Saban Addresses Ole Miss Loss
Looks To Louisiana-Monroe
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
Alabama head football coach Nick Saban addressed the media in his Monday press conference at noon yesterday. He spoke of the hard-fought loss to the Ole Miss Rebels last week, as well as an injury report and the upcoming contest with Louisiana-Monroe.
In his opening statement Saban said, "I
was really pleased with the effort that our players gave in this last
game, they really played hard. They showed a lot of resiliency to keep
coming back, give themselves an opportunity to even be in it with 2:50
to go in the game, and have a chance to have possession of the ball to
win the game. But, there were just too many self-inflicted wounds to
overcome, regardless of the effort and how resilient we were. It would
be easy to sit here and say that the turnovers were the issue, but we
need to have better fundamental execution of what we are doing. There
were too many negative plays on offense, too many big plays on defense
and too many missed cues on special teams in terms of who is blocking
who."
With five turnovers in the game resulting in points for Ole Miss, Saban turned to the issue in his comments. " Now we have to address the ball security issues; we have to address getting turnovers; we have got to eliminate the big plays and the negative plays on both sides of the ball," Saban said.
Saban then turned to some of the outstanding players of the Ole Miss contest. "With that said, we had several really outstanding performances...Derrick Henry and Richard Mullaney on offense, Jarran Reed and A'Shawn Robinson on defense and Adam Griffith and Tony Brown on special teams. Adam had a great onside kick, did a great job on ball placement on some of the kickoffs," Saban continued.
Next up were the injuries, with Saban saying, "We have two injury updates. Robert Foster is going to be out. I didn't think this was going to be this big of a problem, but he has a shoulder injury that will require surgery, so he will be out. Cole Mazza is out for medical reasons and when he can return, he will be back."
Turning to this week's contest, Saban said, "UL-Monroe coach Todd Berry has done a really good job there; he has been there for a while. These guys do a myriad things on offense that are very hard to defend: a lot of formations; a lot of motions; a lot of adjustments; fast ball; the quarterback is very efficient, very accurate. They have got nine starters back on defense, and they play physically, tough defense. I think the focus for us is to get our team better, and it wouldn't matter who we were playing this week because that still would be the focus of what we need to do."
Alabama hosts Louisiana-Monroe this Saturday inside Bryant-Denny Stadium. Game time is set for 3 pm CT.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saban Announces Jake Coker To Start
Against Louisiana-Monroe
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
University of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban yesterday announced that senior quarterback Jake Coker will start this Saturday when the Tide hosts Louisiana-Monroe.
During his noon press conference yesterday, Saban said, "I think Jake played, when he came in the game, he played with some passion, showed great leadership when he played. We still have things we need to work on and improve. At this point, provided he does the things he's supposed to do, I think we'll start him in this game."
Coker entered the contest between Bama and Ole Miss with the Tide down 17-3 and played the remainder of the game. He was 21 of 44 in passing, throwing for 201 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. He also rushed for an additional 58 yards. During the Tide's three games this season he has passed for 628 yards and five touchdowns.
Cooper Bateman started the contest against Ole Miss but lasted only one quarter after the Tide fell behind by two touchdowns. Bateman will, of course, be available to come in for Coker this week should he be needed.
Game time this week will be 3 p.m. CT.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bama Stats In Top 10 In One Category Nationally
Here is a look at several of the statistical categories in college football through three weeks of play. Stats are compared both nationally and in the Southeastern Conference. Statistical information provided by CFBstats.com.
Offense
Scoring Offense: 36.3 PPG (38th nationally, 6th SEC)
Rushing Offense: 224.33 YPG (32nd nationally, 6th SEC)
Passing Offense: 288 YPG (35th nationally, 5th SEC)
Total Offense: 512.3 YPG (23rd nationally, 2nd SEC)
Third Down Conversions: 48.2% (45th nationally, 6th SEC)
Red Zone Conversions: 85.71% (62nd nationally, 8th SEC)
Defense
Scoring Defense: 23.3 PPG (63rd nationally, 11th SEC)
Rushing Defense: 72.67 YPG (9th nationally, 2nd SEC)
Passing Defense: 252.7 YGP (93rd nationally, 14th SEC)
Total Defense: 325.3 YPG (37th nationally, 6th SEC)
Opponent's Third Down Conversions: 34.0 % (59th nationally, 11th SEC)
Opponent's Red Zone Conversions: 81.82% (64th nationally, 10th SEC)
The once proud defense at the University of Alabama, used to being in the top 5 nationally and leading the SEC year after year has slipped out of the elite category and, in fact, is in the bottom half of the SEC In several categories, including dead-last in the SEC in Passing Defense.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama-Georgia Contest Set For 2:30 pm CT Start
Game time for the Alabama contest with Georgia was announced yesterday by the Southeastern Conference. The Tide will play Georgia in Athens on October 3rd with a 2:30 pm CT start. The game will air nationally on CBS.
Bama leads the series 37-25-4, with the most recent contest being a Tide 32-28 victory at the 2012 SEC Championship. Alabama went on to destroy Notre Dame 41-14 to win their 15th national title.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
