Everything Nick Saban said after Alabama’s narrow win over Ole Miss
What did Nick Saban think of his team’s effort after Alabama pulled off a comeback victory over Ole Miss? The head coach was proud.
It didn’t matter what Alabama did against Ole Miss. LSU’s victory over Arkansas eliminated the Crimson Tide from contention in the SEC West.
That doesn’t mean the Tide had nothing to play for on Saturday against Ole Miss. Nick Saban’s squad can’t win the SEC but they can still get better week to week and finish their season strong. To do that, they needed to finish the game against the Rebels strong. And they did just that.
Alabama overcame an early 10-0 deficit to best Ole Miss, 30-24. Saban credited his team for their effort.
Nick Saban postgame press conference: “We took a step in the right direction.”
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“It was a tough night in a lot of ways but a great night for us because I think we took a step in the right direction as a football team and I’m really proud of our guys for the way they competed in the game,” Saban said.
The head coach appreciated the way Bryce Young managed the game while the offensive line and running back Jase McClellan rose to the occasion in the second half. He was also pleased with the way the defense responded, holding Ole Miss to one score in the final two quarters.
McClellan needed to play a bigger role because starter Jahmyr Gibbs twisted his ankle.
The Crimson Tide lost another key player during the game as cornerback Eli Ricks exited early. Saban confirmed that he suffered a head injury.
After those early setbacks, Saban saw the touchdown Young delivered to Cameron Latu with eight seconds remaining in the first half as the turning point in the game. He felt his team played better after that point by taking the messaging from the coaching staff to heart.
“Nobody even talked about the score at halftime which is exactly how we want it to be because the whole focus in this game was we got to play one play at a time for 60 minutes of the game. Nobody’s looking at the scoreboard and they competed that way,” Saban said.
Now that Ole Miss is out of the way, Alabama will move on to play Austin Peay before finishing the regular season against rival Auburn.
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