When a point is repeatedly hammered home without much success, maybe doing the opposite is the trick. At least that’s what Alabama head coach Nick Saban thinks about the team’s fumbling issues.
“We’ve been emphasizing it all year, so I don’t know how you emphasize something that’s so important anymore,” Saban said. “Maybe we ought to de-emphasize it, because we have emphasized it like crazy. Maybe that’s the problem. Maybe when you tell somebody something too much, they start thinking that.
“If you say, ‘You’re soft.’ How many times do you emphasize the fact that, ‘You’re soft, and we want you to be tougher,’ and you tell them they’re soft, before they start thinking they’re soft? That make any sense?”
Maybe reverse psychology will work for the Crimson Tide, who have lost 11 of its 14 fumbles this season so far. Alabama quarterback Blake Sims has three lost fumbles on the season. Wide receiver Christion Jones had a difficult run of fumbling also, especially on kick and punt returns. His fumble against Ole Miss led to the winning touchdown for the Rebels.
Running back T.J. Yeldon fumbled in the red zone with the clock winding down against LSU — something he’s done in the past — and sprained his ankle in the process. Saban said Yeldon would be limited in the first few days of practice this week.
Auburn fumbled away its game against Texas A&M, and Alabama almost did the same Saturday.
Obviously, Alabama held LSU to a field goal and subsequently won the game, but at that moment, it seemed like the fumble had cost the Crimson Tide the win.
With No. 1 Miss. State coming to town, along with College Gameday and CBS, the pressure will be on Alabama, and losing the turnover battle to the top-ranked team in the nation is never a good plan of action.
“We’re doing the best we can in every way to try to emphasize the fundamental things that we need to do so that we have good ball security, especially at the end of games, which is critical,” Saban said. “But you’ve also got to say we did a pretty good job of overcoming it in this particular game.”
Next time Alabama might not be so fortunate.
