Nick Saban Had Telling Admission Following Iron Bowl Win

Wins during college football rivalry weekend always tend to mean a little bit more, no matter the circumstances by which they came about. That proved to be the case for Nick Saban after his Alabama Crimson Tide outlasted Auburn in the 2021 Iron Bowl.

It took four overtimes to settle this year’s SEC West rivalry game, before Alabama was able to eke out the 24-22 win. However, the Crimson Tide weren’t in control for most of Saturday’s contest.

After falling into a 10-0 hole, Alabama had to battle back in the fourth quarter to force overtime. Heisman Trophy candidate Bryce Young led a 12-play, 97 yard drive that he capped off with a touchdown pass to Ja’Corey Brooks to tie the game at 10 before the start of the extra periods.

Saban appeared elated with his team’s ability to deal with the adversity and bounce back. During his postgame interview with CBS Sports’ Jamie Erhdahl, the Alabama head coach was smiling as he talked about the win and what his message to his players was at halftime.

“I can’t put it into words,” Saban said after the game on the broadcast. “The guys keep fighting the way they did, have the 90 something yard drive to tie the game up and send it to overtime… But I’ll tell you what, the players, so proud of them, the way they fought and competed in the game. Told them what we wanted to do at halftime … and it was just unbelievable. I was really just trying to get our guys focusing on executing. I thought they were out of sorts and I could kind of see it in their eyes. I told them to have fun at halftime. Go have fun … When we caught the ball (it became fun for me).”

Saban won’t be able to have fun and celebrate much longer. He’ll have to quickly turn his focus to next weekend where Alabama will take on undefeated, No. 1 Georgia in the SEC Championship game.

A win in next Saturday’s title contest would likely assure the Crimson Tide a spot in the College Football Playoff this year. However, there’s some question as to what will happen if Alabama comes out on the losing end.

All that Saban can do is control what he can control and hope that his team finds some of the same magic next week as they it did in Saturday’s Iron Bowl.

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