Nick Saban shares 1 thing Tennessee did to confuse Alabama defense

Sep 11, 2021; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports

Tennessee pulled off the upset of the weekend last week when they beat Alabama 52-49 in Knoxville on Saturday. Nick Saban has said that his players were tight entering the game. He also shared how the Vols did something that left his Crimson Tide defense confused.

Saban on Thursday was hosting his weekly radio show. The Alabama coach talked about how much offense has changed over the years. To illustrate his point, Saban said that the Vols lined up in the I-formation during the game, and his defense didn’t know what to do.

Nick Saban discusses how much college football has changed when it comes to offense, which he said is for the good.

“Tennessee got in what looked like an I-formation last week on the goal-line and our players actually did not know what to do”

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— Trey Wallace (@TreyWallace_) October 21, 2022

“Tennessee got in what looked like an I-formation last week, on the goal line, and our players actually did not know what to do,” Saban admitted. “They had never seen it.”

That admission reflects poorly on Saban, because it’s his job to have his team prepared for everything. In additino to the I-formation example, Saban talked about how spread out the game is. The Vols were lining their receivers up just two yards inside of the out of bounds lines.

This was the first time Tennessee beat Alabama under Saban, which is a credit to their new coach, Josh Heupel. The Vols are now ranked No. 3 and face Tennessee Martin next. Bama hosts Mississippi State on Saturday.