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5 things Nick Saban said about LSU ahead of Saturday’s showdown in Tuscaloosa
By Dave Holcomb
Published:
It’s LSU week for Alabama and the Crimson Tide. In light of that, Alabama head coach Nick Saban discussed the Tigers in full during his Monday press conference.
Saban said he doesn’t see a lot of weaknesses in the LSU roster, but he was particularly complimentary of the Tigers offense and quarterback Joe Burrow. With the way Alabama and LSU play offense nowadays, it doesn’t sound like Saban is anticipating another 9-6 battle these two programs engaged in during the 2011 season.
“They are very efficient in the passing game,” Saban said. “Joe (Burrow) has done a really, really good job at quarterback. Totally different offensive scheme than what they’ve played in the past in terms of having capability to create balance in their offense with a really good runner and a good offensive line, but they also spread you out, create some matchup problems because of the great skill guys they have outside in their wide receiver core.”
LSU is averaging 46.8 points per game, which is the fourth-highest in the country. They are also first in the SEC with 535.9 yards per game.
Burrow remained the Heisman Trophy frontrunner according to the oddsmakers at Betonline on Monday morning. He has completed nearly 79 percent of his passes for 2,805 yards, 30 touchdowns and four interceptions. Burrow is also averaging 10.8 yards per pass.
“Joe is very capable of making every throw,” Saban said. “I think he’s very bright in terms of throwing the ball in the right place relative to the defense. I think he’s very athletic, so sometimes when those plays aren’t there, he extends plays and makes plays down the field. He also has the capability of running and creating some problems for the defense from that stand point.”
The LSU quarterback has been particularly good on third down, helping the Tigers convert more than 50 percent of their third-down attempts this season. Only Alabama has a better third-down percentage on offense.
“They’ve been very effective in making the defense declare itself so that they can see what you’re in and then doing a good job of executing and taking advantage of it.”
Alabama has its own Heisman candidate behind center as well with Tua Tagovailoa. But he’s still nursing an ankle injury. Saban said he practiced twice last week but will be a game-time decision.
Because of that, he will have to splits practice reps with backup quarterback Mac Jones.
“We’ll see where he’s at today and then we’ll manage the reps accordingly. When I say that, we cannot predict — if he goes out there today and he looks good, then his rep count is going to go up, and we’ll prepare him as if he’s going to have an opportunity to play in the game. If he has a setback during the week, we can’t really control that, but that will change the plan.”
The last notable thing Saban addressed Monday was the hype of this matchup with LSU. For the third time in these programs’ histories, they will meet as the No. 1 and 2 teams in the nation.
But Saban doesn’t want his players thinking about any of that.
“The big thing you want the players to do is not get involved in the hype surrounding the game or even think about the implications of the game,” he said. “But prepare for the game as if this is the best team you play and the player that’d you’re going to play is the best player you’re going to play against at his position all year long, and therefore, you’re going to need to challenge yourself to play your best and be your best as a football player and stay focused on that. Not the distractions that surround the game relative to implications or whatever gets created relative to the circumstance of the game.”
Alabama and LSU will meet in Tuscaloosa with kickoff at 3:30 pm ET on CBS.
Dave covers SEC football for Saturday Down South.
