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Alabama: Saban happy, not satisfied

By: Darren Epps

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ATHENS, Ga. — The contrast between the noise echoing from one side of the wall and the tone of Nick Saban’s voice on the other side was striking.

In the locker room, right next to a cramped interview area under Sanford Stadium, Alabama’s players celebrated, shouted and started the party that would continue in Tuscaloosa. They had just decimated No. 3 Georgia — the recently-retired Larry Munson would probably have said Alabama “moved the ball on us like we were Arkansas” — 41-30 in Athens.

They made Mark Richt curse at halftime. They are now ranked No. 2 nationally behind Oklahoma.

On the other side, with the noises from the locker room barely audible, Saban’s voice started to rise. His demeanor almost made reporters check the box score to see if they saw the same game.

“I know I don’t look happy, but I am happy,” he said.

In fairness to Saban, he did call Saturday’s game a “great team win.” Saban said he was proud. He was happy.

But he spent much of his news conference bemoaning Alabama’s performance in the second half, when the Tide got outscored 30-10. It was reminiscent of his explosion following the blowout of Clemson, when Saban emphatically said “it was just one game.” Or immediately after he won the national championship at LSU, when he remarked that he needed to start recruiting.

Saban will not be satisfied. Even after a blowout win at Georgia.

“He ripped us pretty bad,” left tackle Andre Smith said. “We’ll learn from our mistakes so it doesn’t happen again.

“He does celebrate some. I love Coach Saban because he only wants the best out of you every single play. He demands it. So when you make a mistake, he’s going to get on you even if you’re up by 50.”

Or by 31 at halftime.

“He came in at halftime and he had things he wanted to say to get things corrected,” Alabama’s Rashad Johnson said.

Saban isn’t lacking reasons to continue pushing the Tide despite their success.

The team collapsed after ripping Tennessee last season and nearly toppling LSU. After Saban’s impassioned speech following the Clemson game, Alabama still struggled with Tulane at home.

Saban referenced that speech in the Georgia Dome, and then Alabama’s ensuing lackluster performance, following the win over Georgia.

“It happens every week. I’m just the only person who talks about it,” Saban said. “And then you guys beat me up about it. Which is all right, I don’t mind. And then the next week you say, ‘He’s right. My God, he was right!’”

Alabama’s players claim, this time, they’re listening with Kentucky up next. So what does Saban have to say now?

“We got beat in the second half out there 30-10,” he said. “That’s not how we want to play, that’s not how we play a game, that’s not how we should play a game, and we should not be happy about playing that way in the second half and I hope we learn from that. I hope our players learn, ‘What did I do when I played well, and then what happened when I didn’t play well?’ And that, my friends, will be the answer to why you’re successful and why you aren’t.

“I know everybody is going to be all over me in the press about what I’m saying right now, but I’m being honest. It’s really what we need to do to get better.”

Saban says Alabama can get better. And that’s a scary thought for the rest of the SEC.

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