Nick Saban's post-game comments following Alabama's 45-23 win over Texas A&M
Alabama got its first conference win at home of the 2018 season on Saturday with a big 45-23 win over Texas A&M. Nick Saban remains undefeated against his former assistant, beating Jimbo Fisher in this matchup.
Saban is now 13-0 against his former assistants. Tua Tagovailoa was 22 of 30 for 387 yards and four scores in the game. The Alabama signal caller set career highs for attempts, completions, yards, and touchdowns in this one.
Alabama put up an incredible 524 yards of total offense in the game, with 415 of those coming through the air. Two turnovers did Texas A&M in on the day, with the first coming on the first offensive snap of the game. Alabama immediately turned that into its first touchdown of the day on the following play, thanks to a 38-yard pass from Tagovailoa to DeVonta Smith.
Here are the highlights of what Saban had to say following the game:
Saban: "We really didn't control the game."
— Charlie Potter (@Charlie_Potter) September 22, 2018
Nick Saban: “It was a really good win for our team. We have a lot of respect for Texas A&M."
— TideSports.com (@TideSports) September 22, 2018
On not finishing as well as Saban would have liked:
Saban: There's certainly a lot to improve on.
— Aaron Suttles (@AaronSuttles) September 22, 2018
Nick Saban: “I don’t think we finished the game like we liked.”
— TideSports.com (@TideSports) September 22, 2018
Saban: "I'm not really mad at anybody in here, so don't take anything personally, but I'm not pleased with the way we finished the game."
— Charlie Potter (@Charlie_Potter) September 22, 2018
Saban says Alabama won't practice on Monday to allow some players time to recover and heal up.
— Ben Jones (@BW_Jones) September 22, 2018
On Alabama’s pass rush. Texas A&M QB Kellen Mond had over 100 rushing yards at halftime but finished the game with 98 following so many second-half sacks:
Saban on defensive pressure: That was key.
— Aaron Suttles (@AaronSuttles) September 22, 2018
Nick Saban: “I think having the ability to pressure the quarterback is really important. … We did a pretty good job with four guys rushing.”
— TideSports.com (@TideSports) September 22, 2018