The Alabama Crimson Tide will use this week to bounce back from a lifeless 20-7 victory over Mississippi State on Saturday.
“It’s probably good that we were in a close game, that was very closely contested,” coach Nick Saban said. “Which we had to go out there and make some plays and stops in the game that made a difference in the game. We certainly didn’t dictate tempo in the game like we like to.”
The team wasn’t satisfied with the output, where the Crimson Tide put up its lowest point total of the year in a sluggish offensive effort.
“No one left that locker room at Mississippi State feeling great about the win,” center Ryan Kelly said. “We like the win because it’s obviously a win, but we didn’t like the way we did it. We left that field knowing that we didn’t impose our will on them. We didn’t feel like we dominated the line of scrimmage, and that’s one of the things we always work for every week, dominate the line of scrimmage and move the ball really well in the running game, and I don’t think we did that really well.”
Alabama will face the Chattanooga Mocs, an FCS team, Saturday at 1 p.m. in Bryant-Denny Stadium before finishing the season with a top-10 matchup against Auburn.
“I think it’s important for the players to refocus on the vision of what they want to accomplish as a team,” Saban said. “Pay attention to detail, focus on the process of what it’s going to take for us to play our best football as a team and go out and work every day in practice to try to get it perfected so that when we get in the game we have confidence in our ability to execute.”
Vogler day-to-day
Saban said tight end Brian Vogler would be day-to-day with an ankle injury, and his status for the game is uncertain.
Freshmen O.J. Howard and Sophmore T.J. Yeldon will be limited in practice, but should be available for Saturday’s game, Saban said.
Saban says interception was in bounds
Saban said he believes AJ McCarron’s first interception of the game would have stood if he had decided to call a timeout to give officials further time to review it. He was asked about the play in his post-game press conference, and upon further review still believes the player was in bounds.
“All you guys after the press conference telling me that the guy was out of bounds, he really wasn’t out of bounds,” Saban said. “He was in bounds. I would have wasted a timeout trying to do what you do. And you all tell me he’s in bounds. I mean, come on man.
“We’ve got coaches in the boxes that look at that stuff, aight? I asked the official, ‘Are you reviewing this?’ He says, ‘Yes.’ They review it. They didn’t overturn it. Nobody in the box told me that the guy was not in bounds. So that’s the best information we had. Where y’all got your information at, I don’t know.”
Tide practices Hail Mary defending
Safety Landon Collins said Alabama practices defending game-ending Hail Mary passes on Thursdays. He said Saban emphasizes knocking the ball down rather than trying to intercept the pass.
Auburn beat Georgia on a similar play Saturday when a defensive back tipped the ball into the hands of the Tigers’ Ricardo Louis.
“Coach Saban tells us to bat it down,” Collins said. “That’s the first thing that comes out of his mouth. If you get the pick, fall down. But the first thing is batting it down to play the next play. He doesn’t want anybody being a hero.”
