Alabama football postgame interviews with Mike Shula, Joe Kines, Shaud Williams, Charlie Peprah and more and more

Charlie Peprah (#26 So. LCB, 5-10 189 lbs. Plano, TX - Plano East High School)

Senior Charlie Peprah continued his knack for the big play with an interception returned for a touchdown

These comments came during Charlie Peprah's post game comments to the press pool ... (edited)

Charlie Peprah - Charlie Peprah … Seeing what you can do … that’s the big thing for the first game. Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, we’ll go watch film and get ready for Oklahoma.

Talk about the interception returned for a touchdown. It must have seemed a little like déjà vu.

(laughs) Yeah! I don’t know what to say. This one just kind of fell into my lap, I didn’t have to work too hard. It was a little screen play. I got picked on it, so Charles (Jones) was going to run and take my man. It was a high pass. The receiver tipped it and couldn’t hold onto it. I just reached out and got it, and ran to the end zone.

How frustrating was it the way they kept completing passes? It looked like you guys were on them pretty well.

They made some great catches … especially on me. #15 (Huey Whittaker) made an good catch. My hand was on the ball and I even tried to pry it out. It came out for a split second, but he caught it again. They made some great plays, but that’s going to happen no matter who you play. They’re not a bad team at all! I don’t want anyone to underestimate them. We knew they were going to catch some … some slants here, a little
crossing route … but we tightened it up second half and put more pressure on them.

Everybody just knew we had to get it done. Everybody said, “Look we have to relax. We’re not playing to our ability.” We just weren’t playing how we could. Individually, everybody decided to do their own job, and get it done as a team. It made us play better and that’s pretty much how we came out on top.

We were in man coverage. My man ran a screen. Charles Jones the safety, he was in man too, his man came to pick me and Charles was coming down to make the tackle. I stayed on the outside just in case he caught it and ran my way. The pass was kind of high and he couldn’t hold on to it. He tipped it, and I reached out and grabbed it and just ran it into the end zone.

What was the feeling in the locker room with the game tied at 17 all at halftime?

Coach Kines made a speech before the game that anything could happen this game. But halftime, they could be up 14-0 or we could be up 14-0. Coach Kines just said, “Remember what I told you. How are you guys gonna respond?” Everybody was like “Let’s tighten up and play our game.” We just knew we had to play our game, so we came out the second half and played hard.

I try to go out there and make plays. That’s all I try to do. You’ll see plays like that from Roman (Harper), Anthony (Bryant) and Charles (Jones). Trust me, you haven’t seen the last one. We’ve got some playmakers … the whole secondary. We’re two deep, from Thurman Ward, David Scott … all of ‘em … Ramzee Robinson … I don’t have to say all their names. You guys know who they are. That’s just our mentality is to make plays. When the ball is in the air, we have to go get it. If they catch a pass on us, that’s all right, we’re going to turn around and make another play. You’re going to see more plays from us. You haven’t seen the last.

Talk about how long you will enjoy this one, and the fact that you’ve got Oklahoma coming in next week.

Not long. That’s the game of football. It’s a good first victory for us at home. It felt good. It was Coach Shula’s first win as a head coach. We know how long victories last … they last until the buzzer ends. We’ve got to enjoy this tonight and then put it away and get ready for Oklahoma.

How nice was the win after all that the team has been through in the past seven months?

I think we needed it. It was really nice. We got a victory, but we’ve got a tough schedule ahead of us. So ask me that again a little bit further down the road (laughs) But a victory is always great. Our morale is up and we know what we can do. We’re just going to build off of this one and keep going.

He’s not going to stray away from his game plan. From what I saw, I didn’t really pay too much attention, I was too busy trying to catch my breath. I think he knows what he’s doing. He doesn’t lose his cool, and he makes the right calls. I think he’s going to be a great head coach for us. They made the right decision with Coach Shula.

Click on the name for parts of their post-game interviews ..
Coach Mike Shula (Alabama Crimson Tide Head Coach)

Charlie Peprah (#26 So. LCB, 5-10 189 lbs. Plano, TX - Plano East High School)

Ramzee Robinson (#17 Fr. LCB-ST, 5-9 181 lbs. Huntsville, AL - Butler High School)

Ronnie Banks (#14 Jr. QB, 6-3 230 lbs. New Orleans, LA - Lawless High School)