Nick Saban Certainly Quotations

I don't feel like we have enough depth. Lance has certainly made a lot of improvement. He is a veteran player that's starting to feel more comfortable in the system. He did make a couple of good plays in this game.

I don't think we played very well. We didn't look quick, we didn't look fast and we didn't play with the same energy level that I've seen us play with throughout the year so far. I'm not blaming it on anything because that's not my nature, but we certainly didn't have the energy and the enthusiasm that we've played with to this point.

Lamar did a good job for us here. He worked hard. When you look at some of these circumstances, everybody has to have a role on the team. Some of the guys at that position are very good special teams contributors, and that certainly played a role in the backs that we've selected.

John St. Clair will probably get an opportunity to play someplace else. We certainly wish him the best and in a lot of ways we would like to have him on our team again, but that may not happen.

I think he played outstanding and I am so happy for Ricky for some positive self-gratification that he'll get from his performance today because he certainly deserves it.

I think those are the kinds of decisions we would certainly like to have some input into. Our goal and focus is, number one, to respect the player. Ricky did an outstanding job for us on the field. Secondly, (we want to) respect the decision of the league, relative to what they felt it was necessary to do.

I think we have two really good receivers. We have Chris Chambers, who went to the Pro Bowl, and Marty Booker, one of the leaders in yards per catch. If we could find someone who would complement those guys, that would certainly be something that would be a secondary priority on offense if we had the opportunity to do it.

You know this is a time when nobody really ever really kind of tells the truth about what they plan to do. I certainly would never deceive you in anything that I told you, so rather than deceive you I would just rather not tell you certain things.

There is no doubt that quarterback is a critical position in every organization. That really has to be something that we look at to make a good assessment on how we move ahead at that position. We like all of the quarterbacks that we have here, but if we get an opportunity to improve the quality at that position, we most certainly will.

Where do we go from here? I think it's important that everybody's responsible for what they can do to make this better. I certainly will be, in terms of my part of it. What we're focused on is how we improve as a team, how we learn from the experience that we had here to day, and how we stay together as a team.

We understand the serious nature of the charges and certainly don't condone in any way the type of conduct which has been alleged. However, we will not make a comment about this specific matter until we collect more information.

Sage obviously did a good job when he was in there. That's something that will certainly be evaluated . . . in terms of who goes where.

I'm not blaming anybody, because that's not my nature, but we certainly didn't have the energy and enthusiasm we've had up to this point. We just didn't look like the same team out there, and I can't give you any reason exactly why.

I'm not blaming it on anything because that's not my nature, ... but we certainly didn't have the energy and enthusiasm that we've played with to this point.

It's great to have that kind of tenacity and attitude. But it's also great to have it from the start so you can dominate the game for 60 minutes, which is certainly our goal.

It's certainly an area that, if the opportunity presents itself, we will try to make some improvements in.

He sets a good example. He's a hard worker, a great person, a good guy. He tries to do everything that you want him to do. ... I think that his energy level and his example certainly affect other people.

Certainly we have some things to do to get that to happen, and we would be pleased if we could make it happen.

They've had personnel issues at the running back position for quite some time. They are getting those guys back now and I think those guys are playing better and better. I think they're as healthy as they've been all year. I think that's the key to it. They ran the ball effectively down here. Heath Evans was basically playing tailback. I don't think there is anything wrong with their running game; I just think that they haven't had all the players available in all the right spots being healthy this year that can help them develop the running game more quickly, but it's certainly developing nicely now.

The competency and the chemistry that you can create certainly helps make for a good team. Those are the situations that we would consider relative to Terrell Owens.

We certainly created some adversity for ourselves to overcome out there, ... but I was really pleased with how we responded time in and time out. Nobody's ever happy with penalties. Nobody's ever happy with turnovers. But I think it's most important to establish how you respond to that stuff when it happens in the game.

We certainly feel both those players are capable. Sometimes when you play corner I think it's very important that you play with confidence and do the things you need to do technique-wise.