After opening its season with a blowout victory over Middle Tennessee State over the weekend, No. 4 Alabama will welcoming in No. 11 Texas to Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday at 6 p.m. CT. Monday, Nick Saban spoke to reporters, addressing his team and the upcoming matchup against the Longhorns. Here’s a transcript of what he said as well as my take on what it means.
Opening statement
“Just a review of the last game. The players played hard in the game, competed well in the game. I thought we played more physical, executed fairly well for the most part. But as in all first games, there’s an opportunity to correct things that we didn’t get quite right. And I think that it shows a lot in terms of how a team is approaching the season in how much you improve from the first game to the second game. And so the players having the right mindset relative to the challenges that we have internally on our team to get better is important to being able to get those things fixed.
“I think that games like this are something that players certainly look forward to. It’s great that Jalen [Milroe] got recognized as the SEC Offensive Player of the Week and Caleb [Downs] the Freshman of the Week. But both of those players who played well and obviously got recognized for it, also have to continue to look at the things that they did well and build on those things. And hopefully, that confidence helps them in the future. But also stay focused on doing the things that they need to do to improve in terms of their consistency in performance and execution. I don’t think there’s anybody on our team who doesn’t have something that they can actually improve on relative to their performance last week.
Tony’s take: There were a lot of positives to take away from Alabama’s blowout win over MTSU, but Saban is always focused on improvement. The Crimson Tide committed only two penalties and won the turnover battle 2-0. However, things should be more difficult this week, and players will need to remained focused to deliver similar results against the Longhorns.
Interestingly enough, Saban broke the news about Milroe and Downs. Milroe shared SEC Co-Offensive Player of the Week honors with Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton, while Downs was named SEC Co-Freshmen of the Week along with Mississippi State kicker Kyle Ferrie. The SEC didn’t announce those two awards until well after Saban’s press conference.
On Texas
“Texas, I think everybody knows Sark [Steve Sarkisian] is a really good coach. They’ve got a really good team. They’ve got a veteran team returning, with 10 starters on offense, six on defense. Really good skill players on offense. Really good quarterback who can throw the ball effectively. They make a lot of explosive plays. [Xaiver] Worthy’s an outstanding receiver. They’ve got good running backs. They’ve got a really good tight end. They’re very good on defense. They play really good up front. They’re physical. They played extremely well in the first game. And they were excellent on special teams. So this is a really good team all the way around, and it’s going to be an opportunity for our team to sort of, you know, where are we as a team? Where are you as a player?
“You’re going to play against a really good player and that usually says, where am I as a player? This is going to be a good barometer for us to find out where are we as a team. We’re going to focus on doing a great job of trying to get our guys to prepare to play a great game and do a good job in terms of execution. I know it will be an exciting game from a fan’s perspective, and we love that atmosphere and environment that they create. But I think one of the things that’s really important for players is can you stay focused on what you need to do and not get affected by a lot of the external factors.”
Tony’s take: Optimism is high for the Crimson Tide, but this week should be a better indication of where things stand with the program. Texas gave Alabama all it could handle in Austin last season. While the Longhorns lost first-round pick Bijan Robinson at running back, they return a quarterback duo of Quinn Ewers and Xavier Worthy, who gave the Tide fits early in last year’s matchup.
As mentioned above, it will be crucial that Alabama demonstrates the same focus it did during the season opener. The Crimson Tide can’t afford to give the Longhorns the same breaks they did last season.
On Jaylen Key, Malachi Moore
“They’re both day-to-day. It’s probably too early to tell what their circumstance will be. It’ll probably be a couple days and we’ll figure it out. But I don’t think either guy has long-term issues, but it’ll be interesting to see how they progress this week.”
Tony’s take: Alabama saw two starting defensive backs suffer injuries on special teams over the weekend as safety Jaylen Key and STAR Malachi Moore both left the game and did not return. Key was replaced by Kristian Story. Following Moore’s injury, Terrion Arnold moved to the slot while Trey Amos took his place at outside cornerback.
While it’s encouraging that neither injury is viewed as a long-term setback, Alabama could struggle if both defenders are unable to go against Texas’ high-powered passing attack this week. Keep in mind, DeVonta Smith is also banged up at the moment.
We’ll probably find out more about the status of Key and Moore on Wednesday. It’s still very possible both players play against Texas.
On Emmanuel Henderson
“He has a hip injury. It’s gonna probably be a few more weeks before he gets back into the swing of things but hard to know exactly when. They’ll do some re-checks on him here in the next week or two. He was having a great fall camp, doing a great job on special teams and made a lot of progress as a receiver, so we’d love to get him back.”
Tony’s take: Alabama was also missing sophomore receiver Emmauel Henderson, who was not dressed out for the game and was seen in crutches on the sidelines. While Henderson is coming off a solid offseaosn, he wasn’t included in the team’s depth chart released before Saturday’s opener. Alabama should be able to manage his absence just fine.
On Caleb Downs
“I think Caleb played really well. He plays fast, he’s physical; I think that was a really challenging game, especially from a young player to have to play with all the formations and adjustments that we had to make, and I think he handled it really, really well.”
Tony’s take: Downs lived up to his five-star hype in his Alabama debut. The true freshman safety led the team with eight tackles, including one for a loss. Meanwhile, he was solid in coverage, allowing two receptions for 16 yards on four ball thrown his way.
That being said, Texas’ offense will be much different than the one Downs faced last weekend. MTSU used a quick-strike passing attack that saw quarterback Nicholas Vattiato deliver the ball within seconds of the snap. Expect Ewers and the Longhorns to let plays develop a bit more and test Alabama’s secondary deep.
On if he looks back at last year’s Texas game
“I think you’re always looking at what a team does technically and it’s always most interesting to see what was their philosophy of what they did technically to, whether it was play defense against you or attack you offensively or what they did on special teams. So I think you use that information as a history of maybe what you might see again, and other things that they did periodically that change. So I don’t think you’d look back on the game from a psychological standpoint as much as you do a technical standpoint.”
Tony’s take: Texas hasn’t changed its philosophy from last year, so of course Saban is going to look back at last season’s matchup. That being said, every team is different, so old tape only goes so far. Alabama will also evaluate the Longhorns’ 37-10 victory over Rice from last week as it prepares for Saturday’s matchup.
On Kendrick Blackshire
“He got into the game, played fairly well. I think that the big thing we work on with Kendrick is consistency and performance. When he’s locked in and focused he plays really, really well but you got to be able to do it all the time so that you develop the kind of confidence, trust in yourself and your teammates that you need to be a consistent player overall. But he played well in the game when he got a chance to play.”
Tony’s take: Blackshire finished with five tackles against MTSU, but the highlight of his performance came when he outmuscled receiver Jacob Coleman by stripping away the football on a tackle. Blackshire served as the backup MIKE linebacker in the opener, playing in 17 defensive snaps. While its only a small sample size, he was Alabama’s highest-graded defender, earning a 94.6 mark from Pro Football Focus.
It’s worth noting that sophomore linebacker Jihaad Campbell did not play during the opener as he is still nursing a knee injury. It will be interesting to see how Blackshire’s minutes are affected upon Campbell’s return.
On the interest in changing to home-and-homes
“I think that one of the reasons that we did neutral-site games was, from a scheduling standpoint, it was a way to get a quality opponent on the schedule early on, which I thought had a lot of benefit in terms of your team developing in the offseason, looking forward to that game. Probably the Clemson game that we had the second year we were here probably did as much to sort of ignite the program in a way. But then after you do that for a while and you start having success, and fans are going to playoff games and bowl games and different things, they don’t have the same significance. Then to have more quality home games for the fans to see becomes a little bit more I think important. I think that’s kind of in a nutshell is sort of why we transitioned back to this. Not to say that if we had an opportunity to play a game somewhere in the future we would, but I think that changes also with conference realignment, and what can happen in the future. So there’s a lot of factors that go into it.”
Tony’s take: As Saban pointed out, there are a few factors that went into the switch from neutral-site games to home-and-homes. While a lot of the decision is based on the current landscape of college football, fans certainly win out as the new approach allows them to check out other campuses as well as welcome some of the nation’s top programs to Tuscaloosa. This week’s matchup against Texas will arguably be the biggest non-conference game in Bryant-Denny Stadium during the Saban era. The last Power 5 team to travel to Tuscaloosa was Penn State in 2010.
On secondary depth and communication
“I think it’s really important all the time. That’s one thing that we’re constantly harping on is to get good communication. Specifically about (Trey Amos, Earl Little II and Kristian Story), some of them played really well. Some of them have things that they can improve on and sort of didn’t play with the poise that you need to play with; maybe a little anxiety in the first game, whatever. But we need all those guys to continue to develop and play well because right now (DeVonta Smith) is already down and we got two other guys that are not able to practice at least today, maybe someday in the near future. So it’s important that we develop young players and these guys have a chance to develop confidence which I think that just the fact that they got to play the game should help them to some degree, see what they need to improve on as well as build on the things that they did well.”
Tony’s take: Alabama’s depth in the secondary will certainly be tested if Moore and Key are unable to return for this week’s game. Alabama should still have enough talent to overcome the two injuries, but it will need its young players to rise to the occasion. As mentioned above, we’ll find out more about the status of Moore and Key later in the week. However, this could be a big issue heading into Saturday’s matchup.
On the feeling coming out of the tunnel for a game (Also a compliment on his hair)
“To me, it’s always exciting, the challenge of playing a game. It’s especially sometimes challenging when you play on the road, and everybody’s against you. And it’s also a great feeling when you play at home and a lot of folks are for you, and the enthusiasm’s great. The players are excited about playing. It’s what you work for all week long. I’m usually a little nervous, sort of leading up to that. When we go out on the field, it kind of all goes away and you start focusing on, OK what’s next? Here’s the coin toss. We’re going to kick off, or we’re going to receive. And then it’s one play at a time, and all that kind of goes away. But it’s exciting. There’s no question about it. Certainly, the great atmosphere we have in Bryant-Denny Stadium contributes to that excitement when we’re playing at home.”
Tony’s take: Unlike last year’s matchup in Austin, Alabama will have a much more friendly environment inside Bryant-Denny this weekend. While it’s interesting to hear Saban speak about his pregame process, I’m a little disappointed he didn’t acknowledge the compliment on his hair. It could have made for a funny moment.
On turnovers against Middle Tennessee
“Well, we got two turnovers. We had a third ball on the ground that we probably should’ve gotten. We didn’t turn the ball over, which is a real plus offensively or on special teams. You always want to have a positive turnover ratio, so we’re +2, so that’s a positive thing. I thought there were times where we could’ve had a little better ball security, which we will point out to the players. There were some other opportunities where we maybe should’ve gotten some balls out. When you’re emphasizing turnovers and not turning the ball over, those are always things you’re trying to focus on.”
Tony’s take: Alabama tied for No. 80 nationally with a -2 turnover margin, so starting the season in the black was certainly welcomed. Still, Saban’s a perfectionist and will always be looking for ways his team can improve.
On Tyler Buchner and Ty Simpson
“I thought both guys handled the situation well. They executed fairly well. I think it’s a good opportunity for both of them to be able to learn from some of the things that they did, get some really good game experience. I thought they both did a good job.”
Tony’s take: Buchner and Simpson were both given limited reps, as starter Jalen Milroe played the majority of the opener. Both backups performed solidly. Buchner completed 3 of 5 passes for 27 yards to go with a 9-yard touchdown run. Simpson completed his lone pass attempt for five yards before while also rushing twice for 12 yards, including a 1-yard touchdown sneak.
On Deontae Lawson
“He’s a bright guy. He’s a signal caller. Didn’t disappoint us at all. In the game on Saturday, we were getting a lot of multiples, lot of different things. But he did a good job. He had a good game. He played well. He was productive, so I think it’s important that we keep getting that type of performance because linebacker’s such an important position in setting the front and stopping the run, but also getting out on run-pass and being able to match the patterns the way you need to. He’s certainly a bright guy and has been able to do that extremely well.”
Tony’s take: Lawson was one of Alabama’s brightest spots on defense, recording seven stops, including two for a loss, to go with a quarterback hurry. The athletic inside linebacker was able to cover sideline to sideline and did a nice job of wrapping up ball carriers, earning an 82.5 tackling grade from PFF.
