Nick Saban's insightful message to Alabama football before South Florida clash: "Don't waste a failing. Do everything you can to try to improve"
Nick Saban's Alabama was stunned in Week 2 of college football when Texas defeated the Crimson Tide 34-24 at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Ahead of the Week 3 matchup against South Florida, there have been some questions regarding the future of quarterback Jalen Milroe and the possibility of Tyler Buchner taking the starting position.
Buchner transferred from Notre Dame before the 2023 season, looking to get some regular playing time at Tuscaloosa. He lost the QB1 race to Milroe in the weeks leading up to the start of the season.
Alabama ranked No. 3 in the nation ahead of Week 2, but the defeat to the Longhorns meant Bama dropped to No. 10.
As the team gears up for its Week 3 game in Tampa, Nick Saban held a press conference on Wednesday evening, addressing several questions regarding the team's state after the loss.
In his opening statement, the coach stressed the importance of maintaining high spirits and learning from the experience, saying:
"We would like for everybody to have pride in performance so their standard is something that’s important to them, and they’re willing to do the things to invest in their future that they need to do so that they can be the best players that they can be.
"Nobody can really have the poor-me’s about my circumstance, my situation, how I feel, we lost a game, none of that. Don’t waste a failing. Do everything you can to try to improve and get better, and that will help our team get better as well."
Nick Saban reflects on Crimson Tide's mistakes vs. Steve Sarkisian's Longhorns
Nick Saban also answered questions regarding Jalen Milroe's ability to respond to the blitz, saying that in his count, they only got sacked once against the blitz. He referred to the signal caller's reaction to the disruptions as just "OK."
Milroe displayed great athletic ability to run away from the Texas defensive line. Still, it was apparent that the Alabama offensive line wasn't affording the necessary protection for him to work on the pocket. Alabama's O-line was considered one of its strongest assets before the start of the season.
Nick Saban also pointed out the need for his team to avoid what he called "drive stoppers," referring to unnecessary penalties that cost them two touchdowns, several turnovers, dropped balls and sacks. Alabama had five sacks throughout the game.
Alabama faces South Florida in Tampa this Saturday at 3:30 p.m. EST. You can catch the game on ABC or stream it through FuboTV.