CFP NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP: ALABAMA VS GEORGIA

January 10, 2022

Slade Bolden

Christian Harris

Lucas Oil Stadium

Alabama Crimson Tide

Postgame Press Conference

Georgia - 33, Alabama - 18

Q. Slade, how tough was it to see J-Mo go down with that injury and how big was it for some of the younger guys to step up as receiver when he went out?

SLADE BOLDEN: It's tough for any of our teammates to go out and go down. Losing J-Mo, he's such a big part of our offense, and he's such a great player and teammate it was hard.

But that's what we train for. That's what we do. Practice hard. Everybody's prepared to step up because you never know when you're going to get your next shot. So I feel like everybody did a good enough job. And we just couldn't make the plays and we couldn't finish tonight. And that's the story of it.

Q. Slade, just emotionally when Jameson went down, what kind of an effect did that have on the receiver group? And what did you do to kind of help step up and rally everyone together?

SLADE BOLDEN: We knew we couldn't dwell on it too much. When J-Mo went down, we were, like, all right, next man up. We all had to kind of step up, not just one person.

I feel like I laid my heart out there and tried my best, and I know everybody else did. It was just one of those days.

Q. Slade, after the experience these receivers had in this game what's the important thing for them to take away from this game?

SLADE BOLDEN: Just the feeling of losing and that you don't want to feel that way again, especially in a game like this. That's all I've got.

Q. Christian, what maybe for the defense didn't go quite as right in the fourth quarter as maybe it did in the first three quarters?

CHRISTIAN HARRIS: We didn't execute. They were making plays because we weren't executing, weren't fitting the runs right, Wasn't doing our job. Good teams will capitalize on those mistakes that you make. And you can't afford to do that in big-time games.

Q. Christian, your forced fumble, first describe the play. And, second, while the review was going on, did it sort of feel like the game was hanging in the balance of how that play was going to be judged?

CHRISTIAN HARRIS: I don't really remember -- I remember we made a big play but -- all I remember we lost the game. I mean that play obviously didn't have too much of an impact. So I didn't do enough, personally. I feel like we probably could have done better on defense. But just gotta take it to the chin like a man.