Football 🏈 Tony's takes: Breaking down Saban's comments heading into Texas A&M

[Tony_Tsoukalas]

After blowing through Starkville, Mississippi State last week, No. 11 Alabama will continue SEC play on the road Saturday when it takes on Texas A&M at 2:30 p.m. CT inside Kyle Field. Wednesday, Nick Saban spoke to reporters in his final press conference before the matchup.

Here’s a transcript of what he said as well as my takes on his comments.

Opening statement

“I’ve been pretty pleased with the way the players are sort of working this week in preparing for this game. I sort of challenged them with what is really your priority to be the best player you can be? What is your priority to do what you need to do to help the team win? And if that’s your priority, then that’s what you’re doing every day. It’s not priorities, aight, where it’s not always comfortable. Sometimes it’s hard. Sometimes you have to overcome adversity.

So you’ve got to kind of have the mental toughness to not let those things get you to back down and to continue to persevere. And I think the players have been doing a pretty good job of that so far this week. This is obviously a really good team. We’re going to play in a tough environment and we’re going need to continue to show a lot of progress so that we’ll have a chance to be successful and be able to execute the way we need to have a chance to win on the road.

Tony’s take: This one isn’t going to be easy. Alabama is going to play a tough team in one of college football’s most difficult environments this week. However, that’s life in the SEC West. If the Crimson Tide is going to make it out of College Station, Texas with its national title hopes still intact, it’s going to need its players to be tough-minded and focused on the task at hand.

On Amari Niblack

“He’s doing great. He’s a really good receiver. He’s improved as a blocker. This year, his confidence and knowledge of the offense and what he’s doing, how to do it, why it’s important to do it that way is so much better, and I think it’s starting to show up in how productive he is on the field as a player.”

Tony’s take: Amari Niblack was the only Crimson Tide player to record more than two receptions last week, coming away with three catches for 61 yards during Alabama’s blowout win over Mississippi State. No only is the 6-foot-4, 233-pound tight end one of Alabama’s top receiving threats this year, he’s improved his blocking ability enough to contribute as an in-line tight end.

On the NCAA shrinking the transfer portal windows

“I don’t even know what they did. Can you tell me? I really don’t know. I’m sure there was good reason for whatever they did to do what they did. I’ve said before, I’m all for players having rights to do the things that they want to do, and I’m all for name, image and likeness and guys being able to do things that create value for them. I’m not just paying guys to play. That’s not what name, image and likeness was supposed to be. I don’t really know what they did today, so I really shouldn’t comment on it.”

Tony’s take: The NCAA announced Wednesday that the December transfer portal window for football will be reduced from 45 to 30 days.

Athletes will now have 30 days to notify their teams of an intention to transfer beginning on the Monday after conference championship week. Players on teams in the College Football Playoff will be given an additional five days at the end of the December window. Meanwhile, the spring window, which runs from April 15-30 will remain the same.
I doubt Saban was totally unaware of this, but he probably didn’t know the numbers well enough to make a comment he was comfortable with.

On offensive communication on the road

“I think the big day for that is – it’s really important. We’ve been emphasizing it all week, but tomorrow is always the day that we practice with noise. I know the centers and the quarterbacks have worked a little bit extra on that with noise this week. But tomorrow will be the day that we need to really go through the whole practice and be able to deal with noise, and that’s really when you can see how much it’s going to impact the players. We’ve had some issues with the snap count, so hopefully, that’s not going to be a problem for us and we can get that resolved.”

Tony’s take: There won’t be any cowbells, but Kyle Field can get even louder than Davis Wade Stadium was last week. Alabama typically moves indoors to work on noise control during Thursdays before road games, blaring its speakers to simulate 100,000 screaming fans. That being said, there’s no way to truly replicate the hostile environment the team will be facing this weekend.

On if there there a benefit to seeing Max Johnson while he was at LSU?

“Not really. He’s a good player, he’s got a lot of experience, he’s smart, he makes good decisions — he’s been in the system with Jimbo for a long time, so he’s a veteran player. The quarterback that got hurt was a very good player but he’s a very, very good player. He’s played well against us in the past. We have a lot of respect for him. I don’t really see a lot of a difference in their ability to be productive and use their weapons they have to run the ball effectively as well as do a good job of passing it.”

Tony’s take: Alabama went up against Max Johnson twice while he was at LSU, beating him and the Tigers 55-17 during a trip to Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 2020 before scraping out a 20-14 victory inside Bryant-Denny Stadium the following year. Johnson completed a combined 27 of 49 passes (55.1%) for 270 yards and two touchdowns with an interception over those two losses.

Still, it’s been two years since Alabama has seen him, and he’s matured as a passer since then. In his first start filling in for injured starter Conor Weigman last week, Johnson completed 17 of 28 passes for 210 yards and two touchdowns with an interception while helping to lead Texas A&M to a 34-22 victory over Arkansas.

On if he sees signs of Bobby Petrino in Texas A&M’s offense?

“Yeah I think you can see it. But I also think that there’s philosophically some of the things that Jimbo likes to do. I don’t think those guys think that differently. But there are some things that Bobby has done in the past that you see them doing now that they’ve added to what they do and it’s all very effective.”

Tony’s take: There was some question over how Texas A&M would use first-year offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino this this season as Aggies head coach Jimbo Fisher seemed reluctant to hand over the play-calling duties in the offseason. Fisher and Petrino are both great offensive minds, so it’s likely the Aggies rely on both of them during games.

On dealing with Texas A&M’s defensive front

“I think it’s a combination of both. I think we got to do a much better job of having a firm pocket and protecting the quarterback against really good pass rushers. And I also think it’s important that we get the ball out of our hand on time so that we don't give them an opportunity to affect us. So it's really a combination of both — and it’s a combination of the receivers getting open, playing fast, so that we can make quick decisions about what we do and how we get rid of the ball.”

Tony’s take: Alabama is tied for No. 127 out of 133 FBS teams, allowing 20 sacks this season. Meanwhile, Texas A&M is tied for third with 20 sacks of their own. That’s a scary combination for the Crimson Tide heading into this weekend.

Alabama will likely draw up some plays to get the ball out of Jalen Milroe’s hands quicker. However, the Alabama quarterback will need to improve his awareness and speed up his internal clock against the Aggies.

 

[Vaughnbama]

This is premium content. Please subscribe to view.

 

[bigfoot balls]

This is premium content. Please subscribe to view.