After rolling through Starkville, Mississippi with a 40-17 victory in its first SEC road game of the season, No. 11 Alabama will face a even tougher test this week as it travels to take on Texas A&M on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT.
The Crimson Tide (4-1, 2-0 in the SEC) is just a 2.5-point favorite over the Aggies (4-1, 2-0), who boast the top defense in the conference. Alabama held on for a 24-20 victory during last year’s game against Texas A&M. However, the Aggies upset the Tide, 41-38, during their last meeting in College Station, Texas in 2021.
Here’s a full transcript of what Nick Saban had to say during his Monday press conference as well as my takes on his comments.
Opening statement
“I think that once we got going in the Mississippi State game, we played a lot better. We had some early bumps in the road on offense that were drivestoppers again. But once we got sort of past that, I thought we executed and played well. I think Jalen settled down in the game and played well. And defensively, we played — except for a couple of spurts in the game where I thought we lost our intensity a little bit — played pretty well, made some improvement. We need to build on the things that we’re doing well. We need to eliminate … it’s kind of like when do you say enough is enough when it comes to some of these things that we’re doing to shoot ourselves in the foot, which are easily correctable. We need to get them corrected.
“We’re playing a really good team this week, so it’s going to be really important, I think … They’re playing as well as they’ve played all season long. They’ve gotten better and better and better since the early game. They’ve got a lot of good players. They’re really good on defense. Jimbo does a really good job with them on offense. They’ve got some really good skill players. So it’s going to be really important for us to have the kind of intensity that we need to have throughout the week in practice.
“It’s almost like, hey we’re going to challenge you this week in practice because it’s going to be hard in the game. And you need to be locked in all week long. You need to be ready for the challenge that you’re going to get when you play against a good team on the road in a really tough environment. They’re leading the conference in defense. Very good up front on defense. Very difficult to run the ball against. And they score a lot of points. The combination of those two things make them a really, really good team. It’ll be a real challenge for us.”
Tony’s take: The thing that stood out from Saban’s opening statement is when he asked, “When do you say enough is enough when it comes to some of these things that we’re doing to shoot ourselves in the foot?” I can’t help but thinking that he’s talking about Alabama’s continued snapping woes.
I don’t think Alabama is ready to move on from Seth McLaughlin at center — at least not yet anyway. While his inconsistent snaps have been an issue, the senior is one of the most experienced members of the offensive line and does a good job making sure his fellow linemen know their assignments. That said, if he doesn’t snap out of this and improve his communication with Jalen Milroe soon, his job will be in trouble.
On specialists as tacklers
“I hope they never have to make a tackle if you want to know the truth about it. One of the worst things that could ever happen to us — because we have good specialists — so if we put them in a tackling drill and they get hurt and they can’t kick anymore. They’ve got to kick a lot, they’ve got to tackle a little. So you’ve got to kind of prioritize. You do that some in camp, but I’m just hoping that they never have to make a tackle. And I think if we cover kicks the way we’re supposed to, hopefully they won’t.”
Tony’s take: I can almost guarantee you that Saban wasn’t expecting to get a question on the tackling ability of his kickers, but here we are. Freshman Conor Talty might have made a nice stop on a kickoff against Mississippi State, but that wasn’t due to anything he picked up in practice. Maybe he picked it up from punter James Burnip, who was an Australian rules football player before joining the Crimson Tide.
In all seriousness, Alabama can’t risk getting its specialist hurt while working on their tackling form. As Saban said, the team hopes its specialists don’t find themselves in too many plays where they need to make a stop during games.
On the snapping issues
“We’ve got to have just a little better focus, I think, on the importance of the snap because this has been a pretty consistent issue where it makes it harder for the quarterback to be able to function when he doesn’t have a dependable snap to deal with. Whether he’s faking. Whether it’s a play-action pass. Whether he’s trying to read coverage. So you’ve got to take your eyes off what you want to be looking at to be able to catch the ball. That’s something we’ve been working on and we certainly need to continue working on it and improve, no question.”
Tony’s take: This has to be puzzling for Saban. It’s not like there’s a physical deficiency keeping McLauglin from executing his snaps. The senior center just needs to get out of his own head and shake off this issue one snap at a time.
Trust me, no one is taking the poor snaps harder than McLaughlin himself. Those close to the center tell me that he is extremely frustrated with himself and is dedicating even more time outside of practice this week in order to put this problem behind him for good.
On Caleb Downs
“I think Caleb was a really good player right to start with. I think that one of the things that freshmen especially, they kind of get the defense, they kind of learn what they’re supposed to do. And then you start getting into gameplans where you’ve got to tweak those things a little bit. That’s where the experience really comes into play. Then you can put yourself in the right position more often. But he’s played really, really well for us. He’s bright, smart, very instinctive as a football player. Really works hard to prepare. Very conscientious in terms of making sure that he knows exactly what he’s supposed to do, where he’s supposed to be and how he fits on the plays. I think being a good player and being a very conscientious person, the combination of those two has really enhanced his development and improvement.”
Tony’s take: Caleb Downs took home Co-SEC Freshman of the Week honors after recording a season high 13 tackles and his first career interception against Mississippi State. He also earned a season-high 90.6 coverage grade against the Bulldogs, according to Pro Football Focus.
Alabama already has one of the SEC’s top secondaries with two lockdown cornerbacks in Kool-Aid McKinstry and Terrion Arnold as well as an experienced playmaker in Malachi Moore at the STAR position. With Downs now beginning to consistently play up to his five-star potential, it adds yet another thing for opposing quarterbacks to worry about.
On the progress of left tackles
“I thought they played better in this game. This is probably the best they played all year. The offensive line as a whole played one of their better games against a difficult front that stunts a lot. But [Kadyn Proctor] probably played the best he’s played all year, which is a good thing and hopefully there’ll be some confidence and I still think we have confidence that [Elijah Pritchett] can do a good job for us as well.”
Tony’s take: Kadyn Proctor made his fifth straight start at left tackle, but Elijah Pritchett once again saw some time with the first-unit against Mississippi State.
As Saban pointed out, Proctor put together his best performance of the season, allowing just one pressure over 20 pass-blocking snaps. Pritchett took part in just 15 total snaps at left tackle but didn’t allow a pressure and was solid as a run-blocker.
Proctor is still Alabama’s man at left tackle, but Alabama likes both of its options at the position. I expect both players to start next year when J.C. Latham is expected to make way for the NFL.
On Dallas Turner
“Dallas has always been a good player for us. He’s always a hard worker, really conscientious guy, has sort of a high standard for how he wants to play and do things. This year I think he’s trying to take on a little bit more of a leadership role in terms of how he can impact and affect other people on the team, which I think he’s done a good job of and he’s played really well for us.”
Tony’s take: Dallas Turner is on fire. Over his last three games, the five-star edge rusher has recorded seven tackles for a loss with 5.5 sacks and two forced fumbles. He’s also one of the biggest voices in the locker room and the creator of Alabama’s DOA [Dead on Arrival] mentality on defense.
On how quarterbacks develop internal clocks
“I think practice, the one thing that you can do in practice and get away with is not have to play with the right time clock to use your terminology, in terms of the rush is not going to be as quick. You can hold the ball and try to figure things out, but then in the game that all changes. So I think creating circumstances in practice where you have to get caught on time and you’re constantly talking about getting the ball out on time, I think that’s really, really important for guys to develop that sense of time clock. And its timing of the play. Sometimes you can hold the ball and the play opens for a second then it closes so you have to throw the ball on time, that’s very important and we have to keep working on that.”
Tony’s take: Jalen Milroe is getting better a seeing the field and making smart decisions with the ball, but he’ll have to do so at a quicker pace against Texas A&M. The Aggies have one of the nation’s best defensive lines and will likely bring plenty of pressure this weekend. If Milroe holds onto the ball as long as he did against Mississippi State, he’ll be in for a long day. That said, the redshirt sophomore is beginning to look more comfortable behind center, and things should begin to speed up for him.
On Jeremiah Alexander at inside linebacker
“I think it’s something we’ve been considering. Jeremiah was developing nicely as an outside backer. Wasn’t getting to play much, so the injury kind of enhanced this is the right time to do this. I think it could be good for us in the future.”
Tony’s take: Dean wrote about this earlier today. Alabama has moved redshirt freshman edge rusher Jeremiah Alexander to inside linebacker to create more depth while Deontae Lawson is out with an ankle injury. However, it wouldn’t be a surprise to the Crimson Tide make the switch permanent once Lawson does return.
Given Alabama’s depth on the edge, Alexander might have a clearer path to playing time down the road if he sticks inside. Last year we saw Drew Sanders transfer to Arkansas where he switched to inside linebacker and led the Razorbacks in tackles (103), tackles for a loss (13.5) and sacks (9.5). Like Sanders, Alexander should have all the necessary traits to excel as a middle linebacker.
On the quarterback-cake analogy and if he has one for the defense
“It needs to grow every week. I think the whole team needs to grow every week. I think there’s so many things that we can improve on. There’s so many things that if we can learn and pay attention to detail and have a sense of urgency and sustain that, whether it’s practice, games, whatever, we’re gonna eliminate some of our negatives that have proven pretty costly. You can say we won the game, but you want to eliminate some of the mistakes. Because you always look at the play and say, ‘OK, did he make a play because of what they did and how they executed it or is there some error on our part that allowed them to make a play?’ And those are things you need to eliminate because then you’re playing with a little more consistency. The whole object is to be make the other team beat you, don’t beat yourself.”
Tony’s take: All valid points. But to answer the question, no, it does not appear Saban has an analogy on hand for the defense.
On Miss Terry’s thoughts of the Mississippi State game
“Well, she waited up for me to get home so that was a good thing. But it was one of the first games she’s missed and didn’t go to since we’ve been here. I think it is the first game actually. So she says she can see what’s happening a lot better on TV. So, I got coached up quite a bit when I got home.”
Tony’s take: Thanks, ESPN, for ruining Miss Terry’s streak of games. This 8 p.m. CT kickoff was a tough one for everyone. Terry did her part though, inspiring Saban to return to his typical fiery self on the sideline.
On if pays attention to rankings and standings
“Alright, look, we’re trying to play one game at a time. We’re trying to improve our team. I can’t tell you where we’re ranked. I can’t tell you what the standings are. I think everybody kind of realizes the importance of every game that we play. The whole focus is how can we play better. How can we play good? How can we improve not worrying about some outcome-oriented thing that may happen two months from now? I’m focused on what am I gonna do in the next five minutes, the next 30 minutes, the next hour, the next two hours, the next three hours to help us play better as a team. That’s all I care about and I think that’s my job. So we got guys like this guy over here who can do standings and rankings and put a poll together and say who should be this and that, he’s good at that. I thank him for it. It’s less time I have to spend doing it.”
Tony’s take: No, Nick Saban doesn’t pay attention to rankings or standings. You know that. I know that. The person who asked this question likely knows that. However, sometimes people like asking questions they know the answer to. Almost all the time those questions are asked by television people.
On Jihaad Campbell’s communication as a linebacker
“We practiced it all week, discipline eye control is one of the most important things in playing football. Like everybody grows up watching the ball. I’ve talked about this before. So that’s how you watch a game. But when you’re playing a game, you have specific keys and things to look at. Like if the guard pulls, it doesn’t matter which way the back goes, your key says go this way. When they run a slider, you gotta know when you gotta fall back and when you don’t. We just gotta keep working and working on those things. And I think communication, you know, helps that. We’re constantly on the secondary to communicate because if they communicate it makes it easier for the linebackers to know how and when what they’re supposed to do. So Jihaad makes a lot of plays and he’s developing nicely at the position. But experience is going to be critical for him to continue to grow and develop.”
Tony’s take: Jihaad Campbell tallied a team-high 14 tackles and recorded his first career interception during his starting debut against Mississippi State. However, there were a few times when the sophomore missed his assignment while filling in for Lawson at the WILL linebacker position. Those types of growing pains are common for young players. Look for Alabama to lean on redshirt senior MIKE linebacker Trezmen Marshall to continue to guide Cambell on the field while Lawson is out.
