Nick Saban reveals what he has learned about Desmond Ridder through film

With the calendar moving to Sunday, it’s officially game week for the Alabama Crimson Tide. Nick Saban and his squad will play in the Cotton Bowl against Cincinnati in the College Football Playoff semifinal on Friday, looking to defend their national championship.

The head coach was asked about what he has seen from the Bearcats’ offense on film preparing for the game. Saban said they have watched a lot from this season but also studied their matchup against Georgia from last season.

“We have watched him — some from last year’s games — we certainly watched the Georgia game which I think they did an outstanding job against a very good Georgia team, a very good Georgia defense,” Saban told the media on Sunday. “We watched most of their games this year. When you have this extended time period, you have a lot more time to look at what teams have done with their history. But their players do a great job of executing what they do.

Saban then got more specific, talking about quarterback Desmond Ridder. He had nothing but positive things to say about the senior quarterback, complementing multiple parts of Ridder’s game.

“They’ve got a really good offensive scheme. I think it starts with the quarterback,” said Saban. “He’s really smart, he puts them in the right play a lot, he changes the protections, he recognizes what the defense is trying to do and for the most part, does a really good job taking advantage of it. He’s done nothing but play better and better and better this year this year and he continued to develop.”

Nick Saban reveals how Texas A&M changed Alabama’s season

Back in October, Alabama took a rare regular-season loss to Texas A&M on the road. Saban said that game was likely the wake-up call his team needed to push toward another College Football Playoff appearance.

“I think one of the most difficult things to do is deal with success,” Saban explained. “Most of the time, when you have a negative thunderbolt people are much more willing to respond. I think we had won something like 19 games in a row. …There were lessons learned in that. Sometimes when you win, you lose respect for winning. Really, what you lose respect for is what it takes to win. What it takes to prepare to win. And to respect the challenges the other team brings.

“That’s what you need to do especially in difficult environments to play in, and that was certainly a difficult environment to play in. I think we matured some as a team. I think we gained a little respect for what it takes to be successful. And I think our players have done a little bit better of a job trying to create the right habits. They had to overcome a lot of adversity to be here. We surely didn’t get it done that night, but I’m proud of the way they responded to get here.”