Nearly 36 hours after a dramatic victory over Mississippi State, Nick Saban and the Alabama football team got back to work preparing for the final home game of the season.

The head coach held his weekly press conference on Monday to reflect on Saturday's win, and he was pleased with the way the team responded to adversity.

"Our ability to finish in the fourth quarter the way that we did, whether it was getting a couple stops on defense or having a couple really successful drives offensively, was impressive," Saban said. "It was great perseverance by our team to hang in there and keep fighting and sort of overcome ‘hard’. There was a lot of adversity in the game – some of it we created and some of it they created – but the one thing we did is that we responded and kept playing in the game."

Alabama will face a non-conference opponent this week and it gives the coaches a chance to make adjustments heading into the biggest game of the season.

"Looking ahead here this week, we need to focus on a lot of fundamental, technical execution at every position. Whether it's offensive line, defensive backs, it doesn't really matter which position it is. I think there's a lot of things that we can fundamentally execute with a little more consistency and that's certainly going to be the focus in terms of what we try to get accomplished this week."

Here are the topics Saban addressed during Monday's press conference:

  • Ross Pierschbacher will be out for this game and will be a medical decision after that.
  • Minkah Fitzpatrick will be day-to-day in terms of what he can do.
  • Creating a role for running back Josh Jacobs and what he adds to the Alabama offense.
  • The plan for the offensive line with Pierschbacher's injury and how to create depth there.
  • What can be taken from Mercer's loss to Auburn, which was closer than expected.
  • His relationship with Miss Terry and how grateful he is for her support.
  • The importance of taking care of the football and limiting turnovers.
  • How the freshmen have provided depth and really contributed this season.
  • How the linebackers played and where the issues were.
  • How the loss to Clemson can help motivate players and help them respond in tough moments.
  • This team's ability to overcome adversity.

You can watch the entire press conference in the video at the top of the page.

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