The Alabama Crimson Tide grabbed their third national championship in four years on Monday night with a convincing victory over Notre Dame, and both teams took to the stage after the game to dissect how it all went down in Miami. Full video of each press conference can be found below, and continue to read for the best quotes of the night.
2013 BCS National Championship postgame quotes: Videos and more
Alabama may not have thought Notre Dame was all that tough an opponent, while at least one Notre Dame player felt his team wasn’t overmatched.
Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
First, it seems Alabama wasn’t impressed by the previously-undefeated Irish when preparing for the BCS title game. Some may go as far to say the Crimson Tide didn’t respect what Notre Dame brought to the table at all. Hard to argue, considering the outcome:
Saban: "Notre Dame had a … sorta… statistical defense."
— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) January 8, 2013
DJ Fluker: "We saw Boston College pushed (Notre Dame) around. We said if BC can push them around, we can."
— Joe Schad (@schadjoe) January 8, 2013
It wasn’t all negative from Alabama. They did have some nice things to say about Notre Dame. Even for a player that may have been exposed against a physical Crimson Tide offense:
Was surprised to hear Bama lineman Cyrus Kouandijo say this: "Manti Te'o, he's a man out there—the best I've ever gone against."
— Steve Greenberg (@SN_Greenberg) January 8, 2013
Defensive lineman Louis Nix III will likely be the butt of many jokes to come after he declared that his team was not dominated in a 42-14 loss. A loss in which the Crimson Tide out-gained the Irish 539 to 302, had 265 yards rushing, and only had the benefit of one turnover while building a 35-0 lead.
Nix:"(Bama OL) did not dominate, I hope no one uses that word. I don't think they physically dominated us and took us out to the woodshed."
— Pete Thamel(@SIPeteThamel) January 8, 2013
One last Nix quote. When I told him that Alabama controlled the line of scrimmage, he said, "Define control." Bama averaged 5.9 ypc.
— Pete Thamel(@SIPeteThamel) January 8, 2013
To be fair to Nix, he may have just been speaking about himself, because he was likely ND’s best player on the night:
ND DT Louis Nix insisted to me after the game that ND's DL didn't get dominated. He asked: "Do you think Barrett Jones dominated me?"
— Pete Thamel(@SIPeteThamel) January 8, 2013
The Irish offensive lineman may not be as proud of that fact after finding out what Jones was dealing with:
Bama's Barrett Jones on playing through a Lisfranc injury: "It was painful, but you couldn’t have pulled me off this field with a tractor."
— Jason Lieser (@PBPjasonlieser) January 8, 2013
Nix had trouble finding answers, so he decided to get a little philosophical:
Nix pointed the problem on missed tackles. Why? "I can't explain it. Can you tell me why we're on earth? Can you tell me, what is gravity?"
— Pete Thamel(@SIPeteThamel) January 8, 2013
Nick Saban may be a tad insane in his pursuit for perfection, and it is pretty obvious that the attribute is passed on to his players. Even in the wake of a national championship, it seemed that Alabama was hardly satisfied with their play in the game, the year, and in the direction of the program:
#Bama LB Nico Johnson: It bothers me we had a chance to shut them out two years in a row and didn't do that. #LoveThatGuy #ROLLTIDE
— LivingTheCrimsonLife (@LivingCrimson) January 8, 2013
Eddie Lacy: "For one of the first times all year, we were able to play a complete game."
— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) January 8, 2013
"We're behind in recruiting," Saban said just now on Sportscenter. Behind who? The Patriots?
— SB Nation Recruiting (@SBNRecruiting) January 8, 2013
And of course, Alabama just cares about Alabama.
Asked to compare ND defense against some of the SEC, Barrett Jones says, "We don't rank things at Alabama. It's one of our media tips."
— Pete Roussel (@coachingsearch) January 8, 2013
As another example of Alabama's insanity, quarterback A.J. McCarron and center Jones got into a fight over a miscommunication with the snap count while up four touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Seemed like business as usual after the game:
[RE: Jones-McCarron incident] Jones says it was a snap count issue but he'll let it go but "I was right." McCarron: "He's full of it."
— Jason Lieser (@PBPjasonlieser) January 8, 2013
Saban explains Jones/McCarron scuffle as part of their friendship. "That's just AJ, that's the same kind of relationship I have with him."
— Orange Bowl (@OrangeBowl) January 8, 2013
Finally, the story of the night may not have been Alabama’s title. It was likely McCarron’s girlfriend. Miss Alabama became an internet sensation, and may have surpassed the star quarterback in popularity overnight. McCarron was proud and ready to piggy-back off his lady’s fame:
McCarron on his girlfriend’s newfound fame: "I’m not the jealous type. I know she’s good looking. … I’m the one who’s blessed."
— Andy Staples (@Andy_Staples) January 8, 2013
A.J. McCarron on finding out LeBron is following his GF now. "Maaan! I'ma tweet him & I'm gonna get a follow. That's messed up."
— Bruce Feldman (@BFeldmanCBS) January 8, 2013
Full video of the press conferences can be found below:
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