TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ā After surviving hard-fought games against Texas A&M and Arkansas the last two weeks, No. 11 Alabama is in for another battle Saturday as it hosts No. 17 Tennessee at 2:30 p.m. CT inside Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Wednesday, Nick Saban spoke to reporters in his final press conference before the game. Hereās a transcript of what he said as well as my takes on his comments.
Opening statement
"I guess what we all do is, we want to be successful. I think success is probably defined by how consistent you can be, in terms of the way you perform, no matter what it is that youāre trying to perform. Two things enhance that: you have to have knowledge and you have to have belief, and sometimes, itās difficult to develop that knowledge because you have to go through some hard lessons of learning and growing to develop that. Itās a big part of preparation, and you have to invest a lot of time.
"The other part of that is relationships and caring enough to communicate, because youāre confident in what youāre doing because you have the knowledge, and now you communicate it. The relationships that you have with other people on the team can actually help you feel good about communicating, and that helps everybody play smarter. That helps everybody play better. I guess thatās what you continue to strive for ā for players, for your team, for individuals ā so we can get the kind of consistency in performance that will help us be successful. Thatās a challenge every week. Itās a challenge every day. Hopefully, people are motivated to do that and are doing the best they can to make the progress we need to make to try to improve."
Tonyās take: Alabama wasnāt consistent during last weekās 24-21 victory over Arkansas, nearly allowing the Razorbacks to pull off the comeback with 15 unanswered points in the second half. So how does the Crimson Tide improve on that?
For one, it takes younger players working even harder to understand their roles and what they need to do to execute on the field. It also comes down to veterans playing with enough confidence to pass on their knowledge and accelerate the growth of their teammates.
The same goes for the mental aspects of preparation as younger players need to learn from moments like last weekend, while older players need to speak up and prevent those letdowns from occuring.
Injury updates on Malachi Moore and C.J. Dippre
āBoth guys have practiced. If they continue to progress like they have, they have a good chance to play, but nobody can predict that right now.ā
Tonyās take: Getting both players back would be a major boost for Alabama against Tennessee.
Mooreās athleticism and tackling ability would certainly be welcomed against the Volunteers spread-out offense. Along with guarding against Tennesseeās multi-receiver sets, the starting slot corner should provide a boost in run support against a Vols rushing attack that leads the SEC averaging 231.33 yards per game on the ground.
Getting Dippre back could be important in guarding against a Tennessee pass rush that is averaging 4.0 sacks per game. The 6-foot-5, 257-pound tight end is a capable blocker and could provide extra protection for Jalen Milroe while also serving as a receiving option on short routes and delayed releases.
On if heās seeing the benefits from the fourth-quarter program while players are trying to string together 60-minute games
āYeah, I see the benefit of it when we play well in the second half, like we did against Ole Miss, or play well in the second half, like we did at Texas A&M. I donāt see the benefit of it when we lose our intensity like we did in the last game, and we donāt play well in the second half and donāt beat the other team in the second half. That may be a little more psychological than it is physical. But I do think that eight games in a row is a grind, psychologically and physically, for everybody. This is the hump time of the season.ā
āYou either have the mental toughness to be able to sustain it and get over the hump, or you donāt. Hopefully weāve got enough guys on our team that have enough mental toughness that theyāll be able to do that for another week, then the bye week gets everybody a little freshened up.ā
Tonyās take: The Third Saturday in October has always presented a challenge, no matter how good Tennessee has been. As Saban said, this is the toughest part of the season as it will be Alabamaās eighth game without an open week. No one on the team is at a full 100% right now, so players are going to have to dig deep within themselves in order to execute to their highest level.
On if it would help his offense to go up-temp
āWell, I think when you go up-tempo, you only get a rhythm if the up-tempo is helping you have successful plays. But the successful plays still come from execution. What is your footwork? What is your hand placement? How does the back press the hole? Whatās the quarterback read? I mean, itās a whole myriad of things. Do we block the right guys on the perimeter?
āAll these things make plays successful. So when you have successful plays and you can stack them back-to-back, and you go with tempo, I think that really puts the defense on their heels. When you go up-tempo and the play doesnāt work ā that doesnāt help. So, it still all comes back to fundamental execution.
āWhen everybody fundamentally executes, then you have a much better chance to have successful plays, and have consistency in what youāre doing. So if you can go fast and do that, I think it can put the defense on its heels. But the first thing you gotta do is execute.ā
Tonyās take: Alabama moved quickly when it was running the ball down Arkansasā throught in the third quarter. However, that only works when the offense is moving the ball. Thereās not use in having three quick negative plays and sending an unrested defense onto back onto the field.
Injury update on Terrence Ferguson II
āHeās doing better, heās practicing every week. I think heās getting better every week. I think heās closer to probably 100 percent this week than he has been. Those high-ankle sprains are not easy to, sort of, get over. It takes a little while to develop the ability to push off and have explosive power, which itās hard to play on the offensive line if you donāt have that.
āHeās worked his tail off to get where he is, and heās really worked hard in practice and gone through a lot to get back to where he is. But I think heās getting pretty close to where we need him to be.ā
Tonyās take: While Ferguson isnāt a starter, getting him back in the fold will give Alabama more options across the offensive line. Its unclear whether or not the 6-foot-4, 322-pound guard will be available against Tennessee, but he should definitely be ready to go after the open week.
On Terrion Arnold saying Caleb Downs is most like Saban
āWell, you can ask Terrion what his opinion is about a lot of things. I like Terrion, heās got a great personality. I donāt evaluate the personalities of the players in the room. I like Caleb Downs, I think heās got a lot of good characteristics as a person. Heās got great competitive attitude about how he goes about things, how he prepares. Heās very serious, he pays attention to detail, really has a lot of pride in performance. I donāt know if anybody can say that about me, so Iām not comparing myself to him at all. But I like the intangibles he plays with and that he has as a person.ā
Tonyās take: Saban isnāt into comparison, especially when it comes to himself. However, the characteristics the head coach rattled off when talking about Downs certainly match his own personality.
On Kool-Aid McKinstryās leadership
āYou know, heās done a good job. He has a lot of confidence in what heās supposed to do and I think heās starting to see the importance of how influencing other people can actually create value for himself. But thatās a little harder to do at corner than it is when youāre playing safety or STAR, because youāre in the middle of things and youāre making calls. But heās done a good job of that.ā
Tonyās take: McKinstry seems like more of a quiet leader, but heās definitely someone the rest of the defensive backs look up to. He might be one of the players Saban was referring to in his opening statement when he called out for individuals to communicate their knowledge to the rest of the team.
