Football 🏈 Tony's takes: Breaking down what Nick Saban said following Alabama's win at Mississippi State

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Making its first SEC road trip of the season, No. 12 Alabama silenced the cowbells inside Davis Wade Stadium, blowing out Mississippi State, 40-17. Despite the big win, Nick Saban told reporters after the game that the Crimson Tide is not where it needs to be but said there was still plenty for his team to build on from the game.

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

Opening statement

“There’s a lot of things that we can improve on, but I also think that there’s a lot of good things that we need to build on. And I think there’s signs of the way we played in the second half against Ole Miss, and at times, the way we played in this game tonight, where we’ve just got to build on that. Not where we want to be, we’re not where we need to be. Players have to be committed to continuing to try to stack on the improvements that we’re making at every position and do a better job.

“Obviously, we didn’t play the run as well as we’d like to tonight, but they were more committed to running it than we thought they’d be, especially on third down. But I think that when the defense started out great and finished the game great, got three turnovers, and I think the offense controlled the line of scrimmage and played pretty well. I think Jalen was efficient, but there are still times where I think with more confidence he’ll even be more consistent, and his ability to make plays with his feet is always something that can be a great benefit.

“I believe in this team. I like this team. We’ve got some guys beat up and it hurts a little bit. Lawson, the signal-caller out there, Trezmen Marshall did a really good job, but Jihaad’s a little inexperienced. Those two guys playing together has been really good for us. I don’t know when those guys will be back, so don’t even ask. We probably won’t know until midweek. Nobody is really banged up bad tonight that I know about.

“This is a tough game for us. It always is. We’ve been coming over here for lots of years, and we’ve had a lot of tough games. And it was a physical, tough game tonight, and I’m proud of our players for the way they finished and the way we competed in the game.”

Tony’s take: Despite calling Mississippi State the toughest team Alabama had faced since Texas, Saban wasn’t content with his team’s 23-point road victory Saturday night. The Crimson Tide was inconsistent on offense and allowed Mississippi State to run for 154 yards and a touchdown. While it was an overall solid performance from Alabama, the Tide will need to polish up some of its mistakes for next weekend’s trip to Texas A&M.

On being animated on the sideline

“Well, Miss Terry told me if we’re not playing good to get on their butt, so I just did what I was told.”

Tony’s take: Angry Saban was back as the head coach showed his frustration several times on the sideline. The spirited outbursts came after Saban appeared to be more subdued following poor performances against Texas and South Florida earlier this season. No one knows Saban better than his wife, Terry. She gets a game ball here for sparking her husband into his usual self.

On Alabama’s first non-offensive touchdown

“I think it was great. We had great field position early in the game. James (Burnip), what was it, a 67-yard punt or whatever, which was helpful. I think scoring on defense is always something that players dream about, think about, always want to do. So it was good to see. Hopefully, we can keep getting turnovers and not turning the ball over. We had a couple balls on the ground tonight that we didn’t lose. So ball security is really important. But if you’re going to score on defense, you’ve got to get turnovers, and Bras did a great job on that one. We run the pressure into the boundary – he was playing defensive end, and he dropped to the field. I think it probably confused the quarterback a little bit, and he did a great job. A big play in the game.”

Tony’s take: Alabama senior edge rusher Chris Brasswell recorded Alabama’s first non-offensive touchdown when he returned a tipped interception 28 yards for a score in the first quarter. That was one of three turnovers the Tide recorded on the day as Brasswell, sophomore linebacker Jihaad Campbell and true freshman Caleb Downs all recorded their first career interceptions.

Alabama has six interceptions through five games this season. Last year, the Tide recorded just seven over 13 games.

On how to get Jalen Milroe more confidence

“I think he’s building more confidence every day. I think he’s played better in each game, and I think he’ll continue to do that as he gets experience. I think we’re all a little smarter as we get older because we have more experience, and I think as he gains more experience, he’s going to gain more confidence. He’s very committed in preparing the right way and doing the things that he needs to do to be able to play well in the game, and I think as he gets more comfortable understanding defense, he’ll be able to make quicker decisions and he’s going to be fine.”

Tony’s take: Jalen Milroe didn’t attempt a pass until the second quarter and still has a ways to go before he matures as a passer. However, it’s hard to get upset with his stat line Saturday night.

The sophomore completed 10 of 12 passes (83.3%) for 164 yards while posting a quarterback rating of 198.1. He also led the Crimson Tide in rushing, recording 69 yards and a pair of scores despite taking four sacks.

Perhaps Milroe’s most important stat was that he finished the night 4 of 4 for 82 yards on passes that traveled 10-19 yards through the air past the line of scrimmage. Previously this season, Milroe was 4 of 11 for 99 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions on intermediate passes. His improvement in that area of his game should be a big source of confidence moving forward.

On the offensive line

“They played really well. Those guys – I mean, even you all can tell that they were plugging and stunting a lot, right? It’s what I told you they’d do (laughs). And that’s really tough on offensive linemen, when you have to block movement and pluggers all the time, and I think the offensive line did a fantastic job controlling the line of scrimmage. I don’t know what we ended up rushing for. And I think that’s important to our team to have that kind of balance.”

Tony’s take: Saban doesn’t like talking about his offensive line before he can evaluate his linemen on film. However, it was clear that this was one of the unit's best performances of the season. Alabama turned in an old-school performance, running for 193 yards and three touchdowns. The Tide recorded 157 of those rushing yards in the first half as it used a physical offensive attack to wear down Mississippi State’s defense while subduing the raucous crowd inside Davis Wade Stadium.

On using the shotgun and pistol formations in short-yardage situations

“I watch games on TV, and everybody’s in the gun. Some people never get under center. When we’re in the gun, we clap. The players get in a rhythm. When you get under center, you have to go on voice command, and it was pretty loud out there on a couple of those occasions and I think we had some things that we wanted to do in short-yardage with the quarterback under, but I think we were a little apprehensive about using verbal cadence. When I played, everybody was in an I-formation and the quarterback was under center. We watched a movie last night called The Program, which was like 30 years ago, which I played 30 years before that. And that’s the only formation there was in the whole game was the I-formation, all under center. So now the quarterback’s never under center. You’ve got to worry about getting the snap and you’ve got to worry about voice command. But I do think there is a place in short-yardage situations where the quarterback being under center and not handing the ball off five yards deep in the backfield – but you can’t allow penetration like we did either. So it still comes down to executing. All them other plays that we ran in the game that made – how many yards did we have rushing? 193 – we were in the gun every time. Explain that to me. You’ve asked about this two times in a row, so I know you’re a quarterback-under-center guy. I know that.”

Tony’s take: This was my question Saturday night. However, to be fair, it was 247’s Mike Rodak who asked Saban about Alabama’s decision to go out of the shotgun on first-and-goal from the 1-yard line against Ole Miss earlier this week. Still, I don’t mind being labeled a “quarterback-under-center guy,” especially when it comes to short-yardage situations.

Roydell Williams was stuffed after taking a shotgun handoff on third-and-1 from the Mississippi State 29-yard line. I understand Saban’s reasoning for trying to avoid vocal counts when possible. However, in times like those, the Tide needs to be able to go under center where it can utilize Milroe’s 6-foot-2, 220-pound frame on quarterback sneaks.

To Alabama’s credit, it eventually did just that on a third-and-1 in the third quarter. Sure enough, Milroe pushed ahead for 2 yards to pick up the first down. I appreciated that one, and I bet Saban did, too. Deep down, I know he's a "quarterback-under-center guy" as well.

On Alabama’s defensive signal-caller with Deontae Lawson out

“Trez did. Trez did it. He did fine. We had a couple mistakes with the ‘backers. When they run sliders and the tight end comes across the backfield, depending on what the defense is and what the fit is, everybody’s got to know how do I slide back in my gap and who takes the guy? Well, a couple times – one time for sure – we didn’t take him. A couple other times, we took them when we weren’t supposed to take him. So that linebacker that was taking him should have been playing a gap. And that comes with experience. But Trez did a really good job in the game. I was really pleased with him. He’s been a really good addition for us. He’s got maturity. He’s an older guy. He doesn’t get rattled out there. He’s got a lot of mental toughness. And he’s been a really solid player for us all year.”

Tony’s take: With Deontae Lawson sidelined due to an ankle injury, Georgia transfer Trezmen Marshall took over signal-calling duties for Alabama's defense. There were a few times when Alabama linebackers failed to pick up their assignments. However, Marshall put in an overall solid performance, recording nine tackles, including two for a loss with 1.5 sacks.

Lawson could miss a couple more games with his injury, so Alabama will need Marshall and sophomore Jihaad Campbell to continue to step up moving forward. Campbell earned his first career start in replacement of Lawson, finishing with a team-high 14 stops, including one for a loss with 0.5 sacks. He also recorded his first career interception, setting up an Alabama touchdown right before the half.

On Alabama limiting Will Rogers over the years

“He’s a really good player. I didn’t really realize what you just said. But he’s a really good player. The last couple years when they were always in four wideouts, we did all kinds of junk where you knew they were going to pass. Well, we had some of that junk out for them tonight, and they ran the ball every time on 3rd and 8 and made a first down. So I just think the guy’s an outstanding player. I’ve got a tremendous amount of respect for him. I thought our players did a good job of not allowing them to have explosive plays, especially throwing, because that was my concern going into the game. I was concerned about can we stop them running, which we didn’t do a very good job of. But they ran the ball in some situations that we didn’t think they would. And we were able to limit the explosive plays that he made in the game, and I think early pressure on him was a positive thing for us.”

Tony’s takes: Will Rogers is one of the best quarterbacks in Mississippi State history, already throwing for 11,775 yards and 89 touchdowns over his three-plus seasons with the Bulldogs. However, the senior has struggled during his four career games against Alabama.

Rogers completed 15 of 27 passes for 107 yards and a touchdown with three interceptions during Saturday night’s game. It was the second time the Crimson Tide has held him to less than 200 yards and as well as the second time it has picked him off three times in a game. Over four career games against Alabama, Rogers has completed 104 of 179 passes (58.1%) for 785 yards and a touchdown with eight interceptions. That’s an average of just 4.38 yards per attempt and 196.25 yards per game through the air.

 

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