so that they have the best chance to succeed at their blocks? Which these plays were well blocked. He did a great job of running these plays, stretching, finding the seam and cutting. So you’re trying to cut the defense some kind of way. So you’ve got these guys playing outside, you cut these guys off, you press it and that’s where you try to hit it, and that’s what happened.”
Tony’s take: Gibbs is not only fast, he has good vision in the backfield and is able to find his hole quickly. He seems to be getting better each week for Alabama.
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