Alabama Football vs. ULM Postgame Quotes
9/26/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
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Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban
Opening statement: "I was pleased with the fact that our guys went out there and competed hard in the game. We really tried to take a step in the direction of establishing the kind of identity that we want to have as a football team. We played with a lot of toughness, especially on defense. To give a team around 90 yards is really good. I thought we tackled well in space and we got a couple turnovers. We did a good job on third down, especially in the first half and that was really positive. I thought offensively, we stopped ourselves way too many times. We had five dropped balls and several of those were on third downs. On 4th-and-1, we eliminated the first down with an illegal motion, so we're going to need to clean up some of things. We played it pretty tight to the vest today and I think we probably need to do a little more. I thought Jake [Coker] did a good job, and however you look at the stops, you've got to look at the drops. That wasn't really his fault as he made some good throws. There was probably a couple times that he wishes he would have done it a little different, in terms of going to somebody else, and those are the things we need to work out and get better at. I thought special teams was a little better today, but I think the focus for our team needs to be on what we need to do to improve. Obviously, we've got some young receivers out there playing who have not played much that need to develop more confidence. I think Calvin Ridley is playing well and I think ArDarius Stewart can be a really good player for us. We've just got to get a little more consistent with what we're doing and we've got to bring some of the young guys along. Richard has done a good job all year long. Derrick Henry was sick part of the week, he practiced on Thursday, but I just didn't want to wear the guy out today. I wanted to give other guys the opportunity to play, and I thought they developed and did a good job."
On Jake Coker's improvement in the second half: "Well again, you quote statistics. He had four drops in the first half, so what was he in the first half? Four balls that were just flat dropped. You couldn't throw them any better. So if he was 10-for-21 that means he was 14-for-21, so he was not perfect. I thought he played well in the first half, but I thought we dropped too many balls. We dropped a ball so we should have been 8-for-10 the second half for a touchdown. I think it helps when we go no-huddle and the other team gets a little tired. They don't play quite as aggressively and that is always helpful but I am just pleased with the way Jake played today in both halves."
On Adam Griffith performance and confidence: "Well you know we have a lot of confidence in Griffith, I have always said that. I think that getting his plant foot right is something that he is now doing and has confidence in. So hopefully he will be able to build on the success that he had today and continue to do a nice job for us in the future. We have a lot of confidence in him that he is capable. I think he just has to think the right things and focus on the technique that he needs to use to have success and when he does that he is a very good kicker."
#46 Michael Nysewander, Tight End
On his touchdown: "It was a lot of fun just to get the win after a hard-fought game last week. It's just really nice to get that win."
On this past week, from the leadership standpoint: "Whether it's a win or a loss, you always have to look for a 'so what, now what.' Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, we just try to stay positive. We just have to focus on working hard during the week, and bringing that to the game on Saturday. That's what we did, and I think it showed up and played pretty well this week."
#30 Denzell Devall, Linebacker
On the defensive play today: "We wanted to come out and make a statement on defense, and I think that's what we did. We just went out there and established our identity, and I felt that we did a great job today." On the energy all throughout the game: "We had to keep the energy up. We make plays and play hard like that week in and week out, and we want to uphold a standard that we keep ourselves to."
On the week of preparation: "We all came together and made an agreement on the training and moving forward. I felt like a lot of us guys got on that train and made sure everything was going to be right on track. We came out here and played with a winning attitude. We did well today."
Head Coach Todd Berry
Opening Statement: "Obviously, congratulations to Alabama. I thought they played an outstanding football game. I don't really think there were any surprises. I don't know that they did anything different. They executed really well. (We're) disappointed, obviously, in our execution. Some of that's to Alabama's credit, but quite honestly we didn't catch balls. We didn't do very good from a missed assignments standpoint. They didn't do anything that surprised us. We just didn't do what we were asking them to do. I liked our gameplans coming in, but we still didn't execute as well as we would have liked. Alabama's a good football team, and it should be a great game next week."
On looking forward to next week's game: "I think we have got a lot of growing up to do. I am very pleased with some of our older players. It's our younger players. It was that depth we talked about last week that we were going to try and find. We hoped to use our open date to grow our depth and we played our depth early on in the game. We played our depth just to see how they were going to handle it and we didn't handle it very well and, so we have got to continue that maturation process. We're working hard on this journey and we've got to play. That group's got to come for us, especially a receiver right now because, right now, RJ Turner's out for the season and, obviously, Rashon (Ceaser) being down, now that's two starters that are out. We've got extra guys down there that have got to step it up, not just a receiver, but all across the board."
#4 Tre' Hunter, Safety
On his interception: "It was kind of hard, because it was a duck. I just had to focus on bringing it in."
On Alabama and Georgia's offense compare: "Alabama is a little bit more versatile, as in the pass game is outside of the box. Georgia is light inside of the box. Alabama can spread you out. Playing in space is always hard. For skilled guys and linemen, playing in space is always hard. There is a bit more to think about than gearing up for box plays."
#21 Ajalen Holley, Wide Receiver
On Alabama's defense: "I just want to say that we played a really good team tonight. We kind of missed ourselves tonight. We had a lot of busts. I had some drops. We couldn't get into rhythm. It messed us up. We couldn't get first downs and stay on the field."
On how Alabama and Georgia's defenses compare: "Alabama's defense is a lot bigger. Georgia's defense is a lot faster. That's as good as I can give you right there. They're both sound defenses. They're really good defenses. When it comes to running the ball, I feel like we could be on the edge a little better against Alabama. When it comes to Georgia, we couldn't, because they're a faster outside defense. When it comes to getting downhill, I feel like Alabama is better at filling the gap than Georgia is, because they're bigger. They're defensive line can fill gaps better than Georgia. That's from my perspective."
