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Alabama head coach Nick Saban hopes his team brings its A game in Saturday’s showdown with LSU.
“I so badly want our team to play its best football in this game,” he said during The Nick Saban Show on Thursday night.
The seventh-ranked Crimson Tide (7-1) will host No. 4 LSU (8-0) at 8 p.m. Eastern on Saturday. The game will be shown on CBS.
“The LSU game is always one that has a lot of significance in the SEC West,” Saban said. “We’ve always had a great atmosphere.”
Saban said the Crimson Tide have to play well on Saturday against one of the top teams in college football and the SEC.
“The keys to the game are control the line of scrimmage and don’t allow big plays,” he said. “Tackling is really important in that game.”
“LSU doesn’t turn the ball over often,” he added. “We can’t turn the ball over, either, and we’ve got to create some turnovers.”
Alabama’s coach also stated that special teams will be critical, saying that special teams has a lot to do with field position. He also pointed out that LSU has won some games with plays on special teams, including fake kicks.
There is a lot of hype surrounding Saturday’s game, but Saban said the players have to stay focused and do their jobs. He admitted that this game is a big game, but added that all games are big games in the SEC.
“Players can’t afford to get caught up in the excitement of the game,” he said.
Saban said he appreciated the fact that the College Football Playoff committee has selected his team No. 4 in its first rankings, but added that the ranking doesn’t really matter right now. It only matters where you end up in the final poll. So he says the players can’t think about Alabama’s current ranking. They have to go out and play week to week.
Alabama’s coach praised running back Derrick Henry, saying, “Derrick is as good a person as we have on our team.” He added that Henry cares about the team, is a competitor and wears opposing defenses out with his size, speed and toughness.
Saban said that the Crimson Tide have no major injury concerns, and that everyone should be available to play Saturday.
The Nick Saban Show is held every Thursday during football season from 7-8 p.m. Eastern time. The show is hosted by Saban and Alabama play-by-play man Eli Gold. The show can be heard online at this link.
