Nick Saban criticizes Alabama's offensive line play vs. Auburn
Alabama was able to come away with a narrow 24-22, four-overtime win over rival Auburn in the Iron Bowl on Saturday, but it’s no surprise that longtime Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban is focusing on the negatives from his team instead of the positives. One of the main areas of concern for the head man? Alabama’s offensive line play.
Although Auburn’s offense wasn’t any better, Alabama’s unit could never get into a rhythm – and a big reason for that is because of the offensive line’s performance. While the Tide finished with 388 total yards, they managed to go just 8-for-22 on third downs and 1-for-4 on fourth downs. Quarterback Bryce Young completed just 49% of his passes – going 25-for-51 – with 317 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
On Sunday’s SEC coaches’ teleconference leading up to Saturday’s championship game between Alabama and undefeated Georgia, Saban had plenty to say about his offensive line’s performance vs. Auburn.
“Obviously, it wasn’t very good,” Saban said. “We didn’t do a very good job of pass blocking. We didn’t do a very good job of finishing blocks on the running plays. So, it’s pretty obviously to everybody that we didn’t execute very well. Did a much better job in the second half, I think. Wasn’t always perfect, but much, much better. I think some of the adjustments that we made were a little better for them to execute relative to the way Auburn was playing us. So, we made some improvement during the game, but it wasn’t very good in the first half.”
Saban praises Georgia’s pass rush
It’s no secret that Georgia is the best team in the country as its 12-0 record and No. 1 ranking present it, and a big reason for the Bulldogs’ success throughout the 2021 season has been because of their dominant defense.
Looking specifically at Georgia’s defensive unit, one of the team’s strongest areas on that side of the ball is its pass rush, which Saban had plenty of praise to give to.
“To me, they’ve got some really good rushers up front. They do a great job of pressuring the quarterback,” Saban said on Sunday’s SEC coaches’ teleconference. “They’ve got really good scheme in terms of how they pressure the quarterback. They mix up the coverages in the back end quite a bit. They’ve been very effective with the way they play pass defense all year long. So, it’s going to be very challenging for us. It’s not just about throwing the ball. It’s about protecting, whether it’s man to man, zone, reading it, throwing the ball to the right guys. There’s a lot of things that go with that.
“When we play the best, we have some kind of balance on offense, which really wasn’t the case last night. So, it’s going to be important for us to be able to create that as well.”
No. 1 Georgia and No. 3 Alabama kickoff at 4 p.m. ET Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.