"We've got a better team than we played last week": Nick Saban projects confidence in Alabama's team ahead of SEC Showdown at Ole Miss

Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban knows his team has to play better than they did last week.

The Crimson Tide went on the road against South Florida, in a game which Alabama was expected to win in a blowout. However, the Crimson Tide's offense struggled and the game was tied 3-3 at the half.

Alabama ended up getting a 17-3 win, but now, the Crimson Tide are set for a much tougher task as they host the Ole Miss Rebels on Saturday.

With Alabama playing an SEC rival, Nick Saban spoke to ESPN and said he knows his team will respond and play much better than they did last week.

"We'll respond. We've got a better team than the way we played last week," Saban said. "I don't know if we've got a good enough team to beat Ole Miss or anybody else we play, but we've got a better team than we played last week. Texas has a damn good team, probably one of the best five teams in the country and we were ahead of them in the fourth quarter."

Saban continued:

"I like this team. I like this group. They've worked hard. They've got a good attitude about things. We just got to execute better and pay better attention to detail, and we've got some areas on our team that need to play better."

Although the Crimson Tide struggled last week, Alabama still is a seven-point favorite over Ole Miss on Saturday.

Nick Saban going back to Jalen Milroe as the starting quarterback

A possible reason why the Alabama Crimson Tide could play better than last week is the fact Nick Saban is going back to Jalen Milroe as his starting quarterback.

Last week, Saban started Tyler Buchner and also gave Ty Simpson some reps and both men struggled. After both Buchner and Simpson struggled, Saban announced that Milroe would be his team's starting quarterback as he deserved the opportunity.

Milroe has been in Alabama since 2021 and did start one game last season. However, this is his first year as the starting quarterback. In two starts, he's 27-for-45 for 449 yards, five touchdowns, and two interceptions. He also has ran for 92 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries.