There was no colorful language, and there was no rise in his voice.
Seconds after Jacob Godek connected on a 48-yard field goal to pull The Citadel into a 10-10 halftime deadlock with No. 1 Alabama inside a stunned Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday, it was time for coach Nick Saban to fulfill his interview obligation with the Crimson Tide Radio Network.
"They're just shrinking the game," Saban said of the 51-point underdog Bulldogs from the Southern Conference. "They're satisfied to run 3 or 4 yards a play, so we have to take advantage of every opportunity on offense. We turned the ball over. We had a three-and-out, and we didn't score a touchdown in the red zone.
"We've got to take advantage of our opportunities on offense, because they're going to continue to shrink the game."
The Citadel, a Football Championship Subdivision program with 22 fewer scholarship players than Alabama, became the first team all season to play the Tide to a standoff through the first 30 minutes, but the captivating story evaporated in the third quarter. That was a 15-minute segment Alabama dominated 27-0 to build a 37-10 advantage in an eventual 50-17 shellacking.
So what was Saban like at halftime in the locker room? Apparently a bit louder.
"We came back in and just had to fix some things that we weren't doing right," sophomore quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said in a news conference afterward. "We came back out there with a different mindset. Coach was mad at us, but we were doing wrong, and the things were fixable."
Said junior inside linebacker Mack Wilson: "Of course he was angry, but everybody took it as coaching and moved on."
Alabama's strange day continued when Miller Forristall fumbled the second-half kickoff, but Godek missed a 45-yard field goal, and the Tide used a 54-yard strike from Tagovailoa to Henry Ruggs to zip 72 yards in five plays to go up 17-10. The Tide then put the game away when Xavier McKinney caused a Nkem Njoku fumble that Anfernee Jennings returned 18 yards for a touchdown and a 24-10 advantage over the Bulldogs (4-6).
"I was just trying to make a play on the ball and get the defense energized," McKinney said. "The first half didn't go our way, so I just tried to get the ball back and get the crowd back in the game."
The 10-10 tie after the first 30 minutes overshadowed another stout showing by Tagovailoa, who completed 18 of 22 passes for 340 yards and three touchdowns. The 6-foot-2, 218-pounder now has 31 touchdown tosses this season, breaking the program mark of 30 set by AJ McCarron in 2012.
Tagovailoa also rushed four times for 37 yards and a score, and he looked much quicker without the protective knee brace he had been wearing for more than a month.
"I felt a lot better," Tagovailoa said. "The brace restricted movement."
Alabama (11-0, 7-0 Southeastern Conference) now will turn its attention to this Saturday's Iron Bowl, where the Tide will look to avenge last season's 26-14 loss at Auburn. The Tigers (7-4, 3-4) have defeated a Saban-coached team more than any other program, having topped three of his LSU teams and four of his Alabama squads.
Tagovailoa did not play in last season's matchup, when Auburn scored the last 16 points to win the SEC West title. The Tide already have wrapped up the division this season and will face East winner Georgia in the league title game Dec. 1 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
But first, the Iron Bowl.
"It's a big game, and when you grow up in Alabama, you're either an Auburn fan or an Alabama fan," Tagovailoa said. "It's going to be packed for this game."
Tide tidbits
Alabama has scored a touchdown on its opening drive in 10 of 11 games this season, while Auburn has not allowed a first-quarter touchdown in 10 of 11 games. The Tide have extended their SEC-record streak to eight straight seasons with 11 or more wins. The Citadel attempted two passes, matching Auburn in 1949 and Tennessee in 1960 for the fewest ever against the Tide. Alabama has missed eight extra-point attempts this year, while Auburn has made 262 in a row dating to the 2013 season. The triumph over The Citadel was Alabama's 25th home win in a row, setting a program record. Saban is expected to update the status of running back Damien Harris (mild concussion), offensive lineman Alex Leatherwood (twisted ankle) and safety Deionte Thompson (bruised knee) today at his weekly news conference.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.