| FTBL Saban press conference from Wednesday (recap and video)

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Nick Saban said that practice today was "a lot better" than it was on Tuesday. The Tide coach also noted following today's practice that he was looking forward to this Saturday's home opener against Middle Tennessee and that he hoped the fans were excited, too.

"Our fans have been great. We've had a tremendous amount of support in Bryant Denny Stadium and we've had our share of success there as well," Saban said.

"This team (Middle Tennessee) is one of those fastball, no-huddle teams, go as fast as they can. I think when you play a team like this and make a lot of noise and make them go on silent, it helps our players, especially on defense. Our crowd can create a big advantage in this game. I think if they're looking forward to it like I'm looking forward to it, they'll be excited about it, because it's not necessarily about anything but helping our team."

Blue Raider offense rolled up big numbers
In last week's opener against Jackson State, the Middle Tennessee offense put up 605 yards of offense in a 70-14 win.

"I think, conceptually, they're one of the most difficult offenses we play to defend," Saban said. "They're very well coached. They do a really, really good job of using personnel. They use, not just four wideouts, but they use three wideouts and a tight end, they use two backs and three wideouts, they use regular people. There's a lot of multiples. There's a lot of formation adjustments. They really do a good job in the passing game to see what you're doing defensively. There's a lot of challenges playing this team and their players do a really nice job of executing. They're very well coached."

Saban compared the Middle Tennessee offensive style to Auburn and Ole Miss.

"Their running game is a lot of wide zone," he said. "They're really trying to stretch the gaps with big splits and run wide plays to spread the defenders out and try to get a crease. They're pretty effective."

Stockstill has impressive debut
In his first start, redshirt freshman quarterback Brent Stockstill, the son of head coach Rick Stockstill, was 25 of 31 for 364 yards and four touchdowns.

"He's a coach's son and he plays like that," Saban said. "He's a very bright player, very instinctive, very smart. Has a quick release and is very accurate with the ball.

"They've got some very good receivers. They did a very, very nice job of throwing and catching it. But they had very good balance. They ran the ball well, too. It's going to be a challenge for us both ways. They're going to package their runs and passes. When you're in a good pass defense, they're going to run the ball. When you're in a run defense, they're going to pass it. It's always a challenge for a defense in these kind of games."

Middle Tennessee safety ranks at the top nationally in interceptions
Middle Tennessee safety Kevin Byard is tied for first nationally among active players in career interceptions, with 15. Byard needs just three more interceptions to become the school's all-time leader.

"He's a good player. A really good player," Saban said. "He's definitely a playmaker. I think the way their scheme is, it's setup for their safeties to make a lot of plays and he's certainly one of their best players."

OL could've done better in pass pro
Even though the Tide offense amassed 502 yards of total offense against Wisconsin, Saban said the offensive line could've done better in pass protection. The Badgers recorded three sacks on Tide quarterbacks.

"I think anytime you get sacked, you didn't pass protect very well," Saban said. "It's something we definitely need to improve on, especially on the edges. The quarterback has got to do a better job of not taking sacks when we do get pressure. Get the ball out of your hand. Make a guy miss. Take off running. Do whatever you've got to do. We don't want to have negative plays. It stops drives."

Drake hard to defend
All summer talk was that the Tide staff had plans of using Kenyan Drake in multiple ways. In his return on Saturday night, Drake contributed from different spots on the field in racking up 77 yards rushing and 48 yards in receptions.

"When you have players like Kenyan Drake with a lot of diversity in terms of their ability to run the ball (and are) very good receivers, very good space players, ability to make you miss, those kind of guys are very, very valuable to your team," Saban said. "Kenyan Drake is very valuable to our team because of what he can do.

"When you play against guys like (him), it's always a problem (for the defense), because they're mismatch guys for certain guys to cover and when you motion them around and move them around a lot, it's hard (for the opposing defense) to control who is going to cover him. Plus, he can run the ball effectively and he's a good pass protector and he's a good third down back. Guy has a lot of diversity as a player.

"What we're trying to get him to do is just focus on not trying to make big plays, just take what they give you and make the most of it. When he does that, he's extremely effective."

Sims continues to progress
One of the bigger stories coming out of camp was the recovery of receiver Cam Sims from a severe knee injury suffered in the spring.

Sims played against Wisconsin.

"He's doing okay," Saban said. "The plan for him is we're not trying to throw him totally into the fire. We've got a plan where he gets so many reps a day. We trying to increase that on a weekly basis by ten percent or so in terms of how many reps he gets.

"When you have guys that have these kind of injuries, the worst thing you can do is push them too hard. They get overuse problems. They get tendinitis. They get swelling in the knee. Then all of a sudden you've got to shut them down. That's what we're trying to avoid and so far it's worked pretty well.

"He practiced yesterday and practiced today. Is he one-hundred percent? I think he's healthy. I don't think he's been able to put enough work in to get back to a hundred percent, but he's getting closer and closer. We're very encouraged with the progress he's made to get to the point he's at right now."
 
Alabama will host Middle Tennessee State for its home opener on Saturday, Sept. 12, and Nick Saban knows the Blue Raiders will present his Crimson Tide with a challenge, especially with its high-powered offense.

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Saban said facing MTSU's spread, up-tempo offense will be a challenge. (Photo: Derick E. Hingle, USA TODAY Sports)
Last week, MTSU opened its season with a bang against Jackson State, winning its inaugural game of 2015 by a score of 70-14. The Blue Raiders piled on 633 total yards of offense on 95 plays and will look to continue that full-throttle approach this weekend in Tuscaloosa.

Saban, during his Wednesday evening press conference, voiced his respect for Alabama’s next opponent and noted that Saturday’s game in Bryant-Denny will be anything but a pushover.

“I think conceptually, they’re one of the most difficult offenses that we play to defend,” Saban said. “They’re very, very well-coached. They do a really, really good job of using personnel. They use not just four wide outs but they use three wide outs and a tight end, they use two backs and three wide outs, they use regular.

“So there’s a lot of multiples, there’s a lot of formation adjustments, really do a nice job in the passing game of trying to see what you’re in defensively, whether they use Nike checks or hard count to get the defense to show itself and then try to try to call a play to beat that. There’s a lot of challenges in playing this team, and I think their players do a really good job of executing – they’re very well-coached.”

Saban said he sees a lot of Ole Miss and Auburn in MTSU’s offense. The Crimson Tide will host the Rebels next weekend in its first conference game of the season. But he also pointed out how the Blue Raiders tend to call a lot of “wide-zone” runs that “stretch the gaps with big splits.”

But what Saban and Alabama will see on the field Saturday in its next opponent will not be foreign for the defensive players. No, the Crimson Tide is accustomed to facing spread, up-tempo offenses like MTSU’s, especially during the conference portion of its schedule.

“We see this kind of offense more often than we used to, and I would say that years back, when you didn’t see this often, it was very, very challenging because you had to do a lot of different things and the players had to learn a lot of different things,” Saban said. “I do think it’s still challenging because they seem to come up with new ways to complement the things they do, which always makes it difficult to defend.

“But any time people spread you out and make you defend space, the multiples of missed tackles can go up, mistakes in coverage can go up. The defensive players have further to run to the ball. So keeping them fresh is an issue. There’s a lot of challenges to play this kind of offense.

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(Photo: Marvin Gentry, USA TODAY Sports)
“I’ve been very challenged this week as a coach to prepare our players for it. There’s a lot of things that they need to learn so that they can go out there and execute, and communication is a big part of it. And when they’re going fast, no-huddle, communication is always an issue. That’s something that we’ve tried to work hard on this week.”

The Crimson Tide and Blue Raiders will square off at 3 p.m. CT on Saturday, and the game will be televised on the SEC Network.


Saban updates Sims’ status


Sophomore wide receiver Cameron Sims (knee) entered the Wisconsin game late in the fourth quarter, but that wasn’t when fans expected to see him – in more ways than one.

Last season, Sims emerged as one of the top reserve targets for quarterback Blake Sims, and he was projected to be a major contributor in the spring with three starters leaving Tuscaloosa.

A knee injury and eventual surgery in the spring season prolonged those expectations, however, and many believed Sims would be forced to miss the entirety of the 2015-16 season. But as we saw Saturday night, the coaching staff is easing the Louisiana product back into a reserve role on the offensive side of the ball.

On Wednesday night, Saban provided an update on Sims’ status and where he stands before the MTSU game.

“He’s doing OK,” Saban said. “The plan for him is we’re not trying to throw him totally in the fire. We’ve got to plan where he gets so many reps a day and we’re trying to increase that on a weekly basis by maybe 10 percent or so in terms of how many reps he gets.

“When you have guys that have these kinds of injuries, the worst thing you can do is push them too hard. They get some overuse problems. They get tendinitis, they get swelling in their knee and then all of a sudden you’ve got to shut them down. So that’s what we’re trying to avoid, and so far it’s worked pretty well.

“He practiced yesterday and practiced today. Is he 100 percent yet? I think he’s healthy, I don’t think he’s been able to put enough work in to get back 100 percent. But he’s getting closer and closer. We’re very encouraged with the progress that he’s made to get to where he is right now.”


Saban explains Black’s special teams blunder


Alabama was expecting an onside kick on the final kickoff of the Wisconsin game, but the Badgers proceeded to send the ball past the goal line. Wide out Chris Black fielded the kick in the end zone but elected to bring it out. He then saw a barrage of white jerseys drawing closer to him thanks to little to no help from his blockers and decided to kneel the ball at the seven.

It was a head-scratching play, to the say the least, and Saban tried to shed some light on the special teams blunder.

“In his defense, in all honesty, that was our fault,” Saban said. “… First of all, they do you a favor when they kick it in the end zone, which they did, so he shouldn’t have even brought it out. That’s No. 1. But No. 2 with that much time left in the game, he needs to go and get as much as he can get. We didn’t do a very good job up front, which we have coached and we have done, of blocking the people on the hands team when it’s not an onside kick. They didn’t do a very good job.

“So it wasn’t all Chris Black’s fault. It was our fault as coaches. We had not gone over that situation with him where there was more than two minutes left in the game and he had to get what he could get and the hands team knows that they need to do a much better job of blocking so we can get better field position.

“But if they kick in the end zone in a situation like that when you have the hands team in there, they’re doing you a favor so you never want to bring it out. It wasn’t a bad conversation (with Black), it was a teaching moment. It’s unfortunate that it happened but we’ll take the blame for that one.”
 
Transcript:

Alabama head coach Nick Saban appeared on the SEC coaches teleconference Wednesday morning, ahead of the Crimson Tide's second game of the 2015-16 season against Middle Tennessee State. Below is the full transcript of Saban's comments.

Saban: "We were pleased with the effort and enthusiasm and spirit that our guys played with in the first game. I think that there's obviously a lot of things that we want to improve on and a lot of things that we need to correct. And I think the players having the right attitude toward improving and getting those things corrected is imperative to us getting better. We're looking forward to the challenge that we have this week, working hard to get ready for it."

Question: What did Derrick (Henry) do, kind of in the early goings, to let you know that he could be a pretty special player for you?

Saban: "The guy was a fantastic player in high school. He has great size and speed and one of the hardest-working, best attitude guys on our team, and he's improved dramatically in a lot of areas. He had a great game the other night. He can really be a workhorse for us. We're just hopeful that he can stay healthy and continue to improve."

Q: When you talk about how far he's come, where do you think he's made the most advances from his freshman year?

Saban: "By his own admission one day, he told me 'Coach, all they ever did was just toss me the ball and I ran with it. So all this other stuff that I need to learn about playing running back, like pass protection and catching the ball out of the backfield and all those kind of things, I really need to learn.' And I think those are the areas that he's really improved on dramatically."

Q: You mentioned earlier that Cooper (Bateman) really responded well when you guys recommended that he go work on his accuracy in the offseason. How important was it that he responded well to coaching like that. And also on Jake (Coker), did he show some maturity last year after you made the decision to go with Blake (Sims)?

Saban: "First of all, any player that we sit down with, which we do a couple times a year and talk to them about their strengths and weaknesses and things they need to work on, I think it speaks a lot of their character and how much you can trust them if they actually go do those things. And I think in Cooper's case, he certainly did that.

"I think Jake is a competitor. He obviously wanted to play last year, but I think Jake has improved dramatically because he continued to work to get better, better footwork, better accuracy, playing faster, better understanding of the offense. Both those guys have invested a lot of time in improving in areas that they needed to. We're pleased with the character that both of them showed and how they responded to working on the things they needed to work on."

Q: In terms of some past teams that you've had, in terms of leadership, how does this team stack up leadership-wise compared to some other teams you've had?

Saban: "I don't like to make comparisons between teams. We've had some really great leaders around here and some really good players. I think the personality of this team, is everybody's kind of bought in in trying to do things the right way. I think it's important that they continue to do that and understand that the reason that the team is the way it is is because of the individuals on the team and what they've done. We have had some guys that have been really positive in their leadership, and I think that has been very beneficial to this team."

Q: In terms of the secondary play, coming out of the first game, what was your take away of the secondary's play?

Saban: "I thought we made improvement. We had several new faces out there and really four out of the five guys were playing in different positions that they'd never played before. I thought they all did a pretty decent job. I think one of the things they need to all improve on and have more respect for is just communication and playing together. Hopefully that will come as they gain more experience."

Q: What did you think about 10 SEC teams being ranked in the AP Poll this week?

Saban: "I didn't even look at the polls. It doesn't surprise me. I know quite a bit about all the teams that we play and I don't know that we play anybody in our league that shouldn't be ranked. I guess it's not much of a surprise to me. I think there's a lot of good coaches and a lot of good players and this is a really good league from top to bottom. I think when people make comparisons with other leagues, I think they fail to look at that. It doesn't surprise me at all."

Q: It looked like Derrick Henry's second touchdown run, he waited for a couple of blockers to pull around. Is that a play that he maybe could not have made when he first got on campus? Is that kind of a sign of the polish that you were talking about?

Saban: "I really wouldn't want to comment as to whether he could or couldn't make the play when he was a freshman. I really can't remember back that far, but we're just really pleased with the progress that he's made and the confidence that he's gained in understanding the offense and running the plays the way we'd like for him to run them. I think a lot of the players that we run for him are things that he can do well and I think that's a sign of good coaching but I also think it's a sign of great execution by the player."

Q: How satisfying is it to see a player like Kenyan Drake come back from an injury and look as good as he's ever looked?

Saban: "Well, Kenyan has been a really good player for us and you hate to see a player ever get injured but sometimes it's a part of the game. You'd always like to see guys have the right attitude about rehabbing and coming back and being positive and confident when they come back, and Kenyan has certainly done that. It's good for us and good for him and we're just hopeful that he can have a great year for us because we think he's an outstanding player."

Q: You pointed to the struggles of the deep passing game, passes not connecting in the game. How important is that to keep going (with that) before SEC play to try to make those connections?

Saban: "I don't really think they're struggles. I just think we had an opportunity to make a couple of plays that we didn't make. I feel really confident that the players that we have will make the plays in the future. We just continue to work on them. I'm very, very confident that we'll make some of those plays in the future."

Q: I wanted to ask you about (Shaun) Hamilton and (Reuben) Foster at linebacker, they were in and out throughout the game. How would you assess their play and what areas you thought they need to improve upon going into this game?

Saban: "We feel like we have three good inside linebackers. They really weren't in and out of the game. We played Reuben in nickel and we played Shaun Dion in regular and Wisconsin was quite a bit of regular in the game so that gave them both an opportunity to play and they both did a really good job. I'm sure that both guys see areas that they can improve in and we're certainly going to work with them to try to help them get better."
 
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