Nick Saban Breaks Down Stetson Bennett, Kirby Smart and the Dawgs
Alabama coach Nick Saban talked in depth about the Bulldogs, and the matchup for Alabama.
"Sometimes I think it doesn't ever hurt to really get in a fight. I'm really proud of the way our team handled the fight, played through the fight. No one showed any desperation at all in terms of the effort and the poise that we continue to play with in a very, very difficult game. The way the guys competed in the game was outstanding and were able to finish with a couple of stops and the offense kept scoring. I think the No. 1 thing about all this is we faced a tough offense. We need to learn from the mistakes that we made.
"The only mistake that would be is that we don't learn from the mistakes that we made so that we can get better in the future, work harder at making corrections and get everybody to be responsible to do their job a little bit better, coaches and players included. That's the way we can improve.
Certainly congratulations to Najee Harris for SEC player of the week.
"We're looking forward to returning home, playing against an outstanding Georgia team. This is probably one of the best teams in the country. Kirby has done an outstanding job there. He's got really good personnel. They play well in all phases of the game. Their defense is especially very, very good, probably the best defensive team in the country all the way around, when you talk about stopping the run, having good pass defense, getting off the field on third down. They've been very efficient and effective in every part of the game. They have good players that can rush the passer. They can play the point. So really good defensive team.
"Offensively, they've been able to control the ball. They're one of the leading teams in the country in time of possession. They do a good job of running it. Show really good balance. They've got some really good backs. Zamir White is an outstanding player but they have several other outstanding backs. The quarterback has been very efficient for them. They have really good skill guys. They spread the ball around, play a lot of different skill guys. George Pickens has played well for them. They're a very, very well balanced offensive team.
"They have very good specialists, really good punter, really good kicker. Very good return guys. And they play really well on special teams. So not a lot of weaknesses in this team. It's going to be really challenging for us to be able to execute the way we need to execute on all cylinders to be able to be successful in this game."
ON DEFENSIVE FUNDAMENTALS AFTER NO SPRING
"I guess you could point to several different things that can contribute to it. One can be preparation, which can include all those things, spring, fall camp, all those things. I think for a long time when we were able to not practice against each other, even in the summertime we couldn't have 7 on 7 or we couldn't do any drills against each other.
"It's much easier to practice offense on air than it is defense on air, because you're reacting to something all the time. Maybe that contributes to it. I really don't know. The tackling, we didn't tackle very well in the last game. We had missed assignments and tackling, probably the two things that were the biggest detriment for us in the last game in terms of the way we played defense. And I think those are fundamental things that you have to fix. I think when players press, they actually can get worse at those things. You've got to play relaxed and confident and that comes from very good preparation and that's what we need to do a better job of."
ON NAJEE HARRIS
"I think he played great in the game. I also think the offensive line did a really good job in the game of blocking up front, so he had some opportunities in the game, which we've not been that consistent. But we were very consistent in the running game and had great balance in the game, which I think helps the runners. But it also helps the receivers. I thought he played outstanding in the game. He played tough. He made good decisions as to the cuts that he made relative to the plays that he ran, and I think that maximized his performance.”
ON OLE MISS POSSIBLY STEALING SIGNALS
“I think what I was really speaking to was we were more like, I felt like we were always one play behind. When I say one play behind, I mean, sometimes when you play in the NFL against Joe Montana or somebody really good, you always feel like you’re one play behind if you call this, they do the right thing against that. I think that was more sort of what I was referring to, as if they knew what we were going to do. Some of that is our issue in terms of how we disguise things. They were going fast. We were struggling to get lined up. We didn’t do a very good job of disguising things. So they were able to take advantage of a lot of situations and they know us well, so all those things probably contributed to me feeling a little bit like we were one play behind.”
ON DEMARCCO HELLAMS
“Well, we’ve got a lot of confidence in DeMarcco. I think he went in there and did a good job. He’s been a really good special teams player for us. Played some in dime. We just got to get our whole group on defense, aight, to play with better eye control and look at the right things so they can react to the plays better. I think that’s probably a generalization for the entire group. But I think that’s the only thing that’s going to help us get better. I think everybody needs to do that. But DeMarcco did a good job in the game.”
ON KIRBY SMART'S SCHEME AT GEORGIA
“Well, first of all, the first part of your question. I think there are some similarities but they sort of progressed in what they do relative to the players they have and I think they do really, really well. They’ve got some new things and different things that they do which is what we're all trying to be able to grow and develop in. I think they have a veteran team. So when you have a veteran team on defense I think you can do a little more. I think they've taken good advantage of having good players experience and those guys execute those things well. I think through the years, you know, we've all had to adapt to RPOs. We've all had to adapt to blocking and catching the ball behind the line of scrimmage and it’s difficult, the run/pass past conflicts that are created, but I think they've done as good a job as anybody to make those adaptations.”
ON THE DEFENSE, PETE GOLDING
“First of all, I don't think the call is necessarily the issue. I think the execution of the call has been the issue. Sometimes we coach players for what we want them to be. But we really need to coach them for what they are. And when I say that I'm talking about how much experience do they have? How much can they handle? How much can they execute? So, if the players are mis-executing, that's not a good thing from a coaching standpoint because that means we have to do a better job of teaching them or make sure we're not trying to teach them too much so they go out there and they can’t perform well with confidence and make plays we’d like for them to make.
"So you mentioned two players that have experience but we have 11 guys out there at once so it only takes one guy to make a mistake. And when everybody gives ‘my bad’ one time, that's 11 mistakes. Well, that can be a lot of yards. And we've had some guys that have made multiple mistakes, either have to get fixed or replace them. And we're going to work in every endeavor and try to get better. Believe me, this is no one satisfied with the way we played. I think it was very challenging, pace of play, all that type of thing with some of the players that we have, you know, a couple guys really contributed to a lot of those mental errors but we just got to get them all fixed.”
ON JOSHUA MCMILLON
"Well, he's done an outstanding job in that he's very instinctive at doing it. We've tried to put bigger guys there, and we tried a couple guys, but he did it the best. And he has done a really good job. He's embraced that role. He's been a great leader on the team, done a good job. Still, not maybe all the way back from his knee injury -- can run straight forward pretty well -- and certainly has always demonstrated great toughness and really wants to do what's best for the team. So he's a great team guy. He's embraced this challenge in this role and done a really good job.”
ON FORMER ALABAMA COACH SCOTT COCHRAN
"I'm just not one to ever say anything about the other team. And that's about all I remember of that. Georgia has really good special teams. They do a really good job. There's a lot of similarities systematically in what they did last year and what they're doing this year. They're just gonna have a really good job of executing. I don't think it's a new system or something that we do here that they do there. They do a really good job with their own system. And as we've done here, we try to keep the system that we have regardless of who the coach."
ON BRIAN ROBINSON
"I thought both guys played very well. But I think both guys had really good opportunities relative to how we were able to block them up front, the game plan that we had, the way it was executed. So I think both guys played extremely well. But I was really pleased with the way the B-Rob came in and got right to it when he got the opportunity and played with a lot of toughness and was very physical in the way he played and made good cuts and maximized the plays when he got the opportunity. So I was very pleased with this performance as well."
STETSON BENNETT
"He's done an outstanding job. He's played within himself, made good choices and decisions. They've had great balance in their offense. They've got good play-action passes. He's really just facilitated everything that he's needed to do from his position to help all the other good players that they have make a lot of plays. And he's athletic. He's extended plays at times, and I think the guy has done an outstanding job and is really executed well for them."