What Nick Saban said about LSU after Alabama’s loss to Tigers
By Adam Spencer
Published:
After trailing 33-13 at halftime, the Alabama Crimson Tide battled back against LSU on Saturday afternoon, giving themselves a chance to win, but ultimately coming up just short in a 46-41 loss.
Still, it was an exciting game, and one that the Tide likely won’t be punished for too much by the College Football Playoff committee.
After the game, Alabama coach Nick Saban had nothing but nice things to say about the Tigers. He started by complimenting the team in general (via AL.com):
“First off, I think you have to give LSU a lot of credit. I think they really played well in the game. They made plays when they had to make plays on offense. They are a very, very good team.”
Then, he spoke about LSU QB Joe Burrow and some of the talented players on the Tiger offense:
“I think it’s the system. I think it’s the things that they’re doing. I think it really features the players. I think he has — talking about the quarterback now, Joe — has a really good handle on what they’re trying to do. It’s challenging to defend. It utilizes the people that they have. Look, they have no weaknesses on offense. They’ve got a really good runner. They got a really good quarterback. They got really good receivers. They got a good offensive line. They got a system and a scheme that is very sound and solid in terms of — and they do a really good job executing. I can’t give them enough credit for what they do. It’s nothing like what they tried to do a year ago. It’s completely different and I think it features their players. I think their players buy into it, have confidence in it and do a great job executing it. I felt like that going into the game and I certainly feel just as strongly now about that after having played them.”
Finally, he credited the system that has led to LSU’s offensive resurgence:
“[LSU] did a lot of check with me’s out there. Give the hands, see what you’re in, try to run the best play. The only disappointment that we had is we want people to do their job. There were a few occasions where, whether it was a miscommunication or maybe a player didn’t take the quarterback when he was supposed to on a zone read, or we didn’t play the gaps exactly right. We didn’t cover them correctly. We had a couple of busts in the secondary that were very critical. But they do a lot of things, a lot of different formations, a lot of empty, a lot of reloads that take a lot of adjustments. We played six defensive backs a lot in the game thinking we could adjust better to that. I think we did, but we still made some mistakes that gave them plays. You got to give them a lot of credit. Their quarterback is a really good player. I thought we did some pressure on him a couple of times, but we didn’t finish on him a couple of times on sacks that we had a chance to get. I think getting them behind the sticks is really, really important.”
If Alabama wins out from here, it’ll be interesting to see if the Tide make the CFP field. It has happened before, so it wouldn’t be out of the question. For now, though, LSU is the frontrunner to make it to the field of four.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
