As the Alabama Crimson Tide prepares for its last home game of the season, head coach Nick Saban is not allowing his team to overlook the Georgia Southern Eagles.
The Eagles bring in a 9-1 record and a confusing triple option attack Alabama hasn’t seen this season.
“They do a really, really good job at what they do,” Saban said. “They do what they do extremely well. Play hard, play tough, but they execute very, very well, and that’s why they have so much success. So it’s big that in this game that we play to our standards.”
Still, Saban did take the time to reflect on what has been one of the most dominant classes in Alabama football, a class that has seen unprecedented success, a class that officially brought Alabama “back.” It boasts Alabama’s only Heisman winner, three first-round picks in the 2011 NFL Draft, 45 wins thus far and, most importantly, Alabama’s first national championship since 1992. “I hope our guys will really recognize the accomplishments of our seniors that will be recognized before this game,” Saban said “…This group of guys came here when we weren’t winning, we weren’t having success, Alabama wasn’t good. And there weren’t a lot of good things happening here at the time. And this is certainly one of the best classes I have ever been associated with.
“I hope their teammates and everybody associated with them will go out there and play to a standard and give them a final good memory of playing in Bryant-Denny Stadium.”
Senior wide receiver Brandon Gibson said there will be a lot of emotions out there for him, a senior on his final home game. “It’ll be definitely a lot of emotions there,” Gibson said. “[I’m] probably going to have to hold it back a lot. Because I try to look all manly and stuff. But it’ll be fine. It’s the last home game… But it’s going to be something that I remember for the rest of my life, and hopefully we’ll come away with a win.”
Players not overlooking Eagles
Despite being the week before the Iron Bowl, Gibson said his team will not be looking ahead of the Eagles Saturday for next week’s game. For Gibson, the only issue is with this week’s opponent, which brings a triple option offense that’s difficult to defend. “It’ll be different,” Gibson said. “They’ll do some different things. The defense will see something that they haven’t seen all year, but you definitely got to respect your opponent. And we definitely respect them, coming in and playing on such a big stage. We’re going to go in just like any other game. We’re going to go out and compete for four quarters.”
Senior linebacker Jerrell Harris said it wasn’t fun preparing for the Eagles’ triple option offense. “It’s very confusing,” Harris said. “You just have to really know your job description on each call and just take what the offense is giving you when you’re supposed to be there.”
Jerrell said the defense has been learning how to better approach defending the triple option as the week has worn on. “We’re getting better as the days go by,” Harris said. “It was kind of difficult at first, but now we’re getting a better grasp on how to play it.
Practice Notes
Jesse Williams was no longer in a black jersey Wednesday.
Vinnie Sunseri practiced in a black jersey Wednesday, though Saban said he “was fine.”
Saban described Barrett Jones and Darius Hanks as day-to-day on their playing status.
