TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama’s 25-20 win against Miss. State on Saturday was fueled by a dominant defense. That defense was fueled by the magnitude of the game, and some new music selections blaring from Bryant-Denny Stadium’s loud speakers.
The sellout crowd in Tuscaloosa was on its feet for the majority of the game and hung around for every second, but the updated playlist added a little extra boost.
Alabama head coach Nick Saban didn’t notice the change of soundtrack.
“I know nothing about it,” Saban said. “If it’s helping us win, I’m all for it.”
Saban said he never includes the team’s reactions to specific songs in their film sessions, but sarcastically admitted he might look into it.
“It may be something,” Saban said. “We need to probably put it on the film so we can analyze that when we look at the plays that we run and then we’ll probably have a better idea of how it’s working.”
There was a noticeably different atmosphere on the sideline Saturday. Players were jumping around throughout the game, and not just when “Jump Around” by House of Pain was played. Wiz Khalifa’s “We Dem Boyz” blared after the defense got a stop or forced a turnover, and “On To the Next One” by Jay-Z has become the team’s go-to anthem during warm-ups.
The typical AC/DC “Hells Bells” on third down accompanied by an elephant video was largely unheard, pushed aside in favor of a beat from a song by C-Murder featuring Snoop Dogg. Only the instrumental from this song was played because many of Bryant-Denny’s patrons would faint if they heard the lyrics.
Every time it was played, though, the defense — mostly the defensive line — would start pumping their fists and motioning to the crowd for some energy, which seemed to be contagious for the rest of the team.
“When they’re hyped and they’re jumping up and down and they’re putting pressure on the quarterback, it makes our job a lot easier,” Alabama safety Nick Perry said. “Whatever can get those guys hyped like that, whatever song they’re playing, they need to continue to play it.”
It wasn’t that the typical songs were left out — the band Alabama’s “Dixieland Delight,” a crowd favorite, was played three times — but the fans and players both seemed to enjoy a little musical diversification.
“We’re already a fired up team,” Alabama defensive lineman A’Shawn Robinson said. “So, when you play music we like we just jam out to it and get fired up.”
Alabama’s sound system still has its difficulties, like not being able to produce audio of Bear Bryant that is understandable or not adjusting the levels to help make that particular clip of Bryant is more than loud grumbling. The Alabama Million Dollar Band had two microphones in front of it, causing a split-second delay, but ultimately raising the volume of the marching band for the better.
But by most accounts Saturday’s music selection was a move in the right direction. The players and fans both enjoyed the playlist, and the energy level in the stadium got a significant boost.
But whatever you do, just don’t look up the lyrics to the C-Murder song.
