Nick Saban gives his thoughts on Alabama's offense, Bill O'Brien
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — After the team's second loss, every aspect of Alabama football is now under heavy scrutiny.
The Crimson Tide's loss to LSU broke a 10-year unbeaten streak in Baton Rouge. The loss brought criticism from the entire fanbase, most of which was directed toward offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien.
On Monday, Nick Saban gave his assessment of O'Brien's performance in the role and of the overall offensive production.
"Look there's things we need to do to be better in every part of our organization," Saban said. "I'm not going to analyze someone publicly good, bad or indifferent. We're all working hard together and we're all responsible for what we do. Do we need to play better on both sides of the ball? Absolutely. We gotta play better up front, we have to make less mistakes organizationally. There's not a coach or a player in this organization that can't do things better to help our players have a better chance to be successful."
Through nine games, the Crimson Tide's offense averages more than 41 points per game, good for second-best in the SEC, trailing only Tennessee. But against the Tigers, the offense sputtered to a grinding halt as Alabama recorded its third game where it tallied 31 points or less.
The loss also marked the team's fourth game that came down to the final few possessions. Alabama is now 2-2 in such situations, but Saturday's loss epitomized the Alabama season so far — strong at times, but lacking when it needs to make a play.
"We won two of them and we lost two of them by a total of four points and we didn't execute down the stretch the way we needed to," Saban said. "I don't know what that is, but we've gotta get away from that because great players and great competitors, they rise to the occasion and make the plays they need to make in the critical times in the game."
Against LSU that showed in the team's inability to score touchdowns in the red zone. Roydell Williams' two-yard rushing score in the fourth quarter was Alabama's lone touchdown from inside the LSU 20-yard line, despite making fives trips.
The remaining four drives ended in a Will Reichard field goal or in an interception.
Alabama's offense will face another difficult road challenge against No. 11 Ole Miss with top three scoring offense coupled with a defense that has allowed 21.6 points per game, good for fifth-lowest in the SEC.
With questions looming about O'Brien and the rest of the Alabama offense, Saban once again redirected the attention to himself stating that the reason for the team's inconsistency rests with him.
"I hear every play that's called. I hear every defense that's called. And I have the right to veto every one of those things," Saban said. "Do I think coordinators are in an important position of leadership and have a huge impact in preparation for a game? I don't think there's any question about that. I don't think anybody would question that. But ultimately the responsibility for what happens on the field comes down to me, aright, because I have the right when we're planning to say we need to do more of this or we need to do more of that."