Alabama Game One Quotes
9/4/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 4, 2010
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban
Opening statement:
"I think the real emphasis with our team was, all along, to develop an identity for this team for 2010 and focus on the things that we need to do to create that in terms of the effort, the toughness, the discipline to execute, and I was pretty pleased with that. I think we came out and played fast and took the ball and had a really good opening drive with good execution. I thought we had a nice two-minute right before the half. There are a lot of lessons to be learned on the other side of the fence in terms of fumbling the ball on the 2-yard line with the redshirt-freshman running back. We made some mistakes on defense that we can certainly correct. We can hopefully get better at what we need to do.
So I was really sort of pleased with the effort, the attitude, the intensity, the way our team was ready to play and focused on what they needed to do to try to create an identity for themselves. The togetherness that we played with, the positive energy was good. A lot of guys were trying to be responsible and do their job in the right way, play with discipline, and I was really pleased with those areas. There are just some execution things, that when we get challenged by better teams, we're going to get exposed if we don't do better and I think our players understand that. This is an opportunity for them to learn and grow and actually make improvements. Hopefully there were some lessons learned out there.
It was good that we got to play a lot of players and for everybody there were other freshmen that we could of played, that really could be contributors to the team this year, that have a lot of potential, that we are coaching to play. But one of the toughest decisions that you have to make as a coach is "if I play a guy in a game like this, he loses his whole year," so if he's not going to play a significant amount to make it worthwhile in his development relative to the experience that he would gain by how much he would play, then you don't play the guy. We didn't play A.J. (McCarron) last year and he was the backup quarterback; we played the next guy at times in the season because we were only going to play (McCarron) if we had to. Phillip (Simms) is really ready to play, and I'd love to play him, but I guess if we had the rule that you had five years to play no matter how it came out then you wouldn't have to worry about these things. If something happens to a quarterback then Phillip's going to have to play and we'll have wished we had played him. But you don't have a crystal ball and you don't know so I'm telling you all in advance that you can second-guess me for all of this if and when it happens, is that fair? But it's tough."
On Eddie Lacy:
"I think Eddie has come a long way from a maturity, toughness and an intangible standpoint to be able to play football on a consistent basis. He also feels a lot more confident in assignments and execution. I know you all evaluate the fact that he made 103 yards, so therefor he had a great night. He did a really good job of picking up the blitz a few times, but he also did some things that indicate that he is ready to play. Now when you fumble the ball with first-and-two at the two, that's not winning football. He didn't make the right steps, he didn't make the right things, he didn't make the right cut, he didn't make the right read, so those are things that he needs to learn from. It's also an opprotunity for us to show all the guys that if you do things right that's going to give you the best times to have success."
On the young players:
"There were a bunch of (young players) that played. It's the first time since we've been here that I have felt the need to talk about things that you take for granted, like the dress code for a trip. We had guys who had been here for two or three years that know what's going on. Now we have a significant number of guys that don't know what's going on, haven't played before and haven't traveled before, that I find myself saying 'I need to spend some time explaining this stuff that we explained three years ago.' It's probably better to coach this team the way we coached the first year (in 2007). I think that helps younger players to develop because you clearly define what you're expectation is for them, and of them, all the time. In doing that, I think they have a better idea of what you expect, and they have a better idea of how you expect them to do it and why its important for them to do it that way. A lot of guys got to play, and a lot of guys did a lot of good things. Just about all of them have things to work on, so they can get better."
On the special teams:
"The young specialist I thought did better than expected. Sometimes you can do things to help them. We need to help them, and our other players need to help them when they can. I thought the kickers did a fine job. We did it as planed. (Jeremy) Shelley was going to kick the short stuff and Cade (Foster) was going to kick the long stuff, but after a certain point in the game we were going to let Cade get more experience kicking everything, so he had the opprotunity to kick some. He did a good job of kicking off except for the one kick that was a little short. He kind of undercut it. I thought the snapper was pretty good. The specialist didn't have a lot of opprotunities. They kept punting the ball away from us. Most of them were not fieldable balls, but we still have to develop a good return game that is going to help us with vertical field position. The punt and kickoff return was good, we just had a dumb penalty that cost us a lot of field position on the one good return that we had. The other one, they sky-kicked, so we didn't really have a chance to return it. Trent (Richardson) did a nice job and got a late hit and a hit in the back."
On the atmosphere of Bryant-Denny Stadium:
"The atmosphere has always been good to play here. I didn't notice a whole lot of difference. The stadium looks great. We're glad to have it the way it is. I think this is one of the finest competitive venues in the country now, not only for the players, but for the fans, because I'm not sure there was a bad seat in the house. I was a little bit concerned that our fans would not show up to support this team, with them possibly thinking this wasn't a big game, so we're not going to the game. The energy and atmosphere here today was fantastic. It was created by our fans with everything from the Walk of Champions, to the spirit in the stadium and in the game. I know our players appreciate it and I appreciate it. It is important and helpful to them, in their development and maturity to know that they are being supported that way."
On Trent Richardson:
"Trent is an outstanding player for us. He was an outstanding player for us last year. He and Mark (Ingram) are a tremendous duo. Trent is a good a receiver, and he is a good runner. He has power, has speed, he can change direction and make you miss. I thought he played extremely well tonight. He's got a tenacious, competitive spirit about him that you are going to have to take him down. He's not going to come down. We thought that he had enough (carries) in the first half. We needed for the other guys to play. We also need for another running back to come to the surface besides (Richardson and Ingram), and we have a couple of young ones that will be able to do it. We could have played them tonight, but decided not to, but we're going to continue to work witht them."
On A.J. McCarron's performance:
"AJ did well. He has to learn how to sit in the pocket. He floats around too much. He steps up into the rush sometimes, but he throws it great. He Has a good arm and is accurate. He managed the game very well. No matter what the score was, he was going to play in the second quarter because there maybe sometime down the road where maybe he needs to play in a critical time in the game and now he has got some experience doing it. He did a pretty good job and threw a nice touchdown pass. The next drive we had to punt for the first time, but I'm not sure that was his faught. I thought he did a really good job and Greg (McElroy) did a tremendous job too."
On Julio Jones and the effort to get him the ball more:
"We tried to do some things to compliment the running game that will be helpful for people not being able to load the box, so if we get certain looks we just throw it out there. He's a great big target and a good guy running with the ball. We got a couple of those plays called early and the box count was such that we needed to throw it, and we did. He made a great touchdown catch and a great catch on a seam route. I think those types of catches on vertical routes are something that we really want to get him involved with because of his size and strength. He is difficult to defend in that part of the field and that is something that we really need to improve on."
Alabama Player Postgame Quotes
#3 Sophomore Trent Richardson, Running Back
On getting the start and his success: "I'm just happy to be out there. It's not really a start for me. I've been playing football my whole life. I don't call it a start. We've got a rotation going. It feels good to beat up on someone other than ourselves."
On the offense:
"We started fast and finished strong. We came together as the game went on. It was good to finally be in a game situation. A lot of people were able to see the field tonight and gain valuable experience for future games."
#8 Junior Julio Jones, Wide Receiver
On playing an opponent:
"It felt great. We've been looking forward to being able to hit someone else, and see where we stand."
On the number of times he was targeted tonight:
"It felt great. I really feel like they have confidence in me. Going through the process in the spring and summer, I feel like they trust me more this year, and that got me some more catches early on."
On the offense as a whole:
"Everybody did well, and even the young guys came in and stepped up. When we needed plays out there they came in and stepped up; from the offensive lineman holding their blocks, receivers making catches, and the quarterbacks making the right reads."
#37 Sophomore Robert Lester, Free Safety
On his first start in an Alabama uniform:
"At first, I didn't really know what to expect. Coach Saban had his game plan, and I was comfortable in what I needed to do. I went out there and knew that anything they were going to do, I already knew my assignment. "
On the defense:
"I think we are all starting to understand each other and understand communicating with each other. I think we can be a great unit. Now we have to get ready for a good Penn State team."
#30 Sophomore Dont'a Hightower, Linebacker
On getting back out on the field:
"It felt really good to get back out there and get into my role as a defensive leader. I felt good about the game plan."
On the team's youth on defense:
"We have a lot of young guys, but they have shown a lot of improvement. They have been able to learn the system quickly and go out there and show that. You don't see many freshmen like C.J. Mosley come in and lead the team in tackles like he did and make that many big plays."
On facing Penn State:
"We are going to approach that one just like we did this one. We are going to make improvements. We need to get rest and treatment, and then be ready to go on Monday."
San Jose State Quotes
Head coach Mike MacIntyre
On what his team can get out of tonight's performance:
"One thing I noticed is that we're in pretty good shape. We kept fighting the whole game. The fourth quarter was better than the third quarter. The third quarter wasn't very good of course. They kept fighting and there is not a tired guy in there. They fought as hard as they could, so I was impressed with our conditioning and how they're doing there. That's something we've been working on."
On the first drive that resulted in a field goal:
"We made a good run - ran through a tackle and kept on running. That was a good play there. Later on they [UA] swarmed us pretty good. They're an excellent defensive football team. They've got some young athletes out there but they're athletes. We should have taken advantage of a couple of other third-and-shorts that we didn't take advantage of later in the game that we should have gotten some first downs on."
On the play of his quarterbacks:
"I thought they did some good things. It was spotty at times. They could have hit a few more open guys. I thought we maybe forced it inside a little too much. We had some outside receivers open a couple of times. They'll see that on film. The one down the middle in the first half that got picked, that safety (Robert Lester) made a heck of a break. That's speed and athleticism Jordan (La Secla) hasn't seen every day in practice."
On Alabama's backfield without Mark Ingram:
"Richardson is excellent. No. 6 (Demetrius Goode) looked pretty good too. He seemed very, very powerful. He almost reminded me of Richardson, just in a different number. They kind of have the same body build. I was impressed with their runners. Their big tight ends hurt us a few times. They overwhelmed us on the edge there. They had a few runs off the edge when we were right there and they just knocked us off."
#9 Brandon Rutley, Running Back
On coming back to his home town, Tuscaloosa.
"I was glad to be back home playing in front of my family in this atmosphere. Most of my family was here since I am from Tuscaloosa, so I was happy to see them. The fans are crazy and the stadium is so loud which made it exciting to play in."
On the team's performance
"This game is in the past now and we are only looking forward. We are going to watch film and find out what we did wrong in order to get better. Our team is in great shape and we are ready to prepare for Wisconsin."
#10 Harrison Waid, Kicker
On kicking a field goal on the team's first drive.
It was exciting to finally get out there and play, all our hard work is finally paying off. It felt good to finally break the ice and put my first field goal through the uprights. I was calm and relaxed the whole game even though the atmosphere was something we have never experienced before. It was a very exciting experience for my first college game ever.
#29 Junior Alex Germany, Safety
On the performance of the defense
"We are young on defense, inexperienced at some positions. Myself included, I moved over to safety this year. We didn't give up points because o f a lack of effort, not even a lack of preparation. We just got out there and didn't communicate as well as we would like to in that loud environment and they are the number one team in the nation for a reason, they play well. A lot of credit goes to them."
On what the defense takes away from a game like this
"We had a few series in a row where we forced them into a three and out, and we also got that fumble at the goal line. We just went through it to get the experience of playing together so that we can mesh as one."
# 12 Senior Quarterback Jordan La Secla
On the night for the offense
"I feel like we did some good things. We showed we had some big play capability and we moved the ball pretty well at times. The score wasn't what we really wanted it to look like. Other than that we answered some questions on offense that we can move the ball. The next step is getting it into the end zone."
On the atmosphere
"It was amazing. It was real similar to when we played Nebraska a couple of years ago. They were just packed in there and really loud. I felt like we quieted them down by scoring on the first drive which was pretty cool."
# 36 Freshman Linebacker Vince Buhagiar
On starting in his first college game
"I spent the last couple of nights trying to mentally prepare myself the best I could. I came out here tonight expecting it to be extremely fast and expecting not to be able to hear myself think because of the volume. For the most part I was right about all that. It was a lot faster and the crowd was really loud but it wasn't unbearable, by the end of the night it was like, 'Okay, I can do this.'"
On what he took from the game tonight
"Most of our team is pretty young and we're all here learning from our experiences. Our goal is just to mesh and continue making progress. Being out there on a Saturday made all of the hours we put in worth it."
