Let’s take a quick tour of the SEC to see what the head coaches were talking about on Saturday following their Week 8 games:
NICK SABAN, ALABAMA
On the Crimson Tide’s go-ahead drive in 19-14 win against Tennessee: “I think the third down conversions, especially the two fade routes, were really good catches and really good throws. We were able to run the ball, and ran the catch-sweep counter on the touchdown which was a great misdirection. The line did a good job, Derrick did a good job, and we scored a touchdown. It was a go-for-two [points] situation that would have made a big difference if we converted it there, but the defense did a good job on going out and getting a stop [after the failed conversion]. But the third down conversions [offensively] were huge.”
BRET BIELEMA, ARKANSAS
On winning in 4 OT against Auburn: “Well, I’m glad that game was at 11 or else we would be here until midnight. I was excited to see our guys play this weekend. During the bye week, you see some things, they have come a long way. Some of our younger players as I mentioned earlier in the week; some of our older players are getting better. We got some guys healthy.”
GUS MALZAHN, AUBURN
On his team’s effort in the 4 OT loss at Arkansas: “I thought our guys played with a lot of heart, a lot of character. Especially to get us to overtime, that was a tough deal. Our guys got us to overtime. They fought hard. Did some good things. You have to give Arkansas credit. They responded numerous times when they had to. They made plays and we just didn’t get it done. You have to give them credit. I would also like to wish their running back well that got hurt. I hope he’s ok.”
MARK STOOPS, KENTUCKY
On loss at Mississippi State: “Obviously not a very good night. We did not play very good; we did not coach very good; and obviously that was not the result we were looking for. I felt like they played a very good football game. We knew that going into it that it was going to be very difficult with Dak (Prescott) and the way he handles a game, and with the matchups outside at receiver. That definitely held true. They kept us off balance tonight and did a heck of a job. Like I said, they were a lot better football team and a lot better coached.”
LES MILES, LSU
On the weather conditions and how they impacted LSU’s win against Western Kentucky:“Early on the weather conditions were terrible. If it had stayed that way, no one would have had any success in the air. It turned out to be a pretty nice night to me. I kind of enjoyed it myself. I don’t think that affected our throwing at all late in the game.”
DAN MULLEN, MISSISSIPPI STATE
On blowing out Kentucky in Starkville: ““I’m really pleased. We wanted to play more of a complete game and tonight I think we accomplished that. Defense and special teams certainly had the best performance of the night. We keep developing and that’s really what you want to do. I think we have been playing much better than the start of the season and what you want is to get better as the season goes on.”
GARY PINKEL, MISSOURI
On if there need to be some offensive personnel changes following 10-3 loss at Vanderbilt: “We’re looking at everything. When you switch personnel, you have to know what happens with the spot with the person that’s leaving, so it’s really easy to throw people all over the place. We have to analyze all that stuff. It’s my fault, so I’m charged with getting that changed.”
HUGH FREEZE, OLE MISS
On team fighting through slump to get 23-3 win against Texas A&M: “During adversity in life you find out a lot about people, everyone, you find out who is really who. That is what we challenged our kids with this week. We said if you play out of love and passion for 60 minutes, then that will be good enough at the end of the day for us. We can look each other in the eyes and know we did it the way we were supposed to do it. Luckily the scoreboard validated that tonight, sometimes it doesn’t, but tonight it did.”
BUTCH JONES, TENNESSEE
On losing another close game, this one 19-14 at Alabama: “I’m really proud of our team. I thought our team showed some grit, some determination and some resiliency on the road against a quality opponent, a top ten opponent, in a hostile environment to go down and drive the ball and put us in a position to win. At the University of Tennessee, there are no moral victories.”
KEVIN SUMLIN, TEXAS A&M
On his team’s performance in 23-3 loss at Ole Miss: “We got whipped. We couldn’t move the ball. We had turnovers and penalties. We couldn’t get off the field defensively. Offensively, we had some sort fields and couldn’t take advantage. We couldn’t move the football. They had a lot to do with that. We’ve got to go back and regroup, and this is when the leadership needs to show on our football team. That was basically the message in the locker room.”
DEREK MASON, VANDERBILT
On winning “ugly” in a 10-3 victory against Missouri: “I love it. I’ll sleep well every night. Some people want to see high-scoring games. Two weeks from now, it’ll still be 10-3 and will still be a win.”
Nick Cole is a former print journalist with several years of experience covering the SEC. Born and raised in SEC country, he has taken in the game-day experience at all 14 stadiums.
