Nick Saban Gets Very Honest About Alabama Beating Michigan. Nick Saban Gets Very Honest About Alabama Beating Michigan

Nick Saban got very honest about Alabama beating Michigan in the Citrus Bowl.

Speaking to reporters following the 35-16 victory, the Crimson Tide head coach admitted that his team did not play well in the first half.

“I just didn’t think we played with the same kind of toughness and aggressively in the first half that we really wanted to play and is really the culture of our team,” he said.

“I thought we played a lot better in the second half, we played more nickel against their regular, which we have more multiples of things to do and makes us a little more experienced — which is helpful.” Saban also took time out to highlight the contribution of his young quarterback, Mac Jones.

“Mac did a great job,” Saban said.

“He got us in the right plays, we didn’t always play great around him, they did a better job covering us in the first half than we thought (they could).

“In the second half, we did a better job of making plays on third down when we needed to.”

For the day, Jones went 16-of-25 and recorded 327 yards and three scores.

Despite winning the bowl game and finishing 11-2, Saban was dissatisfied with how 2019 went for his program.

“A lot of people would say 10-2 is a good (regular) season,” he said.

“That’s not really our standard.”

Will Alabama be able to return to the National Championship picture next season? Time will tell.