Nick Saban Outlines Ole Miss Heading Into Saturday's Matchup
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama football coach Nick Saban spoke to the media via Zoom on Monday afternoon detailing preparations that his team is conducting in preparation for its upcoming road trip to Ole Miss.
"We're playing a very good Ole Miss team this week," Saban said. "I think Lane [Kiffin] has done an outstanding job there. The players are playing hard, playing well on special teams, scoring a whole lot of points on offense. They have some really good skill players on offense. They've got enough returning starters that they have a blend of experience and some guys that are really playing well for them, making a lot of explosive plays at receiver. They've got good runners.
"The quarterback is a really, really good player, one of the most efficient passers in the country. He's very athletic. He can make plays with his feet, present a lot of problems in terms of how they're playing on offense, which we've always had a tremendous amount of respect for the kind of job Lane did when he was here."
The Crimson Tide's trip to Ole Miss marks the second of four-consecutive games that pit Nick Saban against a head coach that served as a former assistant under him.
After losing at home 51-35 to Florida in Week 1, the Rebels travelled to Kentucky and defeated the Wildcats 42-41 in an overtime thriller in Lexington.
Sophomore quarterback Matt Corral passed for 320 yards and four touchdowns against the Wildcats' defense. With Alabama having some difficulties at secondary through two games, Saban said that there are definitely some things that need improving before the defense takes on Corral this coming weekend.
"We need to get better," Saban said. "I think we played better in this game than we did the first game, so hopefully, we’ll continue to make progress. I think it’ll be really important that we play really well against this team this week because this is the most explosive we’ve played against thus far. They’re gonna spread you out. They’ve got a lot of good skill players. They can run. They can throw it. Receivers are not easy to cover. Tight end’s a really good receiver, very athletic. So, this will be a very challenging game for us.”
Alabama quarterback Mac Jones and his offense are off to a hot start, acquiring 958 yards and a total of 90 points through two weeks of play. That being said, Saban still feels that Ole Miss could have one of the toughest defenses that the Crimson Tide has faced so far this season.
"They're doing a lot of the same things with obviously a lot of growth in how they're doing them and how they're attacking people so they present a lot of problems for you," Saban said. "Defensively, they've got good players that are playing hard. I think they've played a lot. We have to have the proper respect for this team all the way around."
While the Crimson Tide has now beaten the Rebels four-consecutive years, Saban has not forgotten the two years in a row Ole Miss came out on top in 2014 and 2015.
"Ole Miss has been a team that's created lots of problems for us in the past, ruined a couple of seasons for us," Saban said. "So we certainly need to have the proper respect for this team, and if we don't, with the number of points that they've scored — 42 and 35 the first two weeks — and one of the top offensive teams in the country. We need to have the proper respect for what we're going to have to do to go on the road and play well to have success."
Alabama at Ole Miss takes place this Saturday in Oxford (5 p.m. CT, ESPN).
