Coming off a 31-0 thrashing at the hands of the Alabama Crimson Tide, head coach Nick Saban said he was pleased with the effort from his team.
However, the third-year head coach has not completely committed to which quarterback he will start against rival Ole Miss (5-5, 2-4). All indications are sophomore Marcus Randall once again will be under center this Saturday night at Tiger Stadium, in front of a national television audience watching on ESPN2.
“I am sure everybody is interested in the quarterback situation,” Saban said. “We haven’t really developed a game plan yet for this game. We do not anticipate any changes, but we will continue to work with both of our quarterbacks to try to develop them the best we can and utilize the talents of each one of them, relative to what they can do to contribute to the success of the team, which is no different from what we have done the last three or four weeks.”
Saban did say, however, that he does not like the two-quarterback system.
“I think from a continuity standpoint, from a rhythm of the game standpoint, from the presence of the game standpoint, the full team would probably respond better to one guy,” Saban said. “We feel if that would help us in some way, we would consider [using two quarterbacks].”
Randall, who was 6-of-17 Saturday for just 39 yards, said the offensive unit must find a way to produce.
“The pressure comes, but the offense has to score points to win games,” Randall said. “We just haven’t been consistent as an offense.”
Randall also said he was told on the sidelines by Saban in the fourth quarter back-up Rick Clausen would get a shot to play.
“I really wasn’t surprised,” he said. “He told me he was going to take me out for a series or two. I have to take it as a learning experience.”
Right tackle Rodney Reed said the offense will find a way to get it done in the two remaining games.
“I don’t think the confidence is really that down,” he said. “Offensively, really, the problems we’re having — the result looks bad [31-0] — but there were several plays, a play here or a play there, that it was small details we messed up on. I take that for the offense and just try to get better.”
Reed said confidence, specifically in Randall, has not diminished.
“He’s doing a good job in the huddle,” Reed said. “He’s really staying upbeat. He’s not throwing things around or pitching a fit. He’s really encouraging other people. Other people that are around him aren’t picking him up, either [on the field].
On the defensive side of the football, the Tigers still were trying to figure out what went wrong Saturday. The Crimson Tide were able to use draw plays successfully against LSU.
Saban said there were many factors that allowed Alabama to run the ball effectively.
“They had 169 yards in the game on one play [the draw play],” Saban said. “It’s a play that takes a tremendous amount of discipline and patience by the defensive players for all of them to stay in their gaps. They ran the play a year before and had very little success. I have always said one of the first things you have to do on defense is stopping the run.”
Senior nose tackle Byron Dawson said it might be the little things that could improve big problems, such as the Tigers’ inability to stop the run.
“We have to get our focus back,” Dawson said. “We have to get back to the basics. They outschemed us on the [draw] play. When we got in the game, we didn’t play it like we were coached to play it, and that’s our fault as players.”
Saban quotable
“Nobody likes to be criticized. If you wrote an article for your paper and your editor says, ‘This is not a very nice article and I think I’m going to replace your article with someone else’s,’ I’m sure you’d have some kind of reaction to it. If you do well you get positive reinforcement. Sometimes if you don’t do well, you get criticized.”
Injuries
Saban said Monday running back Joseph Addai has a hip pointer, defensive end Marquise Hill’s shoulder is banged up and safety Travis Moses had his knee scoped. All three were out of practice Monday, but Saban said Addai and Hill probably will be ready for Saturday’s game.