BAMA-NMS: Saban's satisfaction reached with Tide win
Action from Alabama’s win over New Mexico State on Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium. (UA Media Relations)
By TIM GAYLE
Alabama coach Nick Saban called Saturday’s game “Judgment Day.”
After surviving a scare from LSU the previous week, the Crimson Tide coach wanted to see if his team could block out its status as a 53-point favorite over a one-win New Mexico State team and focus on personal and team improvement.
He was satisfied with the Tide’s 59-3 romp but it came at a high price as Alabama lost its backup running back and punt returner to injuries.
“I was really pleased with the way the guys came out and competed in the game today,” he said. “These are tough games after you have a lot of SEC games to try and get guys to be serious about, but I think the energy and sense of urgency that we had in the way we played was what we’re looking for. It was a little bit costly out there. We lost Roydell (Williams), probably for a good while, and JoJo (Earle), probably not as serious but still going to be out for a while. So those two are pretty significant injuries.”
The banged-up Tide was already playing without two starting offensive linemen as guard Jovan Cohen sat out while recovering from wrist surgery and Darrian Dalcourt sat out with an ankle injury. Both are expected to return to practice on Tuesday but in their place on Saturday were first-time starters Dameion George at tackle and Tommy Brown at guard.
The loss of Williams will be keenly felt as Trey Sanders continues to slowly return to form after offseason surgery following an automobile accident, Camar Wheaton never took the field following offseason surgery and Jase McClellan was lost for the year earlier this season with a knee injury, leaving only Brian Robinson and Williams as healthy running backs.
The loss of McClellan and Wheaton and the slow return of Sanders forced Saban to move wide receiver Christian Leary and linebacker Demouy Kennedy to the position and each saw playing time on Saturday following Williams’ injury, with Leary gaining 22 yards on three carries and Kennedy getting 16 yards on seven carries.
“It’s always tough seeing one of your guys go down, especially a hard worker like Roydell,” Robinson said. “But it’s also an exciting opportunity for Demouy and Christian to get an opportunity to get in and carry the ball a little bit. To have a position change in the middle of the season, I know that’s not an easy task to come into the running back room, but those guys kept their head up, trusted it and I was just so happy to see those guys get an opportunity today.”
Bryce Young got the offense started with a 50-yard touchdown pass to Jameson Williams and set a school record as he completed 21 of 23 passes for 270 yards and five touchdowns. Robinson added a 63-yard touchdown run and finished with 99 yards on nine carries.
“I have a great group of guys around me that made everything easier and we had a lot of group success and that starts with us being a group and kind of coming together and making sure we’re talking on the same page, on the field, on the sidelines, whatever it may be,” Young said.
Alabama churned out 30 first downs and 587 yards, but Saban was quick to point out the Tide’s success on the ground came against New Mexico State, not future opponents Arkansas and Auburn.
“I think they did well but we’re going to play against better competition, better front seven, bigger, stronger, more physical guys,” Saban said. “I thought they did a good job today. I thought they did a good job all week in practice. These guys all want to play well. We need to do a good job to prepare them so that they can play well. I think we challenged ourselves as coaches a little bit this week to try to get more players to be able to play well on our team and make sure we were doing a good job in preparation in terms of how we practiced, the things that we looked at, the things that we saw.”
Alabama remains home for Senior Day next week against Arkansas before traveling to Auburn for the Iron Bowl on Nov. 27, but the Tide (5-1 in conference play) got a boost in the Southeastern Conference standings as both Texas A&M (4-3) and Auburn (3-3) lost to fall to third and fourth place in the West, respectively, behind Ole Miss (4-2). Alabama can now clinch the West and a date in the SEC Championship Game with a win against Arkansas next week.