Want to know the buzz following Alabama’s big win over LSU? Here are some links and a transcript of player and coach comments from both Alabama and LSU.

The links:
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The comments from Alabama and LSU (courtesy of UA Media Relations):
Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban
Opening Statement:
“Well this was a great team win against a very tremendous team. There were great competitors on that field tonight. I can’t tell you how proud I am of our guys and the relentless competitive attitude that we played with in the game. We wanted to play our best game today. We kind of knew that our destiny was ours in terms of what we wanted to do. We knew it was about what we would do in the game.

“I was extremely proud of the way the players came out in the second half especially. We played okay in the first half, we played well in the first half. We didn’t finish drives. We missed a couple of shots that we had to make plays that would turn out to give us some more points. I told the players at halftime that if we kept doing that kind of stuff, we could definitely finish those drives in the second half and make the plays we need to win the game.

“Great resiliency on the competitive side for our players. I’m very, very proud of the way they competed in the game. This is a great team win. There’s not one part of the team that didn’t play well. The offense played extremely well, Greg [McElroy] played well, the receivers played well. We ran the ball. the offensive line did a fantastic job. We thought we might have a little trouble running the ball inside against those guys, but really did a good job of that in the second half.

“They had tremendous balance offensively. Defensively, they went no huddle against us which got our guys a little out of sorts. That’s not something they’d done prior to.

“We made some adjustments, made the plays that we needed to make and I was really pleased and proud of the way the guys competed in the game. Special teams, No. 8 [Trindon Holliday] is a great specialist, probably one of the better guys and most difficult guys in college football. I thought our special teams did a really good job in that regards. It’s a great team win and we’re so pleased and happy.

“I can’t thank our fans enough. What a tremendous atmosphere to play a football game in. I think they’re part of the team too and they still have to do their part very well. I know the players certainly appreciate it, we appreciate it. It certainly has a tremendous impact on our playing games at home when you have that atmosphere in your stadium.”

On Julio Jones…
“Julio (Jones) is an outstanding player and I think probably last week, the Tennessee game, is where he looked like his old self in terms of having the juice and the burst and he played a good game tonight and a good game then. We want to continue to feature him but I’m really pleased with the way the rest of our receivers played in the game, they all made some big plays. (Darius) Hanks made a big catch, Marquis Maze made some big plays and that’s what we need. We need that kind of balance, we need the ball distributed where it’s supposed to go and I think Greg (McElroy) did a great job of that tonight.”

On going for it on fourth down…
“I had confidence in our defense and I think that makes it easier to do things like that, but when you’re inside of one yard, we’re on the 50-yard line, it was a one-score game, I felt like when it’s inside of one yard you have to confidence in your players that they can get it. I think two things, we needed a field goal to make it a two-score game and it was just all about being aggressive and we were and we made it. Those are only good decisions when they work. If they didn’t work, it would have been a horrible one.”

On the gameplan…
“There was no point of emphasis. It was the way we planned the game. We planned to spread them out and do a lot of empty backfield to throw the ball more and create balance. Then, we knew we were going to come back and try to run the ball at some point in the game and continue to create balance. I thought we did a good job on offense, and it was a little different way to play our hand, but I thought it worked effectively and hopefully surprised them a bit in the beginning and caught them off guard. We moved the ball well, changed field position a lot in the first half, but it didn’t pay off in points. I think the resiliency that the players showed in the second half in continuing to compete as the game went on helped us get more and more control of the line of scrimmage and more control of the game.”

On the offensive tactics…
“I think that’s how we want to play offense here. I think it’s important that we utilize players and we attack the middle of the field to make them defend the middle of the field, and you have to have some kind of vertical passing game to do that. Even when you don’t hit them, and we hit a few, it affects how they play on the next play because I work with those corners all the time and whether they caught it or not, they know when they got beat, and it still scares them.”

ALABAMA PLAYER QUOTES
Senior Defensive Back Javier Arenas
On the play of the defense
“They gave us a scheme that we weren’t used to, but that is what happens when you play one of the better teams in the country. I think we did well collectively, but there are definitely things that we need to work on. It was a good win and a confidence booster.”

On getting behind the line of scrimmage and making big plays:
“I am excited about making those plays and being aggressive. It is great scheming by our coaching staff and we have just been able to execute when our number is called.”

On the importance of the field position battle:
“I think it is real important. When you are able to give your offense a short field and gain momentum, it can really make a difference in the outcome. On the other side, when P.J. (Fitzgerald) nails them down deep, it really gives a boost to our defense.”

Sophomore Wide Receiver Julio Jones
On the wide receivers getting involved early:
“We were just able to take what the defense gave us. If things open up for our running game, we are going to run and the same goes for the passing game. As a whole, we did a good job, but we still have a lot of room for improvement.”

On the touchdown:
“I expect to make those plays. We had a good game plan going in and it was able to open some things up for us out wide and I was just able to make a play.”

Senior Placekicker Leigh Tiffin
On the role of the special teams:
“It is always important, especially in SEC play because defenses are so good. I think it has been a real key for us to be able to win because we are able to get some points when we need them.”

On breaking records and helping the team win:
“All that has been a by-product of us doing our job. I don’t ever worry about it. Those kinds of things take care of themselves. I just try and go out there and do my job.”

LSU Head Coach Les Miles
Opening Statement:
“I told my team I was proud of them, how hard they fought, how hard they played and that they had a lot of promise. Our football team played awfully well. They played hard at times. Congratulations to Alabama. They’re a fine football team. They played extremely well. I understand what happened, I’m just unhappy with the outcome. A couple guys of ours are nicked up. It happens. We’ll regroup and fight again.”

On which injury had the greatest impact on his team:
“I think there are a few that are serious, and I think that [Charles] Scott certainly is probably the most serious. On the game, I still thought [Stevan] Ridley would come in and played well. Certainly he did. I thought our quarterback, [Jarrett ] Lee, would come in. He’s got plenty of experience – understands the game certainly. I thought he’d come in and play. I still like our chances, to be honest with you, injuries or not. No excuses.”

On the play of Jordan Jefferson before he sustained an injury:
“I thought he was playing really well. I like everything about that quarterback. He’s got to get better and there are things that he needs to do better, and he will.”

On how badly Jefferson is hurt:
“Not serious is all I can tell you. He was trying to get back in the game. We felt like it would be best that he sit.”

On what happened to the defense during Julio Jones’ 73 yard touchdown reception:
“I do not know. I can only tell you that was certainly a big play in this game.”

On Mark Ingram’s second half performance:
“I think he’s a good back. He plays toughly in games, something that we’d understand. I think given a similar situation we’d have run the football better late in the game as well.”

LSU Player Quotes
Wide Receiver Terrance Tolliver
On the impact of losing both RB Charles Scott and QB Jordan Jefferson to injury during the game:
“We rely on leadership from those guys. Jarrett (Lee) came in and played well though. They [Alabama] are a very good defense and a very good team. Losing those two guys was a big blow to our offense. It was a letdown to lose both of them, but like I said, Jarrett came in and played hard. Steven Ridley came in and scored a big touchdown, but we just didn’t finish.”

On the emotions in the locker room after the game:
“It was very hard on us emotionally. We wanted to win the game, but just fell short. We just have to come back next week and try to get another victory.”

Linebacker Harry Coleman
On if he thought CB Patrick Peterson intercepted the ball in the fourth quarter:
“The play happened really fast, but we all thought he got his foot down. It looked like there was a mark where he dragged his foot, but apparently not. It was a tough game. We fought hard, so it is a tough loss.”
On letting Alabama convert on third down after Peterson’s near interception:
“It was just a missed tackle on my part. It was a great call by (Defensive Coordinator) Coach Chavis, but I just missed the tackle.”

LSU Quarterback Jarrett Lee
On what was going through his mind on the last possession:
“We just wanted to try to get down there and score and get back in the ballgame. Unfortunately we didn’t do that. I should have had some better reads on that, but we just have to keep our heads up. They’re a great football club and we just need to keep our heads held high.”

On conversing with Jordan Jefferson in between possessions:
“Me and Jordan always talk to each other. I think that only benefits you as a quarterback when you talk to someone who can see things from off the field and when you’re on the field to come off and help each other out. We do just that and we’ve been doing that ever since we have been here. You just have to help each other out.”

On the change in momentum after Julio Jones’ 73-yard touchdown:
“We knew that it is just part of football. Big plays are going to happen and you have to come back and respond. Of course things didn’t go our way. I made some bad reads and some bad throws, but that is just part of football.”

On his reaction after learning Jordan Jefferson was coming out of the game due to injury:
“That’s really just part of football. Injuries are going to happen. It is just unfortunate that happened to him. He was playing a good ballgame. He had to come out and I got warmed up, came in and kept my chin up and tried to play positive football.”

LSU Linebacker Kelvin Sheppard
On Julio Jones’ 73-yard touchdown play:
“That was definitely the turning point in the game. He’s a great player who made a great play. Alabama pinned the corner down when he hit the sideline and we just couldn’t catch him.”

On the mental effect of the play:
“It was tough. The whole game we were bending a little bit, but we never broke until that play. Julio did a tremendous job when he hit the sideline. You’re just not going to catch him.”

On the feelings after losing a hard fought game to Alabama:
“Anytime you lose it’s bad, but when you lose in a big time game like this, when we knew we had it, we where right there. We knew we had to pull away. We needed to make a lot of adjustments on different plays. Alabama had a great scheme coming in, in the first half they had a hard time establishing the run, but in the second half they did a really good job moving the ball. They have two great running backs and they did a great job.”

LSU Quarterback Jordan Jefferson:
On his injury
“I sprained my ankle on one play and I had to come out of the game. I really couldn’t drop back to pass, so I had to come out for the rest of the game.”

On having to watch the rest of the game from the sideline:
“It was devastating to your watch team try as hard as they can to put points on the board and I’m not able to help them. It is just devastating having to watch that from the sidelines.

On the disappointment of losing to Alabama:
“It was very disappointing. We feel like we could have came out with a win, but Alabama played a good game and we tried as hard as we could to come out with a victory and they just got on top of us.”

10 thoughts on “Talking Alabama-LSU”

  1. Man — Saban’s got this thing locked down. They know exactly what to do to each team week after week — now whether that goes to gameplan is another story — you can’t blame anything on coaching — they got it locked down.

    What a game!

    It definetly had a “playoff” vibe to it — the intensity and white knuckles are just two things that made this game a typical chase to lock down the SEC West.

    I know we’re going to hear a bunch of shit about the Peterson interception call —- they had no chance anyways. By the middle of the 4th — after we injured like 5 of their players — they’re depth started to wear on them — it sucks when Les Miles doesn’t have Nick Saban’s players (LMAO) — got 3 more games — 1 week at a time — let it be known that when we do get to Atlanta — we’re going to kick Florida’s ass up and down that field — they’re not going to know what’s coming — we will physically remove them from the game — I’m getting ahead of myself —

    Let’s see — again I’m just waiting for the barner’s to come on here and blast how bad of a team we have and that the officiating is in our favor and that Aubawrn will blow us out of the water when we get down to the plains.

    Julio Jones — god bless him — I always thought defenses were double teaming him with the “bracket” formation —- he’s just like T.O. — he’s not afraid to block and stiff-arm with hell to unleash. Julio — please stay for your senior year — ask Mt. Cody about that.

    Greg McElroy — maybe that game you went to in Dallas gave you some time to readjust physically/mentally — I have always said that the O-Line was part of the problem with our offense in the past 3 games and that the receiving core was dropping to many passes. Protect McElroy — he’ll throw it on the dime — simple as that.

    The bye week just couldn’t have came at a better time — I think the team really got their shit together in those 13 days. Of course — you got Chiznik down there bitching about playing all those games in a row and not having a bye — well they want their bye for big bad Alabama — so I’m tired of hearing the barner’s complain about how they have a “long stretch” with no rest —

    On clinching the WEST —
    We must continue to dominate — this road game to Miss. St. is dangerous in my opinion — first, it’s Miss. St. — the up and coming team with a VERY good head coach who almost beat Florida — hopefully the players don’t catch an injury playing a team that battles the barner’s for 3rd place in the West — players looking ahead to Atlanta — this poses a problem — I think Saban will keep them focused on that week and that week only — the UT-Chattanooga game is basically a game to “chill out” before going down to the plains. I suspect a lot of backups will be playing in this game — I think we will see Star Jackson and maybe even Darrah come in and get reps. Just so much to talk about!!!!!

    ROLL TIDE ROLL!!!!!

  2. ok. let’s get this out of the way for posterity: i’m thrilled we won the game, the sec west (again) and are headed to atlanta. (again) we physically beat down the most physical team we’ve faced to date. (and i’m REALLY loving on that!)

    did we get some calls? sure. that likely was an interception in the second half. but the sec officials played that one correctly. it was likely incorrectly called incomplete. but they didn’t have solid replay evidence to overturn the call on the field and said so. (that play was MUCH LESS obvious that florida’s showboat fumble at starkvegas)

    did we have calls go against us? damn straight. there was a push in the back call in the second half that they just plain missed. lsu had punted the ball to us and their coverage guy was about to hit javy. one of our blockers LAID his hand on his opponent’s back and the blind mice flagged him. our guy pushed him so hard he cleaned javy’s clock on the coverage. (sarc/off) and that’s not to mention the reception taken away from us on the first possession because the replay booth wasn’t working. (what was up with that crap!!!)

    (now here we go) but…….

    “It is frustrating to me that people did lose faith in me? Yeah, it really ticks me off,” McElroy said. “But I never lost faith in myself. I never lost faith in my teammates, and I never lost faith in what we are able to do offensively. It really made me feel good to go out and silence everybody tonight and obviously get a big victory.”

    excuse me?

    i’m sorry. this game should have been a blowout and likely WOULD HAVE been a blowout had mr. mcelroy not missed TWO wide open receivers for touchdowns! then there’s the interception before halftime!

    look, had we won this game by three touchdowns (like we should have), greg could say whatever he wanted and i’d have no problem with it. but the fact is the offense stunk the joint up (again) in the first half. (and judging by coach saban’s reaction after mcelroy’s int., i’d say i’m not alone in that line of thinking)

    message to greg: you’re a high profile representative of the university of alabama and it’s quarterback. that means after you’re mentioned by the media as a heisman candidate and your level of play goes in the crapper for three and one half games, fans are gonna talk, bud. you may not like that and think it’s wrong but that’s just real world and if you’re going to lead a successful life you’d best get used to it.

    people talk. see the duck, be the duck. (rain off the duck’s back and all)

    an example of a more appropriate response:

    (a question to mark ingram from matt hayes of the sporting news)

    Q: How are you dealing with the Heisman Trophy hype?
    A: It’s an honor to be considered one of the top players in the country. But right now I’m focusing on getting better as a person and helping this team win games.

    go gettum mark and rtr!

  3. Finebammer, you’re completely out of line with Mac! Yeah he missed actually 3 td passes and was robbed on a 4th when the refs didn’t call them for tripping Julio from behind. In fact they mugged our recievers all day! Mac was more upset than you when he overthrew Julio. But he was dead nuts on low and away with Darius or it wouldn’t have been complete, as he was covered like stink on shit! What the hell more do you want than 18 completions for 270 yards against LSWho? Shit, Tebow had less than 120! You people get over it! The SEC has 6 of the nations 10 best D’s, and Bama has played 4 of them in a row (the other 2 are us and Fla.). What kind of O output do you expect against that kind of competition? Hell, Florida only had 13pts and 325yds against the Corndogs! Who wouldn’t have loved 3 bombs for td’s. But neither Tebow, McCoy nor Bradford hits em all or they wouldn’t have lost games during their Heisman years! Get off him G-dd–nit! Can’t ya’ll see your criticism is is affecting him, and his performance! RTR

  4. Great points finebammer — I know the rankings really don’t matter until after December 2nd — but why can’t they give us some credit — how in the HELL are we still number 3 (we got more first place votes than Texas) when we beat a ranked opponent (LSWho was no. 9) and texas beat up on a nobody team — where’s the respect?

  5. Egg – you are right about Mac – but when he is quoted in the Paper about all these ” people hating on him ” – aside from the handful of kooks – that statement is bullshit.
    Just do the damn deal Mac – like you did yesterday and quit trying to be a martyr.

  6. 81: no. 3 is fine. we do what we’re supposed to do and it’s all good.

    e.g.: it’s called constructive criticism. what do you think affects him more, saban screaming at him or me posting on a blog.

    pluto: McElroy said. “I’ve had to deal with a lot of animosity and a lot of hatred from a lot of different people, which some of it was undeserved, I feel like.”

    gmac needs to grow a pair and focus. brandon spikes will be breathing down his neck soon enough.

  7. Agreed. Just don’t want to hear bullshit. Just do the Deal like yesterday and let your Deeds do the talking.

  8. Funny.
    How many times was the clock stopped for Peterson during the game?
    I think about the 4rth time he had to be taken off the field should have been the last time.

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