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Bama
Tames the Cats 52-6
Nick Saban (Alabama Crimson Tide Head Coach)
These post game comments came as
Coach Nick Saban ... I was pleased and proud with the way we went out and competed in the game tonight. Identity was what we wanted to accomplish as far as in terms of being physical, aggressive, kind of relentless, kind f competitive style. Tried to dominate in the second half. For the most part, I thought our players tried to respond to that and do that. There’s obviously a lot of things we need to improve on. A few things we were sloppy on execution; on both sides of the ball. Certainly, we’ll have the right attitude about trying to get that improved upon for the next game. I thought the kicking game overall was an asset for us in the game. Kickoff return certainly set up field position in the beginning of the game. For the most part, I think the kicking game was good for us in terms of controlling the vertical field position of the game. I know we missed a couple of field goals. That’s something we certainly need to work on. But for the most part I thought the kicking game was good. I thought there was a lot of good hitting out there. We had an absence of turnovers. We need to get more turnovers on defense. All in all, their players played hard. I have a lot of respect for those players and how they played out there. Hopefully, they’ll go on a have a great season as well. Questions?
Press Pool ... Did you ever over the course of the night, kind of look around and take it all in being your first game here and all that?
Saban ... Not really. I’m focused on the game and the next play in the game. I was very pleased with the enthusiasm that was demonstrated for our team when we pulled up in the buses before the game. I think that passion and enthusiasm is something we have a tremendous amount of respect for. It certainly excites you about being here and being part of the Alabama football tradition ... the Crimson Tide tradition ... and the people who make it special. And that’s our fans who supported us. I think it was a great atmosphere to play in out there today. This is a special place and we’re going to have a special program and it’s going to make us feel good when we get the kind of football team that those people can be proud of because that’s what it’s really all about for us.
question inaudible ... “Talk about Terry Grant’s night ... first play from scrimmage?”
Terry Grant has been a good player for us. Almost every scrimmage, every situation and opportunity that he’s had he’s had good production and today was no different. I think those kinds of plays he’s capable of making. He’s a great space player, when he gets into the secondary and get him the ball in space, he’s very dangerous in terms of making people miss. He had an opportunity to do that on that play. Early in the game, we ran those kind of plays for him ... pitched the ball to him on the perimeter and got him on the outside. They did a great job of blocking up front and did a great job of hooking their defensive end. A very well executed play, but once he got in the secondary he made the difference. That’s how it is when you have a great back. Most of the times the offensive line is going to block the play for a four or five yard gain. But the great guys, not that Terry’s there only played one game, but the great guys can make those kinds of plays. Terry did that a couple of times tonight and hopefully he’ll be able to continue to do it in the future for us. I was really pleased too with how the other guys played because I think Terry’s the kind of guy we want to have a tandem type of running back situation. That would be beneficial to him. So I was pleased with how all the running backs played in this game.
Without looking at the film, can you comment on how the young, inexperienced front defensive seven did?
Well, I wasn’t ... I mmm ... I think we did OK. They only scored 6 points so ... but I don’t think we were physical enough up front. I just feel like we have to be more physical as a defensive team and more aggressive. I think we’re soft at the point sometimes. But the players played hard and there was a lot of good hitting. The tackling was pretty good, we didn’t have a lot of missed tackles. And we made some mistakes. Some of the young players made mistakes, but that’s why we played this game. Hopefully, they’ll gain experience and won’t make mistakes in the future. The pass the (WCU) tight end caught for a big play ... I think it was on third down ... you know, somebody’s got that guy. We don’t have any defenses where we don’t cover him. So somebody made a mistake on that. Those are the kinds of things you want to clean up. Sometimes the other team makes good plays, but you want to make them physically beat you all the time and not beat yourself. Those are the kinds of plays we want to eliminate.
In terms of building the foundation you want to build ... how important was it for you to go out there tonight and be sharp and not muddle around and score 52 points, in terms of the psyche and confidence of the team as you go forward now.
I think that was the whole deal. My thing to the team was, “It’s not who you are playing, it how YOU play ... how YOU play. You’re going to create an identity for yourself and we’re going to create an identity as a team by how we perform and how we play. Physical, aggressive, tough, lots of effort, lots of discipline, lots of togetherness and team chemistry, playing with a certain amount of intensity, urgency and intelligence to help you execute like you need to execute to play winning football. We want to be relentless in the way we compete. I saw some guy compete pretty well out there. We some guys that didn’t and they got confronted. So ... my theory is if we’re not coaching it, we’re letting it happen. I know you guys think I’m a mean guy and all that stuff, but you know, you’d be mad at me too if I let it go ... right? (smiling)
It didn’t appear there was much substitution going on in the front seven, they played a lot of snaps. Is that kind of the way you want to do it ...
We usually rotate the defensive linemen ... and we rotated the defensive linemen the whole game. We had our four guys, and we rotated a sub-group. But we usually don’t rotate linebackers and don’t rotate people in the secondary. But the big people ... when they run out of gas, they’re usually ... their tank is empty for another day. So what you try to do is manage them so they don’t run out of gas and rotate them so they’ll be fresh at the end of the game and you need to win in the fourth quarter. We had a four man rotation when we were in a 3-4, and we rotated some of the guys in sub. Lorenzo (Washington-#97) rotated out when we were in sub. There was a method to the madness of how many plays they were playing. It may not have been evident, but there was.
Coach, you had great success in the kickoff game and with kickoff return with the new move to the 30-yardline. We seen some games in the past 24-hours ... it seems like its going to change it drastically as far as field position. What’s the importance of getting good field position off that short kick?
Oh, I think it’s important in two areas. It’s important when you’re covering them, to be able to kick the ball and place the ball where you need to get good kick coverage so they don’t get good drive starts. And it’s important on the other side of it relative to you having a good return team and being able to execute your returns because there’s going to be more ball you can field and get good returns on that you create a good positive drive start for yourself
question inaudible ... “How well did #25 Rolando McClain handle the pressure to call plays for the defense as a freshman in his first game?”
I think that’s correct. I think the kid’s got a good attitude. He showed a lot of maturity to go out there and be the signal caller first game in college with a new system. And as you guys think, not the easiest system to learn. But here’s a kid from up north in Alabama who came down and learned it as a freshman called it the whole game and never, ever had a huddle and didn’t have anybody to help him to do it. So he did a fantastic job, but it’s a standard of excellence that we want guys to feel like they have confidence and they can achieve it. Your confidence comes from your preparation. That’s where most young guys get themselves in trouble. They don’t know how to prepare and they don’t prepare for the game. Well I’ll tell you, I have a lot of respect for Rolando McClain because he showed maturity in the way he prepared and he made the call, he’s got pride in performance and because of his pride he wouldn’t go out there and not know what to do in front of his teammates. He showed some leadership in making the calls and doing things and getting it right for the most part. He did a great job.
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© 2007 MuseCo Publishing