Nick Saban Addresses 'Disappointing' Alabama Offense During College GameDay

Alabama football is under an hour from kicking off its first-round College Football Playoff game against Oklahoma. The Crimson Tide enters the game with many offensive question marks, as the unit has struggled down the stretch of the season.

The Crimson rushed for negative three rushing yards in its 28-7 SEC Championship loss to Georgia two weeks ago, the second fewest in program history. Speaking on ESPN's College GameDay, Nick Saban addressed that performance, saying that it came down to a lack of toughness from his former team.

"One thing that I prided ourselves in, when we played Georgia in the SEC championship game, it was two physical teams," Saban said. "It was disappointing to me to see how much more physical Georgia's team was in the SEC championship game than Alabama's was.

"That's why they can't run the ball. You've got to be able to win on the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball."

Another glaring issue for the Crimson Tide as of late has been pass protection. Quarterback Ty Simpson has been sacked 10 times over the team's past three SEC games, including four against the Sooners in the 23-21 November loss. This marks a sharp contrast from the 11 sacks taken over the first six conference games.

The constant pressure that Simpson has been under lately has had a clear impact on his play, as he dropped out of the Heisman race while turning the ball over at a much higher rate. Saban acknowledged that the problems are not all on Simpson, but stated that the first-year starter needs to handle the pressure if Alabama is going to succeed tonight.

"There are so many negative plays and so much to overcome, and what they have to be able to do is handle pressure," Saban said. "They have not been able to handle pressure. Now that's not all on the quarterback. Some of it is on the offensive line, getting the protection right, but they have got to be able to handle pressure if they are going to be able to have success at this point."

Alabama has not lost to an opponent twice in the same season since 1893 against the Birmingham Athletic Club. With the off week to regroup and heal up, the stage is set for the highly anticipated rematch, where the Crimson Tide will look to keep that streak intact. The game will kick off at approximately 7:10 p.m. CT at Oklahoma's Memorial Stadium and will be broadcast on ABC.

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