After two years on the job in Baton Rouge, Ed Orgeron has yet to beat Alabama and Nick Saban. He’s certainly not alone in that category but since Saban’s arrival in Tuscaloosa, the Tigers have proven to be one of the biggest challengers to the Crimson Tide in the SEC West.

Losing close games to Alabama won’t earn Orgeron any credit and that’s something he owned during his appearance on the Paul Finebaum Show on the SEC Network on Monday.

Here’s what Orgeron had to say about the LSU-Alabama rivalry from SEC Media Days in Atlanta.

“Coach Saban has done a tremendous job, all the great things he’s done at Alabama,” Orgeron said on the program. “We respect him but when you come to LSU, you are supposed to be able to beat Alabama and we know that’s the best mark of a coach and a program. We accept that. We are ready for the challenge and we look forward to playing them this year.”

What’s the path to beating Alabama?

“You have to win the line of scrimmage, you have to be physical with them… I feel like the last two years, we went toe-to-toe with them, not necessarily beat them at the line of scrimmage but we held with them tight,” Orgeron continued. “We have to make plays. Their quarterback made plays and we didn’t. We have to make plays at critical times, give them credit, they did.”

You can watch the full segment below, which was uploaded to YouTube by Campus Insiders: