Alabama, urged to ‘take it private,’ rally to beat Ole Miss

OXFORD, Ms. — Nonetheless reeling after a heartbreaking loss at LSU and formally eradicated from reaching the SEC Championship, Alabama did not fold up store on the highway at Ole Miss on Saturday. The Crimson Tide as an alternative got here again from a double-digit deficit and held on late to beat the Rebels 30-24.

A proud coach Nick Saban informed reporters afterward, “It was a tricky evening in lots of methods, however a fantastic evening for us as a result of I feel we took a step in the precise course as a soccer crew.”

Alabama averted snapping its 184-game streak with out shedding consecutive regular-season video games.

The streak, which dated again to Saban’s first season at Alabama in 2007, is the longest lively streak in faculty soccer and the longest streak since Oklahoma went 256 video games from 1999-2020.

Saban mentioned he challenged his crew earlier than the sport to “play to the usual” and “take it private.”

“I feel that is the massive factor that we wished to get our gamers to do is, you are chargeable for the identification that you just create and it is private when it comes to the way you play and the way you compete within the recreation to attempt to dominate the man you are enjoying in opposition to,” he mentioned. “And I noticed lots of that within the second half.”

Saban mentioned he was pleased with the laborious operating by Jase McClellan, who needed to shoulder extra of the load with Jahmyr Gibbs injured. McClellan accounted for 84 yards on 19 carries.

Saban additionally praised the offensive line for stepping up within the second half.

Bryce Younger, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, accomplished 21 of 33 passes for 209 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.

However it was the protection that arguably took the most important step ahead in opposition to Ole Miss.

After permitting 17 factors within the first 20 minutes, it allowed just one landing the remainder of the sport.

Ole Miss had the ball on first-and-10 on the Alabama 14-yard line with an opportunity to attain the go-ahead landing with lower than a minute left. However the protection pressured an incompletion, tackled Rebels quarterback Jaxson Dart for no achieve after which sacked Dart for a 6-yard loss. Then, on fourth-and-16, Brian Department broke up a move to seal the win.

Defensive linebacker Byron Younger was a standout within the entrance seven with 11 tackles — two of which had been for a loss — and two quarterback hurries.

“It turned private to all of us simply because we noticed what folks been saying,” Younger mentioned. “We noticed folks write us off. And we really feel like actually, only for ourselves, we gotta present ourselves who we’re and we gotta present ourselves that we’re what we are saying we’re. So I feel that was the most important factor for us.”

Alabama will host Austin Peay subsequent Saturday earlier than it closes out the common season at residence on Nov. 26 in opposition to Auburn.