re: Nick Saban names starting QB

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Along with Tua Tagovailoa's big night, the other big story from Alabama's season-opening win over Louisville was Nick Saban's postgame interview with ESPN's Maria Taylor.

Saban said she should "stop asking" when faced with a question about Alabama's quarterbacks. The topic of his response was the subject of a question Saban faced in Monday's regularly-scheduled news conference.

"I could have handled it in a better way," Saban said Monday.

He said he reached out to Taylor to apologize.

Saban said his intention was to defend his players when he perceived the question was an attempt to "vilify" someone.

"I need to learn a better way to respond to that and I pray every Sunday that I never get angry, Saban said. "But it was a time and circumstance thing for me. I was a little bit upset by the way we finished the game. The penalties that we had. The mental errors that we had. So it was totally my responsibility and we apologized for it."

Taylor asked Saban what he learned about the two quarterbacks in the wake of the season's first game. After starting by saying he thinks both players can help the team moving forward, Saban became visibly irritated.

"So why do you continually try to get me to say something that doesn't respect one of them? I'm not going to, so quit asking."

That kind of response live on ESPN was rare -- one that's not uncommon in a news conference setting.

Saban called Taylor and apologized for the handling of the interview, author James Andrew Miller reported Sunday.

After talking to the team, Saban had the regular postgame news conference in which he was irked about the mistakes made in the win.

"So if I sound a little pissed, you're right. I am," he said. "All right? So you know, be careful."

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