Nick Saban wasn't sure who had won or lost in the country, but he was certain that his team deserved a spot in the College Football Playoff.
It would be the first two-loss team to make the playoffs in the history of the College Football Playoff and the Tide would need help to get there.
"I know what a resilient football team this has been and I don't make those decisions, but I do know what a good team this is," he said. We've lost two games to top 10 teams, both on the last play of the game. We could have easily won both of them. Hopefully people will recognize that we are a good football team and we will get a chance.
Alabama has incurred a number of scars along the way, whether it was quarterback Bryce Young's shoulder injury, uncharacteristic penalties and mistakes, or a defense that gave up 84 points in the two losses. The Tide lost at Tennessee on a last-second field goal, and at LSU on a 2-point conversion.
"We had a lot of close games, didn't always play our best in those games, but did enough to get to 10 wins and hang in there as a team," he said. We'll see what happens now.
After the game, he had scars on his face. During a play on the sideline, he was hit in the face by a player's shoulder pads. He had a bloodied face and a gash on his face.
I have been hit three times this season. "I never used to get hit and I saw stars after this one, but I took the toughest hit of the game and didn't go to the injury tent."
Young hurt his shoulder against Arkansas and didn't play against Texas A&M, but he's as healthy as he's ever been. He returned against Tennessee on October 15.
He went a month where he couldn't practice because he couldn't play. We probably weren't able to grow as much around him as we would have if he had practiced more. That makes us a different team because he's healthy now.
The College Football Playoff rankings have Alabama as a 7th ranked team. The Tide are going to need things to go their way if they want to get into the top four. Losing in the Big 12 title game would help as well as USC losing in the conference title game.
Kevin Warren said after Ohio State's loss to Michigan that they deserved a spot in the playoffs. If I think it will help our team, I will lobby for it. I haven't considered it yet. I was focused on winning this game. That's the best chance we had to make a difference.
Alabama lost two games in the regular season for the first time since 2007, but that didn't deter the team from focusing on the task at hand.
A lot of the things written about the team united them, according to the coach. They would say, "This is all we have, but we need the people in this room." We have great fans, a great stadium, and a great atmosphere, and we appreciate it, and I know our players do, and that's why I appreciate it. If you support the University of Alabama, you are hurting the program because it is a reflection on our culture and how positive we are. The program was built on optimism.
When he first became Alabama's coach, he had 95,000 fans attend the spring game.
He said that everyone wanted to be a part of that. It was built on more than one person. It was built on positives. If we don't succeed at a certain level, there will be a lot of criticism. I believe that brought this team together more than anything else and they wanted to prove what they could do.
When people are critical of the Alabama team's culture, those usually crop up, according to the coach.
The players compete just as well as they always have and the culture of the program is the same. There is nothing wrong with the culture here. Two games were decided by four points. Nobody feels worse about that than me and the players who are committed to trying to win those games on the road.
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