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to Home Games 2008 front page read Saban's comments from Tulane ... Western Kentucky ... Kentucky ... Ole Miss ... Ark. State ... and other interviews from 2007 Alabama Dominates Homecoming 35-0 These are the post game comments and interviews with Coach Nick Saban following the Arkansas State game … Coach Nick Saban … We're pleased with the way our guys kind of rounded out today. I think the challenge for us in this game was "Do you have more to give?" We need to improve as a team. We want to play to our capacity and to improve as a team. You just simply ask yourself, whether you're a player or coach or whatever, "Did I do that?" What we're attempting to develop is a lead attitude with high expectations of what you expect to do every time you go out there and play. Tiger Woods, when he's asked, says "You never arrive." If you have that kind of attitude you're always trying to get better and always trying to improve and you're working toward expectations. The choices you make are very important to being able to do that. Hopefully our players will continue to make good choice in this game. It's obviously great for your defense anytime you shut them out. I think it says a lot about Kirby and Kevin (Steele) and the entire defensive staff about the job they did in terms of this "zone offense" because they were a pretty good offensive team with a pretty good quarterback. Offensively, we certainly moved the ball but maybe didn't pass it as well as we would have liked at times. We made some plays in the passing game but didn't have the consistency like we'd like to be and like we have been. We need to continue to work and develop that. We squandered some scoring opportunities which was a problem for us in the 1st half. Turned it over in the red zone and missed a field goal. Defensively I thought the guys responded well, especially when they moved the ball on us. Their zone option ... we didn't always play the run as thick as we have. They made some runs at times but when they crossed 50 our players really played well and I think that was the real key for us today. I think Rashad (Johnson) had an outstanding game today ... lots of tackles (13 tackles/2.5 TFL) and returned an interception for a touchdown. He been a real good player for us all year long. Mark Ingram, who has struggled a little bit the last couple of weeks sure did look good today. He practiced well all week, and played really well and ran it really well in the game. Glenn (Coffee) actually got a bruise on his bicep. I think he'll be just fine. Mark bruised his knee on that last run, but no real issue or problem. I don't think either of those guys will be an issue for the first part of the week. Press Pool ... Coach, could you tell us a little about the defense on the play where Rashad got the interception for the touchdown? It looked like a jailbreak blitz from one or two directions ... Well, we blitzed ... they were in 4 wideouts ... how technical do you want me to get? They used scan protection where the back goes from one side to the other, so they can't block both guys coming off the edge. They couldn't block #26 (Ali Sharrief) and had to throw the ball hot. Threw it a little bit high because we pushed the pocket good and Rashad had good coverage on him. He made a good play and a good run and that was a really big play in the game because we were struggling a little bit there at the time. It was just 7-0 and it worked out well for us. We had a lot better success today when we rushed 5 and 6 guys and played man-to-man coverage. We played split-safety coverage one time where we carried him down the field and he (ASU QB-Corey Leonard)) took off running for about 15 yards and a 1st down. That was not the plan going in. We knew we'd have to push it the other way. Anytime you play any split-safety/soft coverage, they guy is such a good athlete it's hard for the four guys rushing to get him on the ground. Once he (QB) comes out of there everyone's back is turned and running with the receivers. After that play we did a pretty good job on 3rd down and pushed the pocket pretty well on them. I wanted to hear a little more about the pass rush today. It seemed like with a mobile quarterback, especially with (Brandon) Deaderick and (Bobby) Greenwood, they kept constant pressure on his all day. We did and I think a lot of those circumstance were to create 5-on-5 blocking situations where their 5 guys had to block our 5 guys. Sometimes we ran twists, but they couldn't help each other. When the center helps one way or the other and knocks the tackle out, that's what creates a running lane for the quarterback sometimes when he steps up in the pocket. That's what happened on the first one when he ran for a 1st down. So I thought the guys did a really good job of that. The key to it is creating those situations and playing good on 1st and 2nd down. They were 2-for-12 on 3rd down and we stopped them on 4th down a couple of times. How do you think your defense has improved throughout the year? What kind of progress has it made and where do you think it needs to make more progress the rest of the season? We're going to get challenged by some pretty good teams coming up with some pretty good skill players. We've done some good things at times and stopped the run pretty well, played pretty good scoring defense and been hard to score on. But at the same time we'd like to get more turnovers. We've been a pretty good 3rd down team for the most part. We'd like to minimize the big plays the other team creates for themselves. We have a lot of improving to do and I think our players look at it that way and they've worked hard to try and do it. I do think there's a pretty good understanding of the scheme and we make less mental errors. I think that's been a really big key to the improvement throughout the course of the year is we don't make a lot of mistakes. Seems like you left 10 points or so on the field in the 1st half and voiced some frustration at halftime about that ... Well ... I'm never happy about that. You want to finish drives. You want to finish plays. You want to be a good scoring team in the red zone. You want to score touchdowns, but you also just want to score points. (The interception) We probably forced that one a little bit and the guy did a good job of cutting the receiver off. Then we had a good drive and bogged down in 2-minute just before halftime and missed the field goal. We had plenty of time to continue the drive and score. Leigh has been pretty consistent this year with the field goals, but he certainly missed that one a little bit to the left. The wind was kind of blowing that way and I think that helped that a little bit too. I get really frustrated when we don't score every time we get it. I also get frustrated when we don't stop them when they've got it. So (begins to smile) I stay frustrated a lot (press room laughs). Did you think John Parker (Wilson) was a little out of sync today or was it the passing game in general? I think they played a little bit of matchup coverage sometimes and that forced him to hold the ball. They played man-to-man a few times and our guys didn't get any from them as good as we needed to. We made of couple of very good catches, but also had a couple of drops in critical situations that could have changed field position. And we had a couple of shots that we took in the game and just missed the throw. Those are the kinds of things we have to keep working on and we have to get more consistent at. When we've done those things well we've been a really good offensive team. That's the key to the drill for us is to have that balance. Even though we made some plays in the passing game today we were not as good as we'd like to be. A lot of the players talked this week about all the posters and billboards that were put up from last year's loss to Louisiana-Monroe, and you've talked about respecting and discipline and all that. Do you think the players are really getting that now? The way they played today would kind of indicate that. If I was going to answer the questions that I ask them ... "Did we dominate this team?" "Did you played better than you played last week?" "Do you have more to give?" We have some guys that played really well today and they would answer that question, "Absolutely." But we also have some guys that would honestly have a tough time answering that question "Absolutely." So did we succeed at what we tried to do? To some degree, but maybe not all the way. But at the same time, there is more consistency. We have more guys getting it. We're starting to develop that attitude of "Be as good as you can be." and "Don't play to your opponent." All those kind of things. It's about you and what you can do. It's pride in performance and being the best you can be at what you're trying to do. That's what we're trying to get the players to do and we're making progress and they're making progress and we've got more and more players who are getting to that. It's the only way you can improve. Also, now that it's the next game have you thought about going down to LSU again ... (Saban cuts off the question ...) I haven't really thought about it yet, but it ain't going to be about me. It's going to be about our players and about our team. And I don't care how hard anybody tries to make it about something else, it's not going to be. Aight? So I'm kind of giving you a little forewarning. If somebody wants to get a 'you-know-what' chewing this week, that'll be a good way to get it. (a few chuckles from the press pool) Because it's not going to be about that. This team is 9-0, aight, and has played extremely well all year long and LSU has a very, very good football team ... a very good team. They were national champs last year. They've lost to two Top 10 opponents this year. They're a very, very good football team and we have to play them on the road and it's going to be about our players and their players and the players on the field. That's what it should be about. And if anybody makes it about something else then you're not really being fair to the players Coach, the first offensive drive of the 2nd half, there were three runs to the left ... did you see something? No, we ran the ball out of three wideouts and 2 tight ends well the 1st half. We just didn't stay with it. Then we decided at halftime that was going to be the way we went out and ran it and did a good job. We blocked it well and the receivers blocked well. That's what made a big play running. It was a good drive and it was a good way to start the 2nd half. Coach, I know you still have a couple of days but do you anticipate Terrence Cody being back at practice on Monday? Terrence, we're going to try to get to practice and see how he progresses by Monday. I don't anticipate anything. But we feel like he's progressed in his rehab enough to where he may do some practicing this week. And assuming he's back, where would ... (Saban cuts off the question ...) I can't afford to assume anything. You're asking me hypothetical questions. I've got enough problems dealing day-to-day with what I have to deal with. So there is no assumption. So I don't have to make that decision, aight, until we know he can play and we see how the other guys play relative to him. We've got to let that happen. You can make an assumption if you want to, but I'm not going to make it until he can do it. Because that's how I've got to be fair to all of our players in terms of what they've done. Terrence played well when he was in there. A player shouldn't lose his position because of injury. But how much he's going to be back in terms of his effectiveness because of that injury ... I don't know. I don't have a crystal ball. Coach, you just mentioned being 9-0 at this point in the season. Can you put into perspective what you feel ... (Saban cuts off question ... ) Well, I shouldn't have mentioned that. I was just trying to emphasize the fact that our players have done a really good job. We actually didn't have much respect starting out. Got some and then lost it in the middle by how we played. Then got it back last week. We did all that and never even lost a game. But it doesn't really matter what our record is right now and it doesn't matter about any of the other stuff. The thing I was trying to emphasize about our players up to this point is they shouldn't be satisfied with that and we shouldn't be satisfied with it. We need to continue to progress as a team so we can finish this year the way we need to finish it so we have the opportunity to accomplish maybe something special. But at the same time we have to play them one game at a time and we have a very good opponent coming up this week and we have plenty to focus on for this game.
click to read the post game comments following the Arkansas State game ... for other Homes Games 2008 interviews Bobby Greenwood (#93 DL Sr. 3L 6'-5" 278 lbs. Prattville High, Prattville AL)
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