Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban

Opening statement

"I am really pleased with the intensity that our players played with tonight. That's one of the things we have been harping on. Maintaining intensity for 60 minutes in a game. I thought we had good energy. I thought we played with good intensity throughout the game. We made a lot of great plays in the game. We made a lot of very good plays in the game. Obviously there are always things that you want to improve on and things that we need to work on and we will go to work on that.

"This is something that I would like to gloat on for our team. I was really excited about the students staying for the game and cheering our players. I know our players really appreciate that. I appreciate it. It sets up a tremendous atmosphere and environment. It's really good for everyone to see including recruits that are here and everybody that we have great support from the students, who we like to play for that's a part of it. The University of Alabama means a lot to a lot of people and we certainly want to represent that in a first class way and we appreciate their support."

On Jameson Williams' importance to the team and his confidence

"He's been great. He works hard. He's a hard worker. He's a great competitor. He always wants to play with special teams. He always wants to do as much as he can to help the team. I call guys like him, I'm sure you've heard the term before … he's a dog. He loves playing. He plays hard. He plays fast, and he's got great speed. That's one of the things we loved about him. Getting him here, he complimented our other guys because he's a great vertical threat, someone who can stretch the field. We have other guys who can do it, but he has a lot of experience. Obviously, the kickoff return, two in one game was some kind of record, I'm sure. He's dangerous back there. JoJo (Earle) had two punt returns today too that both got called back because of penalties. Our players have to learn to play penalty-free. Jameson has been a real pleasant addition to the receiving core."

On Cameron Latu at tight end

"When you have guys, who are capable of making plays in the passing game, I think it's a huge asset to the offense. Cameron has really come a long way. He's got a lot of confidence. He's blocking well. He doesn't make many mental errors. He's done a really great job at catching the football. He's always had really good hands. I think his confidence has really improved; he continues to make plays. I think it's important to us having those two guys a part of our offense."

Southern Miss Head Coach Will Hall

Opening statement

"All right, obviously, played a tremendous opponent tonight. They're No. 1 in the country for a reason. We've got the utmost respect for them, and I thought you saw that tonight. It was disappointing that we let them gash us a few times in the kicking game. We've been really good in the kicking game.

"I thought defensively and in the kicking game, I thought, you know that we made some really good calls on the defense to get pressure on them a few times, and to make hits in the backfield. We just couldn't quite tackle them a few times, and it is what it is. They've got really, really good players.

"We're in year one of developing this program and getting ourselves bigger and stronger and faster. I felt like they did a great job of getting the ball to their playmakers in space, putting us in a position where we had to tackle, and we just couldn't bring them down sometimes.

"Offensively, I thought our young quarterback really grew up tonight. I thought we saw some things really take a step forward. You know, I thought our kids battled and didn't quit, and I'm really proud of that. We're building this program. We talked about coming over here today, representing our families' last name, representing our university, about playing hard for 60 minutes. I thought our kids did that. We're not at the level Alabama is yet, but we're building every day to get to that level. It starts with me and recruiting and everything we're doing, and I thought our kids represented our university in the right way with their effort.

"Now we're into conference play, which we're excited about. We got to get home and evaluate this film and get going and look forward to getting back into Conference USA and getting better."

On how the atmosphere affected the team on the sidelines

"You know, I really don't think it affected them. I mean it was an unbelievable atmosphere, you know, and it should be right I mean, it's got tons of history and tradition. And it was an awesome atmosphere, but I thought our kids handled it, I really did. You know, we had a few third downs were backed up into their end zone, where they caused some guys to jump offsides, and I know we have got to do better in that situation, but for the most part, I thought our kids embraced this opportunity. We knew this was an opportunity that was going to be a really tough opportunity, but we also viewed it as an opportunity for us to grow, to grow as individuals, to grow as a team to grow as a program. Our main focus was we wanted to come out of here today and feel like we improved. We wanted to show our teammates and each other, that we would battle and be a warrior for each other for 60 minutes. When we cut this tape on the floor, we wanted everybody to be able to play with unbelievable effort, and we wanted to take a step forward with our young quarterback to get him a lot of lab work on some things that he needed to get better at in order to be ready to play going into conference play. I think we accomplished those goals, you know, now we did not represent what we want to be on the scoreboard. I don't believe in moral victories and all those things. We've got to build this program back to when we come over here we can compete to win. That's what we're working to do. We're not there yet, let's not kid ourselves. That's not where we're at as a program, but we're working hard every day to get back to there, and what we can control right now is our effort and our attitude, and I thought our kid's effort and attitude was phenomenal tonight for 60 minutes."

On Bryce Young and Jameson Williams

"Really, really good. You know, they're really, really good. You know, they're as advertised. They're fast. They're big. Bryce is accurate. He's going to have a bright, bright career here, which every quarterback that plays here does. And, you know Jameson had a huge game for them on the kick return. That was disappointing, you know, because we've been so good in the kicking game. We've got to get back to the drawing board and look at what happened right there and see what the issues were. We let them run one back on a sky kick, which is inexcusable. We had a guy not where he was supposed to be running down right there. We can fix those issues, though, moving forward."