Nick Saban shares high praise for Miami's D'Eriq King
The Alabama defense has a tough task in Week 1 against Miami. Not only are the Hurricanes a top-15 team nationally, they also field one of the nation’s top returning quarterbacks in D’Eriq King.
The former Houston transfer put up impressive numbers during his first season in Sunshine State. In fact, the statistical improvement Miami showed at the quarterback position had a huge impact on the team improving from being a sub-500 football team in 2019 to a top-25 squad in 2020.
Alabama coach Nick Saban had a lot of praise for the Miami quarterback when asked about him during a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.
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“He’s a very good player,” Saban told reporters. “He’s a very athletic guy. Great feet, good quickness. Very good runner, can extend plays. He’s a good passer. So, it’s a lot of problems. They go fast. He does a really good job of operating their up-tempo type offense.
“So, this guy’s a really good player. It’s going to be very challenging for us. Not only because he’s a really good quarterback, but he’s a great athlete playing the position.
Last season, King completed 64.1 percent of his passes for 2,686 yards, 23 touchdowns and only five interceptions in 11 games. He also added another 538 yards and four scores on the ground, making him one of the top dual-threat players at his position.
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Saban understands the difficulty of having to contain a quarterback who can beat you in multiple ways. Even with King still working his way back from a torn ACL, he can be a matchup problem for the Crimson Tide’s defense — if they’re not careful.
Alabama is set to take on Miami in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta Georgia on Sept. 4. Kickoff time is set for 2:30 p.m. CT and will air on ABC.
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