Let’s take a quick tour of the SEC to see what the head coaches were talking about Saturday following their Week 11 games:
NICK SABAN, ALABAMA
On the nine-sack performance for his defensive line in 31-6 win at Mississippi State: “We thought the one thing that might be in our favor in this game was our defensive line against their offensive line. We did most of it with four guys rushing. Every time we rushed more than four and played man-to-man, he got rid of the ball and he made a couple of big plays. They all did a good job of pushing the pocket. I think that was a real key to the game.”
BRET BIELEMA, ARKANSAS
On his message to other teams with 31-14 win at LSU: “”When you come play Arkansas I want you to know you’re in a street fight.””
GUS MALZAHN, AUBURN
On dropping rivalry game to Georgia 20-13: “That was a tough one today. I thought our defense played very well. They held them to 243 yards. They have a lot of playmakers on that side of the football. I thought our offense did a good job in the first half. Obviously, in the second half we didn’t get it done. Uncharacteristic, we had three turnovers. We had been protecting the football extremely well and the three turnovers were big. The special teams touchdown with the game tied was also uncharacteristic, as well. The bottom line is that we are disappointed, and that was a tough one.”
JIM MCELWAIN, FLORIDA
On completing sweep of SEC East opponents with win at South Carolina: “I have to tell you something about that locker room. We have a bunch of winners. We have guys that have it figured out, and we’re in a position now to keep working on ourselves and keep getting a little bit better. We did some really good things. Obviously turning the ball over before halftime, we have to put the nail in the coffin there. The art of winning is hard. I don’t care who you are. Each one of you competed at one time in your life, and you understand how hard winning is and figuring out how to win. That’s what I like about our guys. There’s never any panic. They play in the moment, and they figured out a way to sweep the East.”
MARK RICHT, GEORGIA
On performance of his defense during 20-13 road win at Auburn: “Just a super job of guys doing their job and taking care of business. In college football, every offense is so different. To have all the different types of offense … we haven’t hardly given up any big plays at all.”
MARK STOOPS, KENTUCKY
On losing 21-17 at Vanderbilt: “It was a very difficult loss — heartbreaking for our team. We thought our team played with a lot of energy, a lot of passion, a lot of heart. I thought we practiced all week that way. They put a lot into this game and we came up on the short end. The game comes down to a lot of critical plays — a few decisions with myself that could sometimes turn the outcome one way or the other.”
LES MILES, LSU
On what his team will feel in review of 31-14 loss to Arkansas: “I think our team is going to have a difficult time with this film. Not the effort, but with the position they just vacated.”
DAN MULLEN, MISSISSIPPI STATE
On why Alabama was able to sack Dak Prescott nine times in 31-6 home loss: “I don’t know if they were doing anything special but just beating guys up there. I don’t think we did a great job of protecting the quarterback. One of the things you want to do is protect the quarterback to be able to throw the football. We still threw for over 300 yards.”
GARY PINKEL, MISSOURI
On emotional win against BYU following his announcement of resignation: “”I’m not a whole lot about Gary Pinkel here. This is about my team. I love Mizzou.”
SHAWN ELLIOTT, SOUTH CAROLINA
On another close conference loss to Florida: “This has been the story of our football team the last few weeks. We don’t start off very quick, but we finish strong and today wasn’t any different other than the fact that I thought our defense played very well in the first half and they kept us in the ball game. They made a couple of mistakes here and there in the first half but they played a tremendous game I thought. It was unfortunate with that third-down play there at the end. Offensively today we were just dominated by a really good defense and a really good coaching staff that had a good game plan. They were just ready to shut us down.”
BUTCH JONES, TENNESSEE
On winning ugly against a bad North Texas team: “There isn’t a `U’ behind the `W’ that stands for `Ugly Win.’ They’re all wins, but we have to go back and we have to get better. We’re going to be challenged the next couple weeks, but I thought our kids were gritty and grinded it out, and we got bowl eligible. We have a long ways to go, but we’re proud of them.”
KEVIN SUMLIN, TEXAS A&M
On getting maligned QB Kyle Allen back on the field against Western Carolina: “I think he did a great job of being a great teammate the last couple of weeks. He’s bounced back and practiced well.”
DEREK MASON, VANDERBILT
On hanging on to win 21-17 against Kentucky: “Our kids fought hard… Our kids were resilient. Our clock management at the end of the game was important. It got us into a situation where we could rush the passer. The game ended on a sack. That’s fitting.”
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.
