Alabama Football: Saban not disappointed but not pleased after NMSU game

It can be fairly said Alabama football fans are never pleased. Neither is Nick Saban and he wasn’t after the win over New Mexico State.

For the record, Alabama football coach, Nick Saban also said he was not disappointed. For anyone questioning if age has slowed Saban, forget it. With eight seconds to go Saturday afternoon, the Aggies were threatening to score.

The Aggies subbed, giving the Tide a chance to make a defensive sub. Then they subbed again and the Tide defense was not given another chance to sub a defender. Saban sprinted down the sideline and onto the edge of the field to call a timeout. The Aggies failed to score. The final score was 62-10, Alabama Crimson Tide.

In post-game comments, Nick Saban said he was not disappointed but he was not pleased. He was talking about more than having to call a late timeout to get his backup defense adjusted.

Two very good things happened in Bryant-Denny Stadium Saturday afternoon. The Alabama Crimson Tide got to go very, make that VERY deep into its roster. As importantly, there were no injuries in the game. Starting center, Chris Owens was out for the game and Trevon Diggs went out during the game. Diggs’ problem was cramps in the oven caused by a heat index of 106 degrees.

Nick Saban also stated in his post-game review that Antonio Alfano, who did not play, is going through some “disciplinary” issues. It was already known that Alfano has missed some practice because of a serious medical problem for a family member.

It will be all over Twitter that Saban was a mite testy when asked about playing lesser opponents. He should be. No coach in college football has argued more strongly for Power Five teams to play only Power Five teams – and for adding more SEC conference games.

What was learned from the game?

A knee-jerk response is not much. What can be learned in such a mismatch? There will be more time to assess later, but one thought could not be stifled while watching the game – just how deep in this Alabama football team? At some position groups, as in too many, it could be the answer is not deep enough.

Check back in with Bama Hammer often. We’ll have more to say about this game and lots to say about opening the SEC conference slate on the road Saturday.