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Coachspeak: What Alabama and Florida Atlantic have been saying this week
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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. _ University of Alabama coach Nick Saban and his Florida Atlantic counterpart both met with reporters this week and talked a little about Saturday’s game at Bryant-Denny Stadium (noon ET, SEC Network).
Here are a few snippets of what they said:
Saban: “Florida Atlantic had a pretty good year last year, and really got off to a pretty good start against Nebraska, believe it or not. The quarterback got hurt about the 26th play of the game and then they weren’t nearly as good after that, because he is probably the center of what they do and is a very, very effective player. Last year he was the leading passer, leading rusher, leading in a lot of categories. And last year they were a very, very good defensive team. These guys are well coached, and we certainly have a lot of respect for them, but the focus is on what we need to do to make our team better. That’s what we’re going to really try to focus on this week.”
Charlie Partridge: “Alabama is Alabama. It is what you would expect. They have got amazing depth. They have great talent. I was counting last night, as I watched film. I counted 10 “D” linemen who played a very competitive game against West Virginia. So, none of it was late time when they were ahead. They played a lot of nickel, so anticipate that. They have an All-American Mike linebacker coming back off his first-game suspension, so he is coming back. They have an All-American corner. Flip over to the other side they have eight starters returning. (Blake) Sims did a nice job at quarterback, he is mobile. We saw him a little bit in the game when we played them when I was at Arkansas. He is a good player, who threw the ball well. Special teams are very sound. West Virginia did break one out on them for a house call but honestly (Alabama’s players) were in good position. The kid from West Virginia had a great individual effort to make a guy miss and ran down the sideline and made a heck of a play. We have a great challenge. I respect Nick Saban. I respect his process. Nick Saban is worried about Alabama, the same way we are worried about FAU. That’s our focus this week – to get better as a football team, to get better as a program and to improve on some of the bright spots that you see on film. And then, get the other things corrected from last Saturday.”
Partridge on last week’s 55-7 loss to Nebraska: “First, it is never as good as you think or never as bad as you think, when you go to put the film on. There are some things that jump out, while the score may not reflect it, that you can really build on. The first drive was certainly something to be proud of … when we found ourselves again in the fourth quarter. We are finding ourselves and what are we best at – varied tempos, varied positions and spreading the ball around. When we do that, we can be a powerful offense. We proved that to ourselves on Saturday. We got a little behind the chains and got into three passes and come out. We dropped some opportunities, during that stretch of three and outs. If we make a catch here or there, the drives continue. So, there is a lot to build on. Special teams wise, I’m proud of the day we had and there is still a lot to fix. (Dalton) Schomp, like I said after the game ended, had some really nice balls and some balls he would want to have back. When you come out of a game like that with a new punter, really a new unit, a new style that they are being taught with a 42-yard net. That’s a big deal. So we are proud of that. Kick-off return was obviously productive. As you look at that on film, we really could have taken that (return) all the way. Lucky saw the kicker in his lane. Instead of turning the jets on, he stuttered and gave them a chance to pursue and rally so, we have great potential there. Defensively, we just have to get better and more aggressive as far as taking our fits. Really, at the end of the day, to simplify it, we had some kids trying to do too much. As the game got out of hand, kids were trying to make plays that they shouldn’t. That tends to be human reaction. We just have to have faith and let each guy do their job – fit their fit and we will be fine. It was more positive than I would have anticipated when I got on the plane.”
Partridge on what he admires about the Crimson Tide: “They are committed to what they do. That starts from the top down. It has taken him time to get there but, I respect that as well. Who did they lose to in his first year – Louisiana-Monroe? But, what he has now built is a team that has been developed. They know what they are supposed to do, fundamentally. They are going to do what they do. I respect that. That is what we believe in here. We are going what we do. We are figuring out what we do best. It is going to take time to get our fundamentals perfect, but we are making strides and we are making them quickly.”
Christopher Walsh has covered Alabama football since 2004 and is the author of 19 books. In his free time, he writes about college football.
