Everything Nick Saban and Alabama Said After Thumping Cincinnati, 27-6
ARLINGTON, Texas — Following No. 1 Alabama football's 27-6 Cotton Bowl victory over No. 4 Cincinnati, head coach Nick Saban and four Crimson Tide players spoke with the media to discuss the win as well as provide a quick spotlight on the team's upcoming appearance in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.
Alongside Saban was running back Brian Robinson Jr. and outside linebacker Will Anderson Jr., who were the Cotton Bowl's offensive and defensive MVPs. In a separate press conference, quarterback Bryce Young and linebacker Christian Harris also took questions from the media.
Here's everything Saban and the Crimson Tide said following its victory over the Bearcats:
Cotton Bowl Transcript - Alabama
Opening Statement
ALABAMA HEAD COACH NICK SABAN: Well, first of all, I would like to congratulate Cincinnati's team for the great season that they had. They did a great job of competing in this game.
I'm really, really proud of our team, our players. I think they showed great competitive character out there in this game tonight. It was a tough game. We knew it would be a tough game.
The guys showed a lot of resiliency all year long to be able to have the opportunity to get to this game. They showed a lot of resiliency in the game tonight to overcome a lot of adversity, make plays when we needed to make them, played together as a team, everybody kind of had each other's back. And that helped us get the victory.
We turned the ball over. Defense made a big stop when they had pretty good field position. Offense took the air out of it when they needed to at the end of the game.
So this was a great team win for us. Obviously, both these guys had great games. B. Rob (Brian Robinson Jr.) did a great job running the ball for 200 yards rushing. Will [Anderson] has been a standout for us all year long. These guys have provided great leadership for some of the other younger guys on the team, and now they've created the opportunity to play for the national championship, which I'm extremely proud of this group for that.
Q. Growing up a Tuscaloosa guy, what would you have thought as a young kid looking at what you just did tonight as a running back for Alabama football?
RB BRIAN ROBINSON JR.: As a young kid, just always wanted to be a part of this program. Just always wanted to play for a national championship, just being able to go out there and just lead this team in this big game on this big stage, to have another opportunity to play for a national championship. As a young kid, that was the only thing I ever wanted to do. It's like a dream come true.
Q. That first possession, you guys ran it 10 times on 11 plays. You guys really took it to them physically up front. Knowing the game plan, what was that moment like knowing that you were going to be able to run it straight at them?
RB BRIAN ROBINSON JR.: We started out running the ball. We had some positive runs in the run game. And we just had to trust it, just stay with it. We knew we were going to have an opportunity to run the ball the rest of the game. So with that first drive, coming off 10 carries, it just let me get my mind right and be prepared to run the ball the rest of the game.
Q. Coach always talks about competitive character. He talks about toughness. You seem to be the personification of that. How much pride do you take in your competitive character and your toughness?
RB BRIAN ROBINSON JR.: I literally put all my heart into this, this university, that team in that locker room. I don't ever want to let my brothers down. I don't never want to let my coaches down. I don't ever want to let this university down. I just give it everything I got every chance I get. And it's just a reflection of all the hard work we put in during the week.
Q. Just wanted to ask you, with Cincinnati's defense, did you know that you were going to be kind of the spotlight for this game today?
RB BRIAN ROBINSON JR.: I didn't think I was going to be a spotlight. We just game-planned. It was just, whatever they throw at us, we got to adjust to it. If the running game works for us, we got to stay with it. Coach O'Brien trusted me, just put the ball in my hand in critical situations. And just carrying this team means a lot to me.
Q. This one is for Will Anderson. Just before games, in practices, in the weight room, what do you tell Dallas Turner? Because this young man just continues to grow and rise, and he feeds off of you and you feed off of him. What do you tell Dallas?
LB WILL ANDERSON JR.: It's getting to the point where now I don't have to tell Dallas anything. He kind of just knows now because he has that confidence, he has that experience, he knows what to expect. He knows what he's going to get when he gets on the field. So now it's all about just going out there and playing ball and having fun.
I think the only thing I really say to Dallas during the week is just go have fun and play ball. That's what we always say to each other. We don't overthink nothing; we just go out there and have fun and play ball. All we think about is how we used to play, throw them up, bust them up in the backyard, something like that. It's the exact same thing, just go out there, have fun, and play ball. That's it.
Q. For Will, what sort of statement do you think this defense made in this game? What opportunity still exists in the final game for the defense to make another statement?
LB WILL ANDERSON JR.: I think we made a big statement as the season went on. We've been starting to get better on defense, cutting down mental errors and stuff like that.
So as the season is going on and we're coming up on our final game, I think it's really critical now that we pay attention to little details and make sure that we're all on the same page and keep cutting down on mental errors, keep having fun, and playing together as a unit. I think that's what we've been doing right now.
Q. Will, also a question for you. All season long you've talked about making sure your guys are mentally ready, always focusing on football. So to see the effort tonight, especially from some of those younger guys who stepped up and played, how do you feel about the way your team played today?
LB WILL ANDERSON JR.: I'm so happy. I'm proud of the guys. it was a long time coming. We practiced our butts off for a few weeks and stuff like that. So mental energy was great. Like I said earlier, there was no cancers, nobody being negative. Everybody was just ready to play. And throughout the week, the preparation was good.
Defensively, we watched film together. Meetings were good. Everybody was locked in, paying attention to the small details. We were ready for anything they threw at us. I'm super proud of these guys. And we just got to keep it rolling.
Q. Will, how satisfying was it to keep this team out of the end zone? This is a team that scored a lot of points this year.
LB WILL ANDERSON JR.: That's one of our biggest goals as defense is holding people to a certain amount of points. What we did tonight is unbelievable. We still have more work to do; but for us to meet that goal, that's one of our biggest goals on our goal sheet. And to meet that goal, it means a lot to us. And we just got to keep going.
Q. Yeah, what's your message as a leader on the team to the rest of the team moving forward because you guys aren't done yet?
LB WILL ANDERSON JR.: Most definitely. The message is going to be the same. Nobody is going to give us anything. We have to go out there and take it. We have to earn it. We can't relax right now. Right now is not a time to relax. We have to enjoy this game for 24 hours, and we have to go back and get to business. Now we're going to be playing on the really biggest stage of college football now. And we have to be prepared and everybody has to locked in and all in.
Q. For either Brian or Will, what do you think about the way you guys won tonight with run game and defense says about this team?
RB BRIAN ROBINSON JR.: I think we just showed a lot of physicality. We knew they were going to come out fired up. We knew they were going to come out and try to be physical. And we just proved that we were the most physical team, with the run game, the defensive front. Just the whole defense overall and the whole offense overall, we just proved that we were the more physical team.
LB WILL ANDERSON JR.: Defensively, I think that's one of the biggest things we hit on this week was just being physical up front and making sure that we were in our gaps, everybody being sound, and just playing physical. And I think that's what we did this game.
Q. Brian, how did your relationship with former great Alabama running backs like Najee Harris help your performance tonight?
RB BRIAN ROBINSON JR.: Just watching those guys play in these moments, just sitting on the sidelines and watching those guys take over in moments like this. And the way they prepare for it and the way they took the field, just dominating these moments. And just watching those guys do it over time, over the last few years, I already knew what to expect. I already knew what I had to do. And I was just glad to have the opportunity.
Q. I want to ask you about the adversity. You've talked about it many times this season and what this team has gone through and just trying to prove consistency. How does this game speak to what they've been able to do throughout the season, and how proud are you of the fact that they were able to get it done really up front, as you just heard from your players, with physicality?
COACH SABAN: Well, I think that this game probably is a little bit of what this season has been all about. We've had some really good players that are missing. It created opportunities for other players who have stepped up and showed that they have the confidence and the competitive character to go out there and do their job in a first-class way. The players believe in each other.
I think all those things were very evident in this game tonight. And I think those are things that have been a part of what this team is made of that has given them the opportunity to now have a chance to play in a national championship.
So I'm very proud of what they've done. We had a young team to start with, especially on offense. And those guys have done a great job. Bryce [Young] has done a great job. We were able to run the ball when we had to run it tonight, to be physical. And we stopped them in the running game pretty well, which was a real key in this game because they do run it well.
And Jerome Ford is one of the better running backs that we've played against. And I thought the players did say a really good job. I was concerned about how we would tackle in the game having all this time off, but I was really pleased with the way the defensive players tackled in the game.
Q. We saw Emil Ekiyor leave the game late in the 1st quarter. Do you have an update on him?
COACH SABAN: He's got a shoulder injury. We think that he's got a chance to be able to come back and play in the game, but it's probably too early to know. It depends on how he responds.
Our medical staff will do a great job with all the players that were injured in the game. And hopefully we'll be able to get most of them ready to play.
Q. You talk about resiliency. And Brian Robinson might be one of the best that embodies that. What was impressed you the most during his multiyear wait to be able to be the guy at running back?
COACH SABAN: I think anytime a guy spends as much time behind as many good players as B. Rob (Brian Robinson Jr.) did, never complains, always works hard, and was willing to have the patience to wait his turn. And he worked hard. Whatever his role was on the team, he was willing to do it.
He's improved dramatically. He's a great person and a leader on the team right now. And I'm proud of him in terms of what kind of football player he's become, but I'm also proud of what kind of person he's become.
And I think he embodies what we really try to get our players to do, create value for themselves by what they invest in and what they do. And it took him a long time to do that, but he kept working at it. There are so many players now that are willing to cut and run as soon as things don't happen and they get immediate self-gratification from whatever their circumstance is.
And he certainly showed a tremendous amount of resiliency to stick with it, stay in the program, keep working. But there's probably not a whole lot of successful people in this world that don't have a lot of resiliency, because you have to be able to overcome adversity. And he's done that and become a very fine person and a really good player.
Q. Did this feel almost like a throwback game early in your time at Alabama where you guys run over people, where you rely on your defense? Did it feel like maybe kind of when you first got to Alabama?
COACH SABAN: Right. Well, we've had a couple games like that this year, but sometimes you've got to take what the defense gives. And a lot of these running plays that we had had RPOs and passes attached to them. But by the way they line up on defense, it's a give read. So you don't end up throwing the ball, and they play a lot of man-to-man. So sometimes they took the RPOs away. I thought Bryce [Young] did a really good job of making good decisions and taking advantage runs when we had them and a couple of advantage throws when we had them. So that's just part of it.
But we know that we have to have great balance on offense. When we're the best, we can run it, but we can make plays in the passing game. And we're missing a few players in some of those spots. So this will give us another opportunity to get some of these other guys the confidence they need to continue to be able to make a contribution.
Q. Obviously, any win is what you want. But the way you were able to physically manhandle them up front, was that any more gratifying to see the way you guys were able to control that line?
COACH SABAN: I think you always want to control the line of scrimmage. I think it's important in any game. And we were able to do that on both sides of the ball. And I think that was a big part of having success in this game.
Now, we probably didn't make as many explosive plays because of that, but it shrinks the game. You don't have to play as many plays on defense. We did a good job on third down and fourth down on defense and got off the field. So the combination of those things with a couple of red area stops and being able to control the line of scrimmage up front were probably the key to being successful in this game.
Q. Near the end of the first half, Kool-Aid [McKinstry] recovered a fumble, Ja'Corey [Brooks] scored a touchdown, and Dallas [Turner] had a sack on third down. How important was that sequence and how have you seen those true freshman handle the roles they've been lifted into?
COACH SABAN: Well, those three guys have played really well for us. Kool-Aid played well tonight. Dallas has played well ever since Drew Sanders hurt his hand. So I'm really pleased the way those guys have developed.
But it means something to those guys. Those guys are very committed to trying to be good players, trying to learn, trying to grow, watching other players and how they do things and how they need to work in practice to prepare for a game. And I think that's why they've made the improvement and the progress that they've made. And now that they've played some, I think they have some confidence as well. And I think that's invaluable, especially at this point in the season.
Q. With Brian Robinson, he has a running style where he doesn't shy away from contact and almost seems to get better after he's run over a couple guys. In terms of toughness of the team, how contagious can that be in being physical and outphysicalling a team?
COACH SABAN: I think that's always a goal for us, to play with more effort, more intensity, be more physical, play with more toughness than the other team. B. Rob (Brian Robinson Jr.) certainly exemplifies that in his style of play. And I think it fires up a lot of people around him when they see a player be able to do that. He made some tough runs tonight. He got lots of yards after first contact.
Q. All season it seemed like your public comments about this team were very positive and forward-looking, even after the A&M loss or some close games or maybe there was some negativity with the fan base. Why did this particular team need that from you?
COACH SABAN: I think we're a relatively young team. We've got a lot of young players that are out there playing. I think when you have success the previous season, which the guys that did come back were very successful, it really took a long time for us to sort of develop the chemistry on this team from a leadership standpoint. Because we had some great leaders on last year's team. So even though guys have leadership qualities they don't really see that as their role because it didn't have to be their role in the past.
But we've had some guys really step up for us and do a really good job. And I think -- I don't want to call it nurturing, but I felt like we needed to do that with this team, just getting on these guys all the time was not going to help their confidence. It was not going to help the young players develop. And then we started to develop some of these internal, intangible things that really helped us grow as a team.
Q. Having a lot of experience here in The College Football Playoff, just what you can say about Luke Fickell and what he's done with this Cincinnati team. And just on the other sideline what you've taken away from him and his work?
COACH SABAN: Well, you know, I think Luke [Fickell] has done a fantastic job. And really, anybody that looks and watches their team play, even playing us tonight, their team plays with a lot of toughness. They play hard. They're very well coached. They play together as a group. They're sound and solid in what they do in every phase of the game. And he took a program, I think that won four games or whatever, and got in The College Football Playoff. And there's no doubt in my mind that they belong in the playoff. I think the way they gave us all we could handle, you know, in this game tonight. If we don't stop them on fourth down a couple times and stop it in the red zone, this game could have been a lot closer. I have a tremendous amount of respect for what he's done and their program and their players in terms of the way they bought in. And they had a lot of players come back, you know, and want to create value for themselves. And I think that probably contributed to the success. And they have a lot of good leadership on their team. That's very evident when you watch them play together.
Q. Talk about your defense. You guys did a fantastic job controlling that high-powered offense in Cincinnati. Are you guys peaking at the right time? Or do you think the next game might be the pinnacle of the season?
COACH SABAN: I think that every team that you play offers different challenges. And whether it's match-ups, whether it's the style of offense that they play. I think we had a good plan. I think the players did a good job of executing the plan. They played well together. And we didn't give these guys a lot of explosive plays.
That's one of the things that they've been sort of known for offensively all year long is they run, run, run, and then they make a big play in the passing game. And we were able to limit that. And I think that was the key to the drill.
And it took some patience, but I thought Pete [Golding] did a really good job of being patient. We wanted to make them drive it through. And twice, I think, they got the ball in the red zone and didn't make a touchdown, didn't score a touchdown. And you know, red zone and third down is big on getting off the field. And I think we had three fourth-down stops to go with that. The defense did a good job. The defensive staff did a good job and the players did a great job of executing the plan.
Q. You've talked all season about the resiliency of this team. And the epitome of that really showing today with a lot of young guys and new faces stepping in. How happy were you with the effort from some of the younger guys today?
COACH SABAN: I was elated with the way a lot of these guys played. We have confidence in the players when they get an opportunity. And I think every time that they get opportunities, they learn more and more, not only about what they need to do but how they need to prepare. So that they can go in the game and play with confidence, not make mental errors, do their job well. I think those things are really, really important. And when young players get an opportunity to play, they learn and grow from their mistakes. And these guys will continue to get better. But I think because they go about it the right way, they've made a tremendous amount of improvement. And I was really pleased with Ja'Corey Brooks has played well for us. He has to step up now that John Metchie is out. And we have a lot of young other players that have done a really, really good job for us. So I'm proud of each and every one of them. But I also have confidence in them as well.
Q. Just specific to the defense, what might have led to some of those batted passes at the line of scrimmage?
COACH SABAN: I don't know which question I'm supposed to answer, but I will answer the one that I heard. You know, we really work hard on what we call matching the hand. And we got a couple good guys that have a knack for that. You push the pocket in the middle, and you kind of study the quarterback and his mannerisms in the pocket. And then when his hand comes through, you want to match the hand with whatever hand you can get up. And I think that was, you know, we made some big plays doing that tonight. Some of these, I call them street plays, zone option, flat plays, if you have pressure on the edge, it's tough for the quarterback sometime to get the ball over the top of the guy. And we had a couple of those as well. But we've got some guys that do a good job of pushing the pocket. Pass rush has been a thing that has helped us a lot on third down. We were able to pressure the quarterback, even at times when we don't get sacks, we're forcing the quarterback to throw the ball before he really wants to. And I think that's really important to being successful in pass defense.
Q. [Brian] Branch was all over the football field tonight, has eight total tackles, was one of your best players. What have you seen from him in the weeks leading up to this game, and just talk about him and what a special player he is for your group.
LB CHRISTIAN HARRIS: Oh, yeah, B.B. is a really great player. That's really the truth. You see these guys working every day in practice. When they come out to the game and they have that breakout game where everybody starts to take notice, you're not really surprised by it. Like I said, I see it every day. He's a hard worker. We love to have him and love what he does for us.
Q. Just how locked in is the defense right now at this point in the season with one game left?
LB CHRISTIAN HARRIS: I would say that we're pretty locked in. We ought to enjoy this one for 24 hours and then see who we're playing in the national championship and get ready for that. But I definitely think we're locked in. We're ready.
Q. Hey, Christian. You guys were able to have a lot of success batting down passes at the line of scrimmage. Is that something you guys saw on film or felt confident that you would be able to affect the quarterback that way today?
LB CHRISTIAN HARRIS: I think it might have been a part of Coach's [Nick Saban] game plan. Everybody up front did a really great job of trying to close the pocket with a low-ball flight, keeping their hands up and batting balls, destroying passes, trying to get out quick because the pressure is coming.
So up front seven definitely did a really great job with that today, batting the ball.
Q. I wanted to ask about some of the young guys on Defense. Kool-Aid [McKinstry] had a pretty good game, and then on offense Ja'Corey Brooks scores another big touchdown. How huge is it to have those contributions from those guys?
LB CHRISTIAN HARRIS: It's exciting to see the young guys step up in big-time moments like this. Not everybody can do that. Be able to make those big-time plays like C7 did with a touchdown, play a whole game like Kool-Aid knowing they are going to come at you.
So those guys were ready. I seen the preparation and the amount of work they put in throughout the week. I'm really happy for them, for this game. I'm excited to see what they do in the future.
Q. Talk about the overall play of the defense, able to hold Cincinnati to two of 12 on third downs, on three-on-four downs, really controlled the game really from the start, keeping them out of the end zone.
LB CHRISTIAN HARRIS: Coach [Nick Saban] had a really good game plan for us. I think the main thing for us was making sure we're all on the same page and knowing that we're going to come out there, we had about -- I don't know how many practices. But, of course, we're going to see some new stuff we haven't seen before. But let your rules apply.
I think that's just what we did out there. We stay together. Regardless of we knew they were going to make some plays. They're a good team. They're there for a reason. It's all about how you respond to that. I think we responded pretty well.
Q. The pride that the defense unit had coming off the championship last year, how much did that feel getting back to this stage again in back-to-back years?
LB CHRISTIAN HARRIS: I think the defense with the confidence that we have, I mean, it really started developing over the second half of the season this year. I mean, the national championship was nice to have last year. We know this is a new team. We've got new players. We have to set new goals. I think we're doing pretty good with that right now.
Q. For a long time, Alabama has been known as running the football and playing defense. That was the MO of the program. Now as you're getting ready to head back to the national championship, you are running the football effectively and you're playing defense at an elite level. Is that kind of the moniker, is that the kind of MO or the reputation you guys want as you head back to another national title?
LB CHRISTIAN HARRIS: We just want to show we're a physical team. That we're going to play four quarters and we know that each team we play, especially in moments like this, big games like this, you know, we have to come with it every single play. It's a 15-round fight. It might not happen the first or second quarter, but you got to keep going, you got to keep pushing.
Regardless, if that's the game plan, they put offense on and focus running the ball, then the defense is to focus on them stopping the run, that's what it is. I think it's really just executing whatever Coach [Nick Saban] has for it.
Q. Just talk about how unbelievably talented both you, Will Anderson and, of course, Henry To'oTo'o have been for you this season? Obviously, To'oTo'o comes in from Tennessee, had to learn a whole new defensive scheme. And then what's it's like to watch Will Anderson just come off the edges, especially on passing downs?
LB CHRISTIAN HARRIS: It was really exciting. I love it. Seeing Will do what he did this year and last year, young guy coming in like that and having that confidence, showing that leadership on the team. It really motivates everybody him, positively affects everyone on the team.
Henry does the same thing. He's a great guy with great energy. He shows that every day when he comes into practice. It's not really a surprise to me to see him going crazy in the games now. I really like that for him. I'm really happy. It's helping us win. It's helping us play better on defense. So whatever those guys are doing, I hope they keep doing it because it's definitely helping.
Q. Cincinnati got down in the red zone a couple times. You were never able to get in the end zone. What was the difference between the defense once you were able to get down there?
LB CHRISTIAN HARRIS: It was the mindset of "bend, don't break" whenever you get in the red zone. Once you get down there, you can't let them in the end zone. That's something a lot of defenses pride themselves on. We definitely do as well, definitely gets tough down there. That's something we work on. We really take pride in that.
Q. Just want to talk a little bit about Brian Robinson and the game he had today. Was it obvious that y'all were going to have to run the ball pretty heavily this game? And just talk about Brian's performance and what you thought about it.
QB BRYCE YOUNG: I mean, B. Rob was huge for us all night. Making that first guy miss, falling forward, fighting for those extra yards. B. Rob, he was huge for us. He was a constant all night. And that's just B. Rob for you. And really him and the entire offensive line, really all night dominating up front. And that's the whole -- up front and B. Rob, that's everyone.
Trey [Sanders] when he got in, the whole running game, that starts up front. So those guys get a lot of the credit. Again, B. Rob did a tremendous job. Making those right reads, cutting off the right guy, falling forward, making that first person miss.
For me as a quarterback, having a running game like we did tonight, that made my job way easier. All those guys played tremendously.
Q. With John [Metchie] out in this game, I feel like a lot of people thought Jameson [Williams] would be pretty go-to but all the guys that scored touchdowns, all a little bit more unlikely. Can you sort of talk about how big it was for them to step up in this game? And could you also walk me through the play to Ja'Corey [Brooks] for that touchdown.
QB BRYCE YOUNG: That's always big for us. We have a "next man up" mentality. With losing Metchie, that's not someone you can replace. At the same time, as Coach [Nick Saban] says, it creates opportunity for someone else.
We knew other guys were going to have to step up. Like you said, with the guys who scored, those are guys who are always ready, who's just been waiting for their number to be called in a moment like this, a big game with obviously a lot of writing on it. Those guys stepped up.
The touchdown with Ja'Corey, we saw one-on-one coverage. We made sure for me up front we had something else on. We liked our match-up and made sure that we got us protected for that. O-line did a great job of protection on that. Ja'Corey did a great job of catching and running and scoring. So happy to see C7 step up and all the rest of the guys step up.
Q. Did you get a chance to say anything to him (Ja'Corey Brooks) after the touchdown? His two this season have been in pretty big spots.
QB BRYCE YOUNG: Yeah, everyone seems excited, but I see the work, day in and day out, and someone I have a tremendous amount of confidence in.
So when I knew we were going there, I had all the confidence in the world, so I wasn't shocked or surprised. He's someone who has stepped up big-time throughout the entire year. Just happy for him and his offense. Whenever we get to put seven on the board, it's big-time.
Q. Quick question for you about your defense tonight who balled out for you all and gave up only six points in the game. Brian Branch had eight tackles. Will Anderson Jr. had a couple of sacks. Last few games they've really started to settle into a groove. And how much more comfortable is it to play quarterback when you know you have a defense that isn't allowing many points on the other side?
QB BRYCE YOUNG: Like you said, the defense played tremendously the entire night. From the first snap to the last snap, those guys were flying around and making a lot of plays. It's good to see what they allowed against a really good offense. That's huge for us.
So for me, it definitely gives us a lot more confidence. Obviously, it's a huge facet of the game. Defense playing like they have been, for me, it's not something I would say I recently gained confidence in. I've had confidence in them since I've been here.
I always have faith and trust in those guys, and those guys did an amazing job tonight.
Q. The physical running style you guys ran with tonight, did you see at a point Cincinnati start to wear down defensively?
QB BRYCE YOUNG: For us, we just had to take it snap by snap, play by play. So when we were having success with certain run plays, we wanted to stick to them and maybe dress them up different. But we want to keep the ball on the ground.
Again, that credit goes to the line up front, them doing a great job down the line of scrimmage. And then the backs, whether there's B. Rob (Brian Robinson) or Trey [Sanders], reading off those blocks, making cuts for them, making efforts, making that first guy miss. So that's all of them.
And for us, when you see the success we have, we want to do what's best for us offensively. So for me, being able to hand the ball off and just clapping and hand the ball to B. Rob or Trey and have the production we had, it's amazing to have a night like that.
Q. Was that the game plan from early on that's this is what you guys were planning to do in this game, run the ball as much as you did?
QB BRYCE YOUNG: Yeah. I mean, there were certain runs we definitely liked. And I feel like we did a great job of executing those runs. It's always a streamlined process. So we go in with stuff we want to do. But it's always about adapting and adjusting and seeing what works, what doesn't, and then seeing what new thing you're going to get.
But there are certain runs in the game plan that we felt confident in, and I felt like we did a good job of executing up front. It was a great night for the run game.
Q. I want to ask you just about the -- seems like the mentality that's worked -- and as we know, in sports, mentality is a big part of the game on top of talent -- but the mentality for this team is to kind of look at yourselves as underdogs, even if you may not be. I want to ask you, heading into this match-up, how does that play a part, that noise? We heard it from Will Anderson before the game, that you guys kind of like that edge and that chip on the shoulder. How do you feel that plays a part in not only winning but just carrying you guys throughout the season?
QB BRYCE YOUNG: I feel like adversity has been a big theme for us this whole season. For whatever it may be, we feel like all season there's been times where we've had to face adversity.
That's something that translates not on Saturday, I guess Friday in this instance. But that's every day during the week. That's practice, that's meetings, making sure that, like you said, we act and we move with that chip on our shoulder. And we understand what's at stake and it's on us to push ourselves every day to give ourselves the best chance to be successful and accomplish our goals.
