Postgame Quotes: Alabama at Mississippi State
October 16, 2021 | Football
Mississippi State Head Coach Mike Leach |  Mississippi State Student-Athletes
Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban |  Alabama Student-AthletesÂ
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Mississippi State Head Coach Mike Leach
Q: It seemed like Brice Young remained composed with whatever pressure you threw at him today. What do you think he did so well to stay that way?
ML: First of all, I think we should have gotten home more. The other thing is that we took a couple of bad angles. He's a quick-footed guy and is good in the pocket. I knew he would get out of some of them, but he shouldn't have gotten out of as many as he did.
Q: It seemed like at times there was miscommunication between Will and his receivers where he would throw long, and it would be incomplete. What did you see there? Was it an option route?
ML: No, it was just horrible miscommunication. That's a nice way of putting things and I'm sure that if you put it that way in your article, they would appreciate it. I can't say that is one hundred percent factually correct. I don't think we communicated on offense or defense, and the crazy thing is, we haven't had a problem with that since the very first part of the season and camp. We didn't even have that problem at Kyle Field, and that's one of the most demanding places on earth communication-wise. We didn't communicate well on either side of the ball in my opinion. It's easy to say that Alabama is really good, and that is true. Everyone recruited those guys nationally, but my problem is we didn't play as well as we can and that has to be solved. That comes back on us coaches, and on the players as well. There's a notion that it is just coaches, and it does come back on us because we've got to find a way to reach them, but also players must be tough enough to be reached. The fact of the matter is that we put these guys up on a pedestal, and they got ratcheted up higher than we could execute. We tried to do special things because we thought they were too good. The trouble is your best is always enough because that's all you've got. Manufacturing new methods and techniques because you're scared is not a good approach.
Q: What did you see from Will tonight? How would you assess his performance?
ML: I think he tried extremely hard. We all tried extremely hard tonight, but he did to the point where he threw balls out of character and forced some passes. He was trying to make too much happen, and at about that same time some receivers tried to make too much happen as well to the point that they weren't where they were supposed to be.
Q: What was the cause of the pass rushing from Alabama?
ML: I'm going to have to look at it. I don't think we held the ball very much. I'm going to have to say it's a combination of both, cause I did not think he was as precise in his reads as he could have been. I did not think our receivers were consistently where they were supposed to be; they figured, "Oh, Alabama's really good and they're so superior, we'll just go ahead and invent a route," and invent some route known only to them, not a chance in hell we'll find them, but they go ahead and invent it anyway, it's ridiculous. And I thought that Will played into that too. We've got bad communication and we've got self-inflicted wounds because we tried too hard and tried to do extra and tried to do too many different things, and we should've played better than we did.
Q: What steps do you feel like this program needs to take over the next couple of years in order to beat Alabama?
ML: Well, we just have to keep battling. Keep battling, and keep grinding away. Well, in our case, get older; if you've got a time machine laying around, I could use a year. It would almost be worth a year experience-wise, even though.
Q: How much was the team pressing too hard based on the first drive where they threw an interception and came in and scored?
ML: I think that it was a byproduct of that, because it was bad communication and it was forced, but I don't think it was just that. I think that we worked hard, because we had really good practices all week and we were highly motivated. We're a highly motivated team and we'll play hard. But the other thing is, that tipping point is that we're trying to make too much happen. Then as coaches, we have to find a way to keep the high-intensity and motivation, but also the clarity of mind to just do your job, everybody struggles with that. But that doesn't change the fact that we have to find a way to solve that.
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Mississippi State Student-Athletes
Q:Â Did you all blitz more than you have before and how frustrating was it for the blitz to be so close so many times but not get to the quarterback?
JJ:Â I'm not really sure how much we blitzed. It seemed like a lot. We have got to get home. I feel like we blitzed pretty well. We just got to get home. It is all about (inaudible) getting pressure. We try to emulate that a little bit. We got him a couple of times. Obviously we would like to get home a few more times.
Q:Â What did Bryce Young do to be so successful tonight?
JJ:Â He is a great player first and foremost. That is why he is at Alabama. He has got a great support staff around him with his coaches and players. Credit to him. They are a great team. We need to execute a little bit better. Coach Arnett put us in the best position possible I think. We just need to execute a little bit better. Play the next play.
Q:Â What will you have to do to protect Will Rogers better?
JJ:Â We are going to have to make adjustments. It hurts. We have to play the next play like coach always says. Have a great prep this week. This game is over, so we have to correct our mistakes.
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NW: "He's a good player. You know, we brought pressure. We got him a couple times, but the other times he just got off us. we just got to finish the play like we always preach in practice."
It seemed like they had some success with some comeback routes whenever you guys would bring pressure and go into man coverage. What did you see there, do you think that was a factor and how do you prevent that going forward?"
NW: "We just have to get better, and we weren't expecting most of the comebacks, so we've just got to get lined up and get to the quarterback on the rush."
Coach Leach said that there was miscommunication on both sides of the ball tonight, what do you think factored into I guess just for the defense, the miscommunication issues at times?
NW: "I really just think it was plays that we left out there, you know. Sometimes it was the call, and we messed up the call. We had some busts, so we'll check back in practice."
How tough was it for the first play out of halftime to be a 75-yard touchdown, to just get over that, how difficult was that, when they kind of come out with a punch like that?
NW: "It was pretty difficult, you know, first play out of halftime, big bust. It was a tough play, I think we still held onto it, though."
I know as a competitor, you want to win every game, but you're 3 and 3 now at the midway point of the season, some winnable games ahead, what's kind of the focus of the team right now, and how would you guys say you feel about the second half of the season?
NW: "We just look forward to that game. Just go win next week. Just get back in the lab, you know, work, and improve on our game and look to go 1-0."
Overall, what can you take form this game, and focus on specifically this coming week?
NW: "Oh you know, we just have to finish. We've got to help the offense out a little bit more on our side of the ball."
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Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban
NS: Well, I was really proud of the way our players competed in the game. We certainly needed to respond, and I think the players responded the right way. We played a 60-minute game, sort of dominated the game the way we like to play. I think it's the way you want to play on the road, it's the way you control the crowd, and I thought our guys did a really good job of that. We had a good week this week. It was good preparation, good focus. I think the big thing that our players—and I told them this after the game—don't want to forget how you felt last week because you responded the right way, so let's make sure we continue to build on what we just did. We got a lot of tough games coming up, so I want to focus on improvement. But [we] did unbelievably well on third down, offensively. I think we were, like, 12-16 on third down. I thought the defense did a really good job in the game. Three picks were great, red zone defense was great. Really got to play these guys and not give up explosive plays. We gave up a couple, but for the most part did a really good job. [We] affected the quarterback positively with three, four, five guys rushing. So, the multiples were probably good for us, and I think our players did a really good job of executing the plan, so it worked out really good. [We] had good balance on offense, so really pleased with the way we performed in the game.
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Q: You talk about how important turnovers are. What do you guys do differently in practice or do things work out better in terms of creating turnovers?
NS: No. The guys did a really good job—you know, when they're in four wideouts all the time the formation variables are not that great. So, we could play multiple coverages and they could make adjustments to what we were doing, and the players did a really good job of executing it. I think affecting the quarterback probably gets him to throw balls that you get chances to intercept. I think when Josh Jobe intercepted it, we were showing up in the box like we were blitzing, rolled out and played cover two. The guy threw a fade to the guy and Josh Jobe is playing cover two, so when you can mix things up like that and create some confusion. I think sometimes that helps. It was a new trips coverage that we played in this game, called it 'thief', the one [Jordan] Battle intercepted and scored a touchdown on. So, our players did a really good job. They knew what the patterns were going to be relative to the formations and the receiver locations and they did a good job to play them.
Q:Â You mentioned last year Mississippi State's defense likes to keep everything in front of them. How much of that did you see tonight?
NS:Â Last year, the big plays we made against them we threw the ball over their head. The big plays we made today we caught the ball and ran with it, and because we took a couple shots early in the game and they really played soft, but Jameson's [Williams] long run was nothing but a curl. But because they were playing off of him, he was able to catch it and run with it. So, I think that's how we made the explosive plays today, I think our play action game was good. We still struggled sometimes with our protection, got sacked a couple times. But I was really pleased with the way our guys caught it and ran with it and made some explosive plays.
Q:Â They got in the red zone three times in the first half, all of them resulting in field goals. How much does that set the tone?
NS: I think if you don't give up big plays, you play well in the red zone, and you get off the field on third down, then you get hard to score on. So, the way we played the game today we knew that when the field shrunk it would be harder for them to work the field, and we played a lot of split safety coverages down in the red zone, which if they can run the ball, you're a little more apprehensive to do that. But it makes it harder for them to pass. We also got some good pressure on the quarterback when we were in the red zone, so that also helped. But I think the players—this is the best we've played in the red zone, so I was really pleased. Had a good plan and the players did a good job of executing it.
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Alabama Student-Athletes
Q: You had four sacks tonight. The most sacks since 1988. What does that mean to you?
WA: It means a lot. I still have not accomplished what I want to. I give all the thanks to my coaches and teammates. The preparation was good this week. We were all on the same page, and good things come out of that.
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Q: Coach Saban talked about installing a new coverage called thief to help create turnovers. Can you take me through how that helped you tonight?
JB: It helped me a lot. In practice, it helped me create turnovers today. We practiced the number three on the ball, Cardner rout, and that is how I caught my first interception. The film and the executing helped
Q: What was different this week?
JB: We were all locked in. We were focused. Most of my interviews I have said that football has to be the most important thing, and I think definitely this week football was the most important thing. We did not want that feeling that we felt last week.
Q: How does your team's athleticism help your decision making?
BY: It helped a lot. With the dynamic of guys we have, our job is to try to get them the ball in a place where they can run and be special afterwards. We saw that a lot tonight. All of them came from really great yards after catch. For me that is a quarterback's dream. You get to throw, it gets in the playmakers hands, and they do the rest. The guys making plays like they did today makes my job way easier.
Q: What did you see out of the defense to allow you to scramble?
BY: We stress taking what the defense gave us. For me trying to go through my aggressions. Coach OB does a great job with quarterback's while we are watching film. He emphasizes to keep our eyes down field, but if you see green grass take it. For me, today that is what they gave us on those given plays. Our whole offense is to take what the defense gives us.
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