When Alabama’s offense took the field against Utah State on Saturday, there was a notable omission from the offensive line.
Senior guard Emil Ekiyor was not in the starting lineup against the Aggies as the first team guards were Kendall Randolph and Javion Cohen. Ekiyor would eventually rotate in early on in the action, but it prompted a few questions as to why the veteran wasn’t starting on the field.
Following the game, Nick Saban clarified why Ekiyor started on the sidelines during his postgame press conference. Saban revealed that Ekiyor had missed five practices which led to him not starting against the Aggies.
“Emil missed five days of practice leading up to the game, and he only practiced two days,” Saban said. “So we wanted to play him in the game but he hadn’t practiced a lot so we didn’t wanna play him too much and it’s only fair to the other guy who started for the five days that he was out.
“So Emil’s still the starting right guard.”
Saban did not specify what held Ekiyor out of the five days leading up to the game.
Addressing the competition not only along the offensive line but throughout the entire roster got Saban a bit firey following the 55-0 victory over the Aggies. Saban has never been a fan of releasing depth charts to the public and he shared this season may have been the final time.
“My biggest issue, and this may be the last time you get one,” Saban said. “My biggest issue on our whole team was the day the depth chart came out. So you may have seen the last one. Y’all may have seen the last one. Because that’s all you worry about.
“We have competition on our team. We have good players. I have in my mind seven or eight guys that can play winning football on the offensive line. I’m gonna play them all.”
Saban has never shied away from airing his grievances regarding what’s considered common practice with the media but then again, he doesn’t care what others think of him.
“I know you all think I’m crazy,” Saban said. “That doesn’t bother me at all. It doesn’t bother me one bit.”
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
