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CHICK-FIL-A PEACH BOWL: WASHINGTON VS ALABAMADecember 31, 2016Nick SabanRyan AndersonBo ScarbroughAtlanta, Georgia Alabama - 24 Washington - 7 THE MODERATOR: Coach Saban is joined by Ryan Anderson and Bo Scarborough. Coach, we'll take an opening statement. NICK SABAN: I'm obviously really proud of our players in terms of we knew this would be a tough game. I think when you get to this point in the season, especially when you have this much time between games, it's a little bit like running a marathon, which you get at the 20 mile mark and you still feel like you're only halfway there. But we got more miles to go, and these guys are very committed to it, and they worked hard over the holiday and made a lot of sacrifices, and I was really proud of the way we competed. We knew it would be a tough game out there. They've got a really good defensive team. I think our defense did a really good job against their explosive, big play receivers and offense that they have, and I'm just really pleased with the way we played together as a team. I thought Eddie's article that he wrote sort of epitomizes the team chemistry that this team has and how they really sort of care about each other and everybody tries to help each other and have each other's back and support each other in doing the right things. I think that kind of leadership and that kind of togetherness is something that really helped us sustain the kind of effort that we needed in what was a very tough game tonight against a very good Washington team. THE MODERATOR: We'll start with questions. Q. Coach, congratulations. When you guys were on offense, you were kind of behind their defense, seeing how they were attacking your offense. I was just wondering what you were seeing them do on defense and what kind of adjustments you tried to make on offense in response. NICK SABAN: I think that we went into this game thinking that we really needed to run the ball. And I think early on, we ran it effectively, especially on our first scoring drive, and then we started to see a lot more inside backer plugs. We started to see a lot more corner fires, pressures from the edges, and that made it much more difficult for us to run. We were ahead in the game, and obviously I think we have to do a better job at creating balance on offense and being able to throw the ball a little more effectively. And that's something that we'll continue to work on. Q. Coach Saban, one of the keys to success of the running game was the 180-yard school bowl record by Bo Scarborough and the tackles that he broke. There were times he was stopped, but he broke tackles, extended the play, scored on one. Just talk overall about the job he did today, please. NICK SABAN: Bo has really played well for us, especially the second half of the season when he got healthy. We've been playing him more and more and he has certainly delivered in a really positive way. The long run that he made tonight, broke a tackle, and, you know, the one he had at Tennessee that was a long run, guy hit him in the hole, but I think that's what makes him a great player. He's got great size and speed. He can run behind his pads. He's got good vision. He's a good receiver and he can block. So he can do all the things that any good running back can do. His productivity has certainly been a benefit to this team, especially the second half of the season. Q. Coach Saban, I wanted you to comment on Anthony Averett tonight. I thought he was really good in coverage and also played a great all around game. It set the edges for the running game and allowed them to have a lot of big plays on the perimeter runs. NICK SABAN: I think that Anthony has played well for us all year, probably gets a little overlooked based on some of our other players. But he's been a very consistent player for us all year long. I think that you really have to talk about, if you want to talk about the defense, you almost can't talk about an individual player, because we played a lot of split safety coverages tonight, which we knew we had to play to take away the RPOs and their vertical passing game and number 1 who is a big play player and a very good player. So that starts with the guys up front being able to stop the run, when you don't have an extra safety in the box all the time, which we hardly ever did. So I think they all did a good job. The front guys did a really good job of allowing us to play that way, and then the back end guys did a really good job of executing what we needed to do to take those big plays out of the game. They also, the front guys affected the quarterback, which I think has huge in the game as well. Q. Could you talk more about the secondary either season-wise or tonight because there are so many guys doing different things, playing different spots, moving around than maybe we thought they would back in August and the depth and versatility for so many of the guys back there? NICK SABAN: We have six guys that really do a good job. They've all played now the positions that they're playing. Ronnie played the six DB last year, so he had a lot of experience at that. He didn't have to play safety. Now he plays safety and dime. Minkah played star. Now he has to play safety since we lost Eddie and he's done a really good job at that. Tony Brown has stepped up very nicely for us and filled in at star. So Marlon and Anthony have done a good job at corner. And Hootie Jones has done a good job when he's come in as a six defensive back. So those six guys have done a really good job for us. Past that, we have a lot of young guys who don't have a lot of experience but they have made a lot of progress this season and have made a lot of improvement as well. They didn't have much of an opportunity to play tonight. Q. Bo, did you know this day would come and was there ever a point when you began to doubt that this day might come or at least that it might come this year? And for Ryan, you don't see a lot of running backs his size. I guess you had one last year. What did you think of this guy when you first saw him? RYAN ANDERSON: I thought he was a monster. I saw him make those runs against us in scrimmage since he got here so it wasn't a surprise to me. BO SCARBROUGH: It's just trust in the process and believing in your teammates and believing in yourself that you can get the job done if the coach can trust you. NICK SABAN: I'd like to make a comment about that, because Bo has always been a really hard worker, and he's had some obstacles to overcome, mostly little injury type things that have plagued him a little bit. But never once did he put his head down. Never once did he get frustrated or discouraged. Just kept working. Every time you call on him, he's ready to roll. And you guys know me. Whoever's hot, that's who's going to get the ball and he's been hot lately and he's going to get the ball. Q. Nick, kind of following up on that, was it a plan to get him involved in the offense early and just kind of, you know, he hasn't had a ton of carries this year. Obviously, later in games. But that, and then also after the amount of injuries he weathered in high school and in getting to Alabama, how rewarding it is to see this? NICK SABAN: It's very rewarding to see him have the kind of success he's having, knowing what he's been through and what he's had to overcome physically. He's done a nice job of showing a lot of perseverance in that. He played really well in the SEC Championship game. I think, you know, you all look at stats all the time. We look at how guys play and he played very well in that game and was very productive. So it was the plan to get him in the game earlier today, but our game plan was to run more direct runs, and that's one thing that he's done extremely well for us. Q. Ryan, can you take us through what you saw in that interception return and how that was a real game changer for you guys, like it really has been all year when the defense has been able to score? RYAN ANDERSON: I was rusher, and Reuben gave me a call to peel the back. I peeled him, and the quarterback didn't see me and I just picked it off. NICK SABAN: That was a great job of those two guys executing, and it shows you that guys aren't unselfish at all. When the back was offset to an open end side, we wanted Reuben to rush the A-gap, and Ryan to take the back. And, you know, he's a great pass rusher, but that also helped our protection. And at the back block, Reuben, we got an extra guy rushing. So they did a nice job in practice of executing that and they did a really good job. I don't think the quarterback expected Ryan to peel the guy on that play, and threw the ball out there and Ryan made a great play and a great run, and it was a big play in the game. Q. Nick, can you just talk about how Eddie Jackson has helped this defense out while he hasn't been able to play? A lot of guys were complimentary of him. Ryan, how much of an influence has Eddie been for you? RYAN ANDERSON: Well, me and Eddie, we're real close. I'd say me and Eddie, probably all the guys on the team are the closest, the dude that I'm closest to. So when he first got hurt, man, it just, at that moment, you know, I actually asked Coach could I wear his number, because I really was hurt about that, that he couldn't finish the year how he wanted to. Based on the fact that he came back, he's just been there, and he's like a coach now, man. So it means a lot to us and it means a lot to us to go out and win for him. NICK SABAN: Did you see the article that he wrote? Well, the last step of that, the last sentence of that said something like, I would give up anything to go out there and play with my brothers again. So you guys take advantage of every play that you have. But I think that one thing that I took from that article that some people don't realize, especially if you haven't played on a team, especially a football team, which is probably the greatest team game there is, because there's more participants, that no matter what you search for in your life, no matter where you go, what you do -- I mean, we went to the Martin Luther King Center. We've been all over this town this week. When you're in that huddle, there ain't nobody special. Everybody's together. Everybody has respect for each other, and everybody appreciates the job that everybody else does. And you can go a long way in doing a lot of things, and you may never find that. You may never find that. But you find it when you play football and you play together as a team. I think that article epitomized the defensive chemistry that we have and how important those guys are to each other and how they play well together. Q. For Bo, if I have it right, three season ending injuries in high school. Can you kind of reflect on that and just really how far it's come for different injuries, pushing your body, are getting your body back and then starting off with the knee injury at Alabama and just all of that to get here and to have this performance on this stage? BO SCARBROUGH: By having so many injuries, it's really a mind thing. You can't let your mind take over your body. You just got to keep pushing and keep pushing. That's what I did. I worked at it every day. Then another injury came, so I treated it like the same one. So I didn't let it get to my head so I just kept working and working, and I overcame the injuries. Q. Bo, can you take us through that touchdown run? I mean, you're two or three inches from losing it all right at the line of scrimmage, and had to collect yourself, then you had to make somebody miss, then you made a cut. Kind of take what it looked like through your eyes? BO SCARBROUGH: I mean, you'd have to ask my offensive line about that, because, you know, they did their job and I just took what they gave me. Like it's just the process and you've got to trust the plays you're running and you got to believe in your offensive line that they're going to get it done. When you get to the secondary, you're on your own, basically, because the offensive line did their job. So I really think you should ask the offensive line what they did to get me through there. THE MODERATOR: We'll end it there. Thank you, everybody. NICK SABAN: Thank you, appreciate you all. Happy New Year, everybody. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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