By outreach@cw.ua.edu (Terrin Waack)
The University of Alabama football team is undefeated three games into its season, but coach Nick Saban still isn’t exactly happy with where his team is at execution wise.
Saban was proud of how the Crimson Tide played during its 48-43 win over Ole Miss this past weekend because the team played with a lot of heart and competitive spirit.
“But when you look at things, the devil is kind of in the details,” he said.
It has been the same message after each game this season: There are still parts of the team’s game Saban needs to see cleaned up.
The Crimson Tide has had 25 penalties called on it so far this season for a total loss of 188 yards. Its quarterback, regardless if it was true freshman Jalen Hurts or redshirt freshman Blake Barnett, has been sacked six times. Then, out of its seven fumbles, Alabama has lost possession of three of them.
“All these things catch up with you if you don’t fix them, correct them, focus on every play and get things executed properly,” Saban said. “Leads to lots of problems.”
Based on mental errors alone, Saban believes Alabama could have lost its game against Ole Miss this past weekend. Thankfully for the team, it didn’t, though.
Since Week 1, offensive lineman Bradley Bozeman has seen the number of errors go down, and it all comes down to how the team practices. It needs to note what it did wrong during the previous game, and then fix it.
“We’re starting to lock in more, gelling more as a unit and just keep rolling,” Bozeman said. “Hopefully we’ll knock them all the way down.”
The offensive line had some kinks of its own it had to work out from the start of the season. The interior of it has been changing and still isn’t locked in.
Alabama nearly tripled its numbers on the ground, finishing with 124 rushing yards against Western Kentucky and then 334 rushing yards a week later against Ole Miss.
“It’s great when we can run the ball,” Bozeman said. “As an offensive lineman, you take pride in that.”
At the same time, however, the Crimson Tide also dropped from 351 to 156 passing yards between the same two games.
There is a lack of consistency in execution, and Saban doesn’t want that to backfire in a way that Alabama, essentially, seals its own coffin shut.
“It’s one thing to get beat physically — can’t cover them, can’t block them up front. That’s different, and that may happen one day,” Saban said. “But all this other stuff, you beat yourself.”
Heading into Kent State this weekend, Saban said the team focused on developing the standard in terms of its execution. Just like he has said previously, Saban wants the players to start the game fast and finish strong. They can’t keep taking their sweet time to take off and then once ahead, slow down again.
The expectation is for the Crimson Tide to give it its all the entire 60 minutes.
“Everybody who goes in there knows exactly what they’re supposed to do and how to do it,” Bozeman said. “It’s just a matter of getting it done.”
Source:: The Crimson White Sports
