"We just didn’t do what we needed to do": Alabama’s HC Nick Saban laments poor discipline and execution in his team's Week 2 loss
Nick Saban and Alabama were upset 34-24 by the Texas Longhorns in Week 2 of the college football season 2023.
Alabama (1-1), which fell six spots to No. 10 in the polls, lost by double digits for the first time under Saban in Tuscaloosa.
Nick Saban elaborates on Alabama's double-digit loss
Nick Saban bore the responsibility of the loss, talking about areas of improvement:
"Whether you make mistakes on defense, whether you snap the ball poorly, whether you jump offsides, I mean, we had a chance to stop them at the end of the game a couple of times, and you know, couldn't get off the field. So, just all in all, we just didn't do what we needed to do to have a chance to be successful against a good team."
Saban attributed Alabama's loss to penalties. These included false starts that hindered offensive rhythm. He stressed the importance of discipline and channeling emotion into precise execution.
"(What) I talked to our players about is it's great to have emotion and play with emotion," Saban said. "Everybody should have that. But that emotion has to be channeled into tangible, functional execution. So, you've got to focus on the task at hand, one play at a time. It's got to be very intentional."
Saban's stances offseason and Alabama football future
Nick Saban chose secrecy by withholding the Alabama depth charts before the Crimson Tide's season opener.
Plus, Saban maintained silence on the quarterback battle as long as possible until he named Jalen Milroe among the contenders. He focused on all the QBs but remained unsure of Milroe even after naming him.
"The life of a quarterback, any quarterback, depends on how they perform," Saban said.
He said Saturday, according to Tide Illustrated, that he considered changing the QBs midway against the Longhorns:
"I did (think about making a change), but when he put the drive together to go down the field and score when we got ahead (at the end of the third quarter), I thought that gave him a lot of confidence."