{"id":19061,"date":"2023-10-09T19:39:34","date_gmt":"2023-10-10T00:39:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/?p=19061"},"modified":"2023-10-09T19:39:34","modified_gmt":"2023-10-10T00:39:34","slug":"everything-nick-saban-said-on-monday-of-arkansas-game-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/everything-nick-saban-said-on-monday-of-arkansas-game-week\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything Nick Saban said on Monday of Arkansas game week"},"content":{"rendered":"

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. \u2013<\/strong> Alabama coach Nick Saban<\/a><\/strong> spoke to reporters Monday, the first day of Arkansas week. Below is everything he said to begin the seventh game week of the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the biggest thing that we want to focus on is to build on the positives of the good things that our team did in the last game. You know, competitive spirit. Did a lot of good things in terms of being able to pass the ball effectively in the game, make some explosive plays. The defense did a pretty good job for the most part. Obviously, there\u2019s things that we need to work on and we want to be positive about how we fix those things in the future so that we can continue to progress as a team.<\/p>\n

\u201cArkansas is really a good team. They\u2019ve had some really tough games, some really close losses. But they\u2019ve scored a lot of points. KJ Jefferson is a really good, bigtime quarterback. Big guy. Hard to sack. Can run. Very talented arm. Sam does a great job with these guys in terms of their ability to run the ball, whether it\u2019s quarterback runs or whatever. They play very aggressively and very well on defense. They\u2019ve got good specialists. A really good kicker. They\u2019ve got a good running back. I mean, this is a good team. I don\u2019t think we should be looking at their record and making any kind of judgments on what they\u2019re capable of, because they\u2019re capable of scoring points and they\u2019re capable of playing really good defense. And they\u2019re a very well-coached team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saban on the growth of the defense\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe defensive players have played hard. They\u2019ve been a really solid group from an attitude standpoint. They practice well. They try to prepare well. And they\u2019ve played well together and they\u2019ve done a good job of minimizing mental errors. We didn\u2019t have a lot of mental errors in the last game. I mean, Terrion got kind of thrown into a bad spot with minimal reps when Malachi went down. But other than that, the guys have been doing a really good job of preparing and minimizing mistakes. And hopefully, we\u2019ll be able to continue to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saban on his evaluation of Tommy Rees, Kevin Steele through six games\u2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going to publicly comment. We\u2019re happy with the coaches that we have, and we\u2019re always trying to get better. We\u2019re all working hard together to try to get better, trying to figure out what\u2019s the best solution to help our team grow and develop, whether it\u2019s style of play, doing more things that they\u2019re capable of doing, trying to minimize the negative plays. I\u2019m pleased with the effort that everyone is giving in trying to give input to fix those things. Everybody\u2019s responsible for a better way. So if we have deficiencies as a team, that\u2019s kind of on me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saban on Alabama matching its 2022 interception total\u2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019ve done a good job of pressuring the quarterback. I think the pass rush has been good even when we only have four guys rushing. I think that has affected thee quarterback to some degree. I do think our guys all have good ball skills. They all play the ball well in the air and I think we play the ball with more confidence. So that\u2019s something that we like to see in all the defensive backs that we have. Hopefully we will be able to continue to get turnovers because that\u2019s going to be huge for us, in terms of being successful in the future, is having a successful turnover margin.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saban on Arkansas OC Dan Enos\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cNot a whole lot. They have a really good system, really good scheme. I think they do a good job of utilizing the players that they have. The quarterback runs are always something that adds another layer of focus is that you have to be concerned about on defense which they\u2019re really, really good at. They hit great play-action passes, they can throw the ball downfield and make explosive plays. There\u2019s not a whole lot of difference between what they\u2019ve done in the past and what they\u2019re doing now. Some little thing but they\u2019ve been very productive on offense. We\u2019re gonna have to play very, very well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saban on Deontae Lawson\u2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s played really really well. We really miss him when he\u2019s not out there, missed a game. His leadership is great. He, I think helps everybody with his playcalling and his performance has been very good. He\u2019s a conscientious guy. A good athlete and has the ability to make plays but he\u2019s putting himself in the right place to do it because he\u2019s so conscientious as a player.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saban on Alabama\u2019s difficulty running the ball against Texas A&M\u2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI think it was a combination of both. I think that we miss-ID\u2019d some plays in terms of who we were blocking and where we\u2019re going to. I think we missed some things on some of their stunts and pressures. Their front seven is really good. We had some other plays that if we finished blocks we would have much more productive plays. So we got to do a better job of finishing. We also knew going into the game it was going to be tough-sledding up front. We were gonna have to be able to throw the ball effectively. I was really pleased with that part of it. We still gotta work on protections and how we protect the quarterback.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saban on Jaeden Roberts\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI love to see guys like him who have worked hard for two whole years and in his third year gets an opportunity, especially in his home state, to go out and play. A guy has a good physical presence. He played hard in the game. It\u2019s really tough when you have a guy that practiced all week and he\u2019s not able to play in the game and the next guy\u2019s gotta go in. He didn\u2019t have the same opportunities to prepare. I thought Jaeden did a pretty good job of managing it and handling it. Played with a lot of grit, determination and toughness and executed fairly well.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Saban on Jalen Milroe\u2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI think the big thing that we\u2019ve tried to continue to get him to understand is you gotta keep playing the next play. There\u2019s not always going to be perfect plays but whatever happened on the last play is a learning experience for you to grow and get better and focus on what you have to do the next play. You cannot allow one play to affect the next play. That\u2019s something I think he\u2019s learned and doing a lot better. But he\u2019s staying much more positive on the sidelines, communicating really well his teammates and the coaches in terms of what he saw and what he didn\u2019t see and what he needs to do to get it corrected. That\u2019s something that comes a little bit with experience but I think it also comes with awareness. I think we\u2019re making progress in both areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saban on Jermaine Burton\u2026\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cJermaine has got great ability. We want to keep him focused on doing the things he needs to do to be consistent in his performance. Fundamentally, just keep working on things like he runs good routes, he\u2019s got great ability, he\u2019s got really good hands, ball security\u2014things like that. Not getting too emotional in the game where you make bad choices and decisions. Some of those things are just things that we continue to work on. We\u2019re really excited about the game that he had, his performance, what we can build on with that. I think he\u2019s learned that you really don\u2019t want to do anything to help the other team. And he\u2019s done a lot to hurt the other team, so let\u2019s don\u2019t do anything to help people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saban on Caleb Downs\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I don\u2019t know that pressure is something that goes with being a DB, or at any position really. It\u2019s a matter of Caleb has played really well for us. He\u2019s very mature. The guy really pays attention to detail and does a really good job in preparation. Wants to know what he\u2019s supposed to do. How he\u2019s supposed to do it. Why it\u2019s important to do it that way. He\u2019s got great football instincts and savvy, so he kind of understands what the other team\u2019s trying to do, which I think is important as well. So he\u2019s done a good job of that. I don\u2019t want any of our players to feel like they have pressure to play at their position. I think when you prepare well, and you\u2019re confident, and you have poise, and you\u2019re focused on execution, that that shouldn\u2019t be an issue. It should be positive energy and attitude to go forward in those three things to be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saban on the pre-snap penalties\u2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe had nine pre-snap penalties in the game, and I think a lot of those were created by the fact that we had trouble clapping in the game because of the noise. So we went on silent, and when we went on silent, the guard taps the center. And as soon as the guard tapped the center, they\u2019d stem and move the front, which is not illegal. It was perfectly a good thing for them to do on their part. And we had numerous times where guys flinched. Because, when you go on silent, there is no snap count.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the advantages of playing offense is you know what the snap count is. So you know when you get off the ball. Well, when it\u2019s so noisy and you have to go on silent, you lose that advantage. And if we\u2019re going to do that in the future, we obviously need to practice it more so our players don\u2019t get spooked by a moving defense because everybody\u2019s got to sort of go on the ball. So we had 14 penalties in the game. Nine of them were pre-snap, false start penalties. So, are they correctable? Absolutely. How much was created by the atmosphere and environment and our choice to try to go on silent. That became a little bit of a problem for us in the game.\u201d <\/p>\n

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The post Everything Nick Saban said on Monday of Arkansas game week<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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