Nick Saban on Alabama’s close win over Texas A&M: ‘We were supposed to put the game away and we didn’t’
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Alabama improved its record to 6-0 Saturday night in College Station in a 27-19 over Texas A&M thanks to a huge edge in the running game (Alabama had 232 rushing yards to A&M’s 71), but the final margin was much closer than expected heading into the contest.
Thanks to a terrific second-half performance from A&M, and in particular true freshman quarterback Kellen Mond, the game was not sealed until Alabama recovered an onside kick in the closing moments of the game. The kick was recovered by Alabama defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick.
Immediately after the game, head coach Nick Saban was asked about his team’s close call after back-to-back SEC blowouts handed out in the previous two weekends.
“Well, I don’t think we played very well in the second half,” Saban said. “We didn’t do a good job of controlling the ball on offense, we turned it over, gave them opportunities. Got to give them credit for hanging in there and playing hard at the end but we’re ahead 24-3 in the game, we are supposed to put the game away, and we didn’t do it.”
Aside from the onside kick recovery, Fitzpatrick also made a key play late in the game when he intercepted a Mond throw inside the 10-yard line. Saban was asked to share his thoughts on his All-American defender.
“Minkah is a good player, we expect him to make plays. You gotta have your good players make plays,” Saban continued. “We had other guys hurt, we are playing a lot of guys on defense, but they played hard, and we did what we had to do.
“This is a great win for us, this is a tough place to play. We just have to get healed up and play better.”
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
