Nick Saban cautions players after Mercer win: ‘If they don’t wake up and shake themselves, they’ll get shook’
By Adam Spencer
Published:
Nick Saban accepts nothing short of perfection from his team. Therefore, it’s no surprise he wasn’t 100% happy with Alabama’s performance in a 48-14 rout of FCS Mercer on Saturday.
The Tide got off to a bit of a slow start, but then things picked up as the game wore on. Eventually, the Tide were firing on all cylinders with the starting unit before the backups came in to finish things off.
In his postgame remarks, Saban wasn’t too thrilled with his team. Here are some of the things he said:
On if the Alabama players responded to his rant earlier in the week:
Saban on whether players understood his message about Mercer: “They’ll understand this week because they are playing a really good Florida team so if they don’t wake up and shake themselves, they’ll get shook.”
— Cecil Hurt (@CecilHurt) September 11, 2021
On an injury suffered by OLB Will Anderson:
Nick Saban: Will Anderson “went out, checking out his knee. He’s questionable as to what his circumstance will be here for the upcoming week."
— Mike Rodak (@mikerodak) September 11, 2021
On the offense’s struggles to open the game:
Nick Saban on opening drives by offense: “If it stinks, it stinks. It smells bad for everybody. Did it smell bad for you? What do you want me to do, make excuses for them?"
— Mike Rodak (@mikerodak) September 11, 2021
On Alabama’s penalty problems:
Nic Saban upset about Alabama’s 9 penalties for 95 yards. “It’s ridiculous. We got to get it fixed."
— Mike Rodak (@mikerodak) September 11, 2021
On a reckoning for his team:
Nick Saban: “Maybe we need more of this. When I was growing up, I worked for my dad, aight. So every day at dinner, he would [slam the table]. There was a reckoning — a reckoning — for everything you were supposed to do that day."
— Mike Rodak (@mikerodak) September 11, 2021
On a pair of Alabama defensive injuries:
Nick Saban said Josh Jobe and Jalyn Armour-Davis should be back. “We didn’t think that their injuries were all that serious to start with, but they were more serious than we anticipated.” He said neither practiced and he didn’t want to play them against Mercer’s offense.
— Mike Rodak (@mikerodak) September 11, 2021
Will the Tide play to Saban’s liking next week at Florida? We’ll find out next Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Eastern time on CBS.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
