Quotes: Alabama 62, Duke 13

Duke Head Coach David Cutcliffe Postgame Quotes

In reference to the look of the second half:

"That's probably the most disappointing thing amongst many things is that we didn't get better in the second half. That's a laundry list of things that need to be addressed as a head coach. I told them that it's obvious to anyone who watched this game or the last two games that we're in rehab. We certainly have some things to fix. In this point in time, that's where we are. We have nine football games left and I'm just really interested in seeing the response from people tomorrow. It's going to take a yohmans effort to get back on track."

In reference to Alabama's playing:

"I just want to say first that it was great to see our crowd today. It was beautiful to see Wallace Wade filled to the brim. I think everyone saw what a team like Alabama does as far as traveling fans. It makes a difference in their recruiting. When you play a team like that, I think our kids understand what you have to do to do things like tackle and make plays. And we didn't pass the test -- plain and simple. You don't just say you put that one behind you. Yeah you put the results of it behind you, but you don't put what caused the results behind you. We have to address everything we're doing poorly. At this point we're doing so many things poorly we have to prioritize."

In reference to freshman play:

"He's (Josh Sneed) a good football player. We've had lots of good, young football players. Kelby Brown came on the field late and made a lot of plays. He's a tough individual and there are others with him. We've got some guys that can play at a higher level and they have to make that step. I'm anxious to look at the tape and I know we can do better in our kicking game. You can't let a team like that get you on your heels. And I will say, that's the best Alabama team I've ever coached against -- the 26 times I've coached against them. If you get on your heels against a team like that, they're going to make you look really bad."

Duke Player Quotes

Quarterback Sean Renfree

On Alabama:

"They're definitely a great football team, but in a lot of ways, we beat ourselves. You tip your hats to Alabama, they're a great team."

On Alabama's defense taking away the deep threat:

"They had a lot of team speed on defense. Their defensemen were able to make us lay the ball underneath and take away the deep threat. We were trying to get it out of our hands on the underneath routes, but they did a good job of covering those up, too."

On pocket presence:

"It's something I need to work on more and more, is pocket presence and being able to extend plays. Obviously it helped us a little bit, especially on third downs, but it's something we need to work on more and more, especially in games because I don't get that kind of work during practice."

On what the team will take from the game:

"We're going to watch this film and learn from it and start working on Army right away."

Junior safety Matt Daniels

On Alabama:

"They're the number one team in the nation for a reason. They came out and executed and pretty much dominated us in all three aspects of the game. We just have to go back and regroup and understand where we're coming from, move on to the next game and prepare for Army."

On the defense's performance:

"We just have to go back and really work on our fundamentals. We missed a lot of tackles out there today against some great backs. But we really just have to go back to the fundamentals and understand who we are as a defense and who we are as an offense and who we are as a team. We just have to bounce back strong from this; we still have nine games left."

On Lee Butler's interception:

"It was definitely a nice play. They were in the red zone and we were able to create the turnover and really kind of changed the momentum of the game for a bit. It was a great catch. It was a big play, really loud for us to just kind of get the momentum going. It really picked up the defense's confidence."

Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban

Opening Statement
"Well first of all I was really pleased with the way our players came in ready to play today. I was really concerned coming off last week's game with how we would respond coming on the road for the first time - how we would compete after a big game. I was really pleased the way we came out and set the tempo, especially offensively. It was great to have Mark [Ingram] back - certainly gives us another weapon and he did a fantastic job in the time that he played. But I think the entire offense deserves a lot of credit. Greg [McElroy] did a good job getting us in the right play based on a lot of the pressures that they were running. Receivers did a good job of making plays with the ball when we checked the passes so the entire offensive team did a good job. I thought Trent [Richardson] played well today, Julio [Jones] played well so that was really good. I think we got tired defensively in the second quarter. They went no huddle against us - we practice against it all the time. It isn't something that we anticipated in this game and I think we got a little bit tired and gave up 13 points in the second quarter or about three drives in a row, whenever they came. I was a little disappointed in the way we executed. We didn't play the gaps up front right; we didn't cover very well, looked sluggish and tired. [We] bounced a little and played a little bit better in the second half. You have to give their players a lot of credit. They played with a lot of heart. They really competed hard. They have got a pretty good offensive team and good scheme relative to what they do. They took advantage of some things that we didn't do well and that is to their credit. We did make some plays in special teams today, which is something that has been a little bit absent and we got a chance to play a lot of players. So that was good to get some guys some experience, especially getting AJ [McCarron] in. I would have liked to get him in sooner."

On the offensive line
"I think the offensive line did a really good job. Anytime you run the ball effectively and have those kind of explosive plays running. They were doing a good job getting a hat on a hat. They were doing a lot of stunting and blitzing - jamming gaps. Forced us to throw the ball to throw the ball in some situations, but they did a good job getting a hat on a hat. I even thought the second did a good job of executing. We got in the wrong play a couple of times and went the wrong way -- a little disappointed that we turned the ball over. That is something we have to do a better job of. I don't care who is playing out there - you take care of the football. That is something we need to do better."

On Trent Richardson's kickoff return:
"Sometimes that is what you worry about when you are covering kicks when the timing of the thing breaks down a little bit -- when the guy bobbles the ball or drops the ball or whatever. Their coverage kind of came down and have it leveraged off pretty well . They kind of stopped and we picked the ball up and hit a crease and you all get bunched up and kind of loose your levels of coverage - once you break it there is nobody around. Ron [Middleton] does a really good job with their special teams. It was good to make a play."

On stopping the run today:
"I thought we were a little soft against the run today. We didn't do a really good job with knocking them back. They kept hurting us stretch sweep to the tight end - the one tight end set putting the formation in the boundary and stretching it back to the field. We were not doing a good job with the three technique set and the six technique set in the run support. That is something we are going to have to get better at."