Alabama vs Mississippi State: Post Game Quotes
11/13/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 13, 2010
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Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban
Opening statement:
I was pleased with the way our team played today. I was pleased with how anxious they were to bounce back and compete, to be relentless in the game, to try to be physical and to establish the kind of identity for our team that we want to have in terms of intensity, toughness, ability to execute and the focus we need to have. I was pleased with the way we did that. There are obviously some things that we can do better in the game, but Mississippi State is a very good team. They're a very physical team. I thought we did a really good job of stopping the run and not allowing them, until the last drive, many big plays which was the real key to it. We tackled pretty well on defense. We played the option responsibilities pretty well. I was really pleased with what we were able to do there. We threw the ball effectively on offense. There are still some inconsistencies in the running game, which is something we need to continue to work on and get better at. We need to be more physical and get our toughness back. It's good to have D.J. (Fluker) back, and I think we played pretty well tonight so that was a good addition for us. Even though we had a penalty in the kicking game, we did make some plays in the kicking game that changed field position in the game, which I feel is very, very important.
We have a short week of preparation this week. Every game is important to us, and this game is the next game, so it is very important to us. That is what we are focused on right now. The goal has always been to play to a high standard; be the best team that we can be. I think we are still working on that, but I thought we made progress towards being the best we can be in terms of the way we played tonight.
The crowd was great. I think it was very inspirational to our players that the crowd was so supportive in the game. They have certainly helped us play at home. I know we've won, I don't how many in a row at home, but we want to be able to continue to do that and build on that in the future.
On the strength on the offensive line:
I feel that Joe (Pendry) has done a fantastic job at developing our players. I think that's important because the offensive line is a developmental position for the most part, and I was pleased with the way those guys played. We have some good, young players that don't have quite as much experience. I know that when (Anthony) Steen first went in there he missed a couple assignments and didn't do the right thing, but as the game went on he played better. That experience will be really good and invaluable for him in the future.
On the positivity of the team:
The players were positive. They showed that they have some pride in terms of trying to develop an identity for our team. I'm not sure the consistency that we played with throughout the year is necessarily what we want, and I think our players are aware of that. We wanted to play a 60-minute game today and even though we finished a little sloppy today, I was pleased with the effort, toughness and intensity that we had, and really the discipline that we had to execute. I think that we did this together as a team. We had all the parts working, like a car, and I felt like we did a better job of working together today. That only comes because players are positive, and they make a commitment to what they want to accomplish. We want to build on that.
On the pass rush:
That was a real key to the game. It's difficult to play a lot of coverage against those guys in terms of what they do and his (Chris Relf) ability to run. We played mostly zone. We didn't turn our back to him often in terms of running and covering people. It's important that when you play zone, you get good pass rush, so that they don't have the ability to stretch your zones, and I thought we did a pretty good job of affecting them today. We had a couple of other opportunities where we didn't get them on the ground where they ended up completing it on third down, but the thing about third down in this game is this team runs the ball more on third down than they pass it. This is the first team I've played against in a long time where that's the case. They create a lot of third down and ones, twos and threes where they have an opportunity to do it because they are a very good running team. We didn't statistically do as well on third down as we would have liked but I thought the pass rush was really important. I thought it was important because when you get sacks and give them negative plays and get them behind in the down and distance, it takes them out of their game a little bit and that was critical for us.
On explosive plays:
I thought we made some in the passing game. Obviously, Julio (Jones) made a big play run. We had a great punt return that got called back because of the clip, but then we came back and Mark (Ingram) had an explosive play and that's what we want to do. We got some guys that can make explosive plays, and we want to put the ball in their hands so they have the opportunity to do it. We made some plays that were really big in this game, in terms of helping us to score enough points to be successful. Getting ahead of these guys is important as well, so those big plays helped us do that.
#92 Damion Square Defensive Lineman
On the play of the defensive line today:
Today we recognized the block. We did some good things preparing throughout the week. We read what their offensive line was doing from film earlier in the week, and we trusted what we knew and went to go get the quarterback.
On working on different things throughout the week to prepare:
Just attacking was the main focus. Run or pass, we just came out today and attacked them. We just got our hands on the guy first and were able to deliver a blow instead of taking a blow. Tonight we just made something happen instead of waiting for something to happen.
#37 Robert Lester Defensive Back
On forcing turnovers the overall play of the defense:
During our off time tomorrow we are going to work on correcting mistakes so we can play even better next week. And as far as turnovers, we need to be able to force more because it is a big advantage in any game.
On getting to the quarterback to help force turnovers:
We knew Mississippi State was a great running team, and we knew we were going to have to stop the run in order to be effective. The defensive line did a great job of hitting their gaps and making plays on the quarterback and forcing the quarterback to make bad throws as well.
#12 Greg McElroy Quarterback
On the performance of the offense:
I think the offensive game plan was fantastic tonight. We had a great week of study, and we just went out there and executed the way Coach Saban demands. We just need to do a better job of finishing next time.
On the 78-yard touchdown pass to running back Mark Ingram:
It was nice. They actually showed us some flat-top coverage. They were blitzing us pretty hard, but I felt pretty confident with Mark's matchup against the corner. He did a great job of making the guy miss and getting up the field.
#8 Julio Jones Wide Receiver
On the offense's production tonight:
Everybody was just clicking tonight. Early on, they were loading too many safeties in the box, so (Marquis) Maze and (Darius) Hanks made big plays.
On his 56-yard rush for a touchdown:
They gave me the opportunity and put the ball in my hands, so I knew I had to do something with it. I made a big play out of it, but Hanks and Maze blocked well for me on the outside.
Head Coach Dan Mullen
Opening statement:
Give Alabama credit, they are a heck of a football team. A lot of great playmakers and an experienced group that is use to winning and made the plays they needed to make to win the football game. We did not follow our recipe of what has gotten us here, which was take care of the football, make plays when we need to make them on both sides of the ball and the kicking game. We were sloppy. One thing you get worried about coming off a bye week and the disadvantage of coming off the bye week is getting back into the speed of things again. We had too many missed tackles. You're not going to miss all those tackles, give up all those long plays and win. We had too many dropped passes.
When you're on the road in the SEC and playing in a tough environment against a real good football team like Alabama is, you can't come in and miss tackle after tackle, drop several balls and get yourself in second down and long situations with silly penalties. That is a level maturity we need to take out of this game. We need to grow with it. If we can do that we'll have the opportunity to be successful. We need to learn from this and our young players need to learn from this. We are going to have a lot of games like this in the future and we have to learn from these. These environments are places you have to learn to come in and win at if you're going to build a championship football program.
On the teams emotional last two weeks had played a role in the team's performance:
No, I don't think so. I think our guys came without the emotion of it. I think our mental focus wasn't on breakdowns; it was on missed tackles, silly offsides penalties and holding penalties. That was more of the mis-focus than anything else. I know emotionally it has been a very trying time for us. Maybe some of the emotions got the best of us sometimes and we were trying too hard sometimes in that game rather than doing fundamentals. But I don't think that was the result of why the game ended the way it did.
On Alabama playing more fundamentally sound:
I don't think they missed many tackles. I don't think they dropped many balls. I don't recall them being in second and long because of silly penalties and I think that is the difference. Those are the little things you have to do to win games. Those are the things we did that didn't give us a chance to win and those are the things that we have not done over the last six games. Last time we made mistakes like that was in Baton Rouge and the results are very similar.
On meeting with Alabama defensive linemen Marcell Dareus after the game:
I just gave him a hug and told him good luck the rest of the way. With the things that went on, I know he was very close to Nick Bell and when we got our team to the hospital on Monday, he was already there. He came over to the memorial service Thursday after practice. I just wanted to tell him after that to keep his head up and keep playing. That is what Nick would want him to do, play hard. He would want everyone that cared about him to play their best. I just gave him a hug and told him to finish off the season well.
#50 Chris White Linebacker
On the overall defensive effort:
"We made a couple good plays in the first half but we just gave up a lot of big plays and that's what really hurt us on defense. We did pretty good stopping the run but they hit a couple big pass plays. You can play well on 85 percent of the plays but if you don't play well on the other 15 percent, then you aren't going to be a good team"
On if Alabama's scheme made them change their strategy:
"No, we were just stacking the box and forcing them to throw it but we just weren't tackling well on the perimeter. Coach said that if you stop the run and limit the big plays, you are going to win ballgames, but we weren't doing those things tonight."
#28 Vick Ballard Running Back
On the team's inability to generate offense:
We couldn't find our rhythm on offense because of our lack of execution and excessive penalties.
On if he felt he could effectively run the ball against Alabama:
I ran decently and was able to get free a couple of times, but it's hard to run the ball against a defense that is almost always expecting the run.
