Nick Saban Explains Hurricane Delta Situation, Expects to Play on Saturday
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama football coach Nick Saban spoke to the media in his weekly Wednesday press conference, speaking primarily on the team's preparation for Hurricane Delta.
The Southeastern Conference announced on Tuesday that it is currently examining other potential options for game times for Saturday's matchup between Alabama and Ole Miss should the weather turn too difficult for play to be conducted.
Saban said that when it comes to when the Crimson Tide will play, he doesn't make the call but hopes that the game will be conducted on Saturday.
"I think we're gonna make everybody's best effort to play the game on Saturday," Saban said. "No one really listens to anything that I have to say so this is about our administration, their administration, the SEC trying to make the best decision. From a weather standpoint I think the worst of the weather will be through there by game time so I don't think any players will be in danger. It will be raining probably and it will probably rain most of the day so maybe tomorrow we'll get a little better feel for exactly when this thing's going to move through. We've had discussions but I think everybody's gonna try to make sure we get to play the game on Saturday [it's] just nobody's sure what the best time to do that is."
Saban also revealed that his team had practiced with a wet football in both yesterday and today's practices in order to ensure that his team is prepared for the potentially nasty weather.
"Everything we did today was with a wet ball," Saban said. "We did about half the practice yesterday, wet ball today, everybody got to handle a ball that was wet. That's all we can do to prepare for it. We can't make it rain. I think handling the ball is the most important thing but I also think it's important to have a mindset of getting used to handling the ball so it's not an issue when you play in a game."
Alabama and Ole Miss are currently scheduled to kick off in Oxford at 5 p.m. CT (ESPN).