Nick Saban Calls Out Students for Leaving Early in Blowout Win vs. New Mexico State
Alabama coach Nick Saban is calling out students again for leaving a home game early.
During his post-game press conference, Saban chided the students for clearing out of Bryant-Denny Stadium during the fourth quarter of the Tide's 62–10 blowout win over New Mexico State on Saturday. Despite the 95 degree tempature at the time of the 4 p.m. ET kickoff, Saban expected fans to stay the entire length of the game to contribute to the team.
"Everybody wants to be a part of the team," he said. "Everybody wants to be No. 1, but everybody don't want to do what the beast does. Everybody wants to be the beast but they don't want to do what the beast do.
"So everybody's got to make a sacrifice. You want to be the lion? Everybody got to do something. Everybody wants to be No. 1. If I asked that whole student section, do you want to be No. 1? Nobody would hold their hand up and say I want to be No. 4. They would all say No. 1. But are they willing to do everything to be No. 1? That’s another question. You can ask them that. I don't know the answer."
Last season, Saban was angry with students for leaving early during a 56–14 win over Louisiana Lafayette. This year, Alabama created an app to incentivize students to stay the entire length of games. The app tracks their whereabouts and rewards them with Tide Loyalty Points, which fans can use to receive priority access to future ticket sales. The app rolled out last month, but people complained on Twitter on Saturday about it malfunctioning.
Saban wasn't just mad at the students after the game. He also rebuked his players for not playing harder in the fourth quarter, which the Tide led the Aggies 62–7 at the start of.
"We expect our players to compete for 60 minutes of the game," Saban said. "I'm not satisfied with the way some of our players competed in the fourth quarter–the second team guys and all that. I'd like to see them get supported, just like some of the people that are fun to watch."
