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To the surprise of no one, Florida coach Will Muschamp got a lot of questions about Alabama and his former mentor Nick Saban, whom he’ll oppose as a head coach for just the second time this Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS), during his press conference on Monday.
The last time they faced one another was Oct. 1, 2011 at The Swamp, which Alabama won 38-10 en route to winning the national championship. The last time they met with Muschamp as a defensive coordinator was the national championship game at the end of the 2009 season, when Alabama defeated Texas 37-21.
Here’s what Muschamp had to say:
“I’ve got a lot of respect for Nick (Saban). I probably wouldn’t be standing here if it weren’t for the opportunities he gave me early in my career and he’s an outstanding football coach. He’s got a really good football team. Offensively, they’ve got both (Blake) Sims and (Jacob) Coker. Very similar guys. Both very good athletes, accurate throwers. There’s not a whole lot of change schematically when either one of them are in the game. Very talented at the running back position in (T.J.) Yeldon and (Derrick) Henry and (Kenyan) Drake and they’ve got some talented guys on the bench who can get in the game. But they’re all guys who can run well, catch the ball well. They’re good in protection and do a nice job.
“They do a nice job with receivers. Amari Cooper has got 33 catches and has been targeted close to 50 times in three games, whether running or throwing it. 6-2, a big receiver that runs extremely well and can stick his foot in the ground, change direction. Really good ball skills. Christion Jones and DeAndrew White. DeAndrew has been hurt, but a guy that can really run on the top end there. Very talented there. O.J. Howard at tight end and Brian Vogler has been there for a long time. Both guys are 6-5+ that can run down the field and are solid on the offensive line.
“Defensively, strong on the front seven and good on the back end. Landon Collins is an outstanding player and plays some dime for them when they go to their six-DB package and plays safety. He covers well.
“Special teams, Christion Jones is as good of a returner as there is in the country. They’re 100 percent on field goal kicking and their net punt is 45+. They’ve got a good football team. We’re looking forward to going to Tuscaloosa for the opportunity.
“Injury-wise, (left tackle) D.J. Humphries right now would be the only player that wouldn’t be available to us this weekend (ankle). We’re pretty healthy coming out of the last weekend.”
On the qualities of a Nick Saban coached team:
“Well, they’ve recruited well. They’ve got really good players. That’s where most of it starts and ends. They’re very physical on both lines of scrimmage. They’re going to be balanced offensively, however they get to it. Right now, the three games they are 50-50 run/pass to give you an idea of what I’m talking about in terms of balance given the situation. Defensively, they are going to be strong in the front seven. They are going to be able to play man-to-man and deny the ball down in situations and they’re going to be solid in special teams.”
On awkwardness in playing against mentor Nick Saban
“You know, not really. I mean, you know, I’ve got a lot of respect for him facing him as an assistant coach and then now as a head coach. So it is what is. Got a good football team. I think we do too.”
On what Muschamp has learned from Nick Saban:
?A lot of things, just from total program management. We’d talk in terms of evaluation of players and I learned a lot at the Miami Dolphins as well in that situation from our scouting department. But just philosophically, having an idea of what you want to be on offense and defense and special teams as a program. All of the things that I think are critical moving forward and where we’re at.”
On Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper:
“Well, again, he’s a guy that can stretch the field vertically. They do a nice job in the run game of getting the ball to him in a lot of what I call quick situation, of seeing a bad box, getting it out to him on the perimeter, creating some one-on-ones. They move him around a little bit and we’ve got to make sure we identify him and know where he is. He’s been targeted a bunch in their first three games, so there’s no question he’s a playmaker.”
On the offensive tackles facing Alabama:
“Well, I think first game for Chaz (Green) going over and playing left tackle. There’s some different technique involved in that, there’s some changes involved, but I thought he played well. He just wasn’t as used to setting in those situations, but I thought he played well. There’s some technical issues we’ve got to get cleaned up and we knew that going into the game. But I thought Rod (Johnson) did a good job for his first start. He got a little excited early in the game, got a little chippy down there on the goal line which you can’t do, but he’s an excited young man, he’s a really good athlete, he’s got great feet and he’s just going to continue to get better and better. They certainly present some edge guys. As far as some rush guys, Jonathan Allen is a really good player, so they’ll give us some different looks and we’ve got to be able to adjust to those situations, which I think we’ve done a very nice job in two ball games adjusting to different looks in the game in what different teams are presenting us.”
On this week’s game vs. Alabama being a “statement game:”
“They’re all statement games. They’re all important. They all count for one, so we understand the importance of the game. It’s an SEC game. It’s the next game. We’re in a series of one-game seasons as far as I’m concerned right now, and that’s how we’re looking at it.”
Christopher Walsh has covered Alabama football since 2004 and is the author of 19 books. In his free time, he writes about college football.
