Nick Saban was particularly animated on the sideline throughout Alabama football’s 40-17 win at Mississippi State. He chewed out several players throughout the game, and was livid over what appeared to be mental lapses by the Crimson Tide.

Obviously, Alabama was able to soldier on and earn win in Starkville despite the problems. When asked what caused him to be more visibly aggravated on the sideline than usual, Saban jokingly placed the blame on his wife, Terry.

“Miss Terry told me if they’re not playing good, to get on their butt,” Saban said. “So I just did what I was told.”

The majority of Saban’s sideline outbursts took place in the early parts of Alabama’s win. He was particularly aggravated after center Seth McLaughlin snapped the ball at the wrong time to quarterback Jalen Milroe, causing a fumble that ended a Crimson Tide drive.

At halftime of the game, ESPN’s Quint Kessenich asked Saban what had caused the Crimson Tide to improve on the early sloppiness throughout the half.

“You didn’t see me get on them over there? Maybe that’s what changed,” Saban said. “I don’t know. You make that call.”

Saban acknowledged after the game that the Crimson Tide had things to fix. However, it was still a 40-17 SEC road win, and he focused on the things Alabama can use moving forward.

“There’s a lot of good things that we need to build on,” Saban said. “There are signs of the way we played in the second half against Ole Miss, and times that we played in this game tonight, where we just gotta build on that.”

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