What Nick Saban Said on Monday of LSU Week

Everything the Alabama football coach said to kick off LSU week on his 71st birthday.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — After the bye weekend, Alabama football is back to its regularly scheduled programming for a game week, which means head coach Nick Saban is back to doing his Monday press conferences. On his birthday, Saban will speak to the media at noon ahead of the Crimson Tide's big SEC West showdown at LSU this Saturday. 

Follow along for live updates throughout the press conferences with a full transcript and video to be posted after. 

Live Updates

• Saban says the bye week was a great time for self-assessment. "We really need to come together as a team against a good opponent."
• Saban says LSU is playing as good as anyone else in the country. 
• "Brian Kelly has done an outstanding job there [at LSU.]" Saban also complements LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels. 
• Saban says the running game needs more diversity in what it's doing. 
• Jaheim Oatis and DJ Dale will both start back at practice this week and it will determine their availability when the game comes. 
• Saban wants Eli Ricks to just be himself this week and not get caught up in playing his former team this week. 
• Saban calls Tiger Stadium one of the most challenging places to play in the country, but the team "can't beat itself this weekend." The focus can't change just because they are playing in a crazy environment. 
• Saban says you never know how a bye week is going to affect the team, but he wants to see how the team responds mentally. 

Full Transcript 

Opening Statement

"So we had a good work week last week. Really tried to emphasize with the players, what are you going to attach yourself to for the upcoming challenges for the rest of the season? It’s a great time to do a little self-assessment of what we need to do to get a little more consistent execution, whether it’s individual players – systematically, offense, defense, special teams. So we really need to come together as a team versus a good opponent. And that’s obviously going to be really important for this game versus LSU, who right now is probably playing as well as anybody in the country. 

"They’re very well-coached. This game has always got significant implications – they’re always ranked, we’re always ranked. It’s kind of a rivalry game that’s always a really important match-up. Brian Kelly has done an outstanding job there bringing his team along, improving each week. Jayden Daniels is one of the most productive quarterbacks in the country with his ability to run the ball, rush the ball. Very effective, efficient passer. They’ve got really good running backs. They’ve got a whole corps of receivers that have 20 or more catches that all do a good job in terms of getting open, catching the ball, run after catch. Very good systematic scheme on offense. Their defense is allowing, like, 21 points a game which is one of the tops in the country. They’re aggressive, they’ve got good rushers, they’re athletic. They’ve got good cover guys in the secondary, and they’ve got good skill guys on special teams. Their specialists are very, very good so very challenging game all around for us. We’re gonna have to do a great job of paying attention to detail, preparing for the game so we can get more consistent execution and play for 60 minutes in the game."

Diagnosis for inconsistent running game?

"Well it obviously wasn’t very good in the last game. It needs to improve and I think there’s a couple things. We’ve got to have a little more diversity in what we’re doing as well as being able to execute it a little better on a more consistent basis."

Injury updates on defensive linemen Jaheim Oatis and DJ Dale

"Yeah, I think both guys are going to start back to practice this week. We’ll kind of, you know, determine how they do during the course of the week and what their availability will be when the game comes."

Ricks progress before MSU and confidence gained?

"Yeah, I think so. I think fundamentally we worked really hard to get Eli to understand the expectation for what we want him to do, to have a good understanding of the scheme of how we’re playing and what we’re playing. I think he’s developed confidence throughout the season as he’s learned more and gotten more comfortable. I think he played well the last game, so hopefully he can build on that. But I think it’s important that he just goes into this game and bees himself and doesn’t think he has to do something fantastic just because he’s playing against a team he used to play for. I think that’s always important psychologically for guys to be able to focus on what’s in front of them and do their job well."

Carryover from Notre Dame for Brian Kelly?

"Well, they’re always very well-coached. They’re always physical. This will be a physical game. They always have balance on offense. They’re going to run the ball. They got a very good throwing scheme. Utilizing the personnel that they have very, very well. They’ve historically played very well on defense and special teams. It’s typical of what a well-coached team usually does. They’ve gotten to the point where – and all of his teams have been this way – they don’t beat themselves. You’ve got to execute and beat them, and I think that’s got to be the focus for our team."

Challenge of defending dual-threat quarterbacks?

“Well I think it’s very challenging to play against quarterbacks who are dual threat type of guys and this is obviously going to be a big challenge for us. I think that it’s something where the emphasis has to be on all 11 guys really doing what they need to do whether it’s pass rush lanes, whether it’s how you cover people, keeping contain of the quarterback, keep him in the pocket whether even when he steps up, you can retrace the rush so there’s a lot of elements to doing this. You just can’t rush and think you’re going to get a sack and get pushed by the quarterback and then he’s going to have lanes to run in. So all of these things are going to be real points of emphasis for us all week long so that we have a chance to contain a guy that’s a very good passer but he can also beat you with his feet.”

Enjoy playing in Tiger Stadium at night?
“Well it’s great. They have a great tradition there. They have a great atmosphere. It’s always challenging to play on the road in this league, anywhere you play. Obviously this is one of the more challenging places. All the more reason to have great focus and attention to detail. We can’t beat ourselves. We have to be able to have enough poise to be able to execute in this kind of environment, not let it affect us in terms of how we go about one play at a time and how we want to execute and get things done.”

What makes the Alabama defense so hard for DBs to understand? How much has Eli Rick progressed mentally since August?
“Um well I talked about how he progressed throughout the course of the year. I don’t really think our defense is that complicated to pick up but I think it’s a challenge for any new player coming in to learn any new system. So we play zone, we play man, we play pattern match man, which is what most people play. So I don’t see why it’s more difficult. Every player develops at his own pace. Sometimes when guys played in other systems, they have to recalibrate what they already know to what they’re trying to learn. That can be a challenge for some players as well.”

How does it help the team to renew the spirit of the team on a bye week?
“You never know how a bye week is going to affect a team. Hopefully it gave us a chance to get guys healthy. I think psychologically it gives you a chance to recalibrate a little bit, give you a little break but it’s still going to come down to what I said earlier. What are you attaching yourself to? That means what’s going into your head. Are you thinking about the internet and what other people think or the self-gratification you get from being productive and doing a good job. So the focus is so important, I think regardless of whether you’re coming off a bye week or playing week in and week out, to be able to sustain that, recapture it, regain it. Momentum, whatever you want to call it. It’s important to do in a game. It’s important to do in a season and it’s important to do when you come off a bye week.”

Impressive to see LSU players adjust to Brian Kelly?
“Well I think good coaching is good teaching and I think when you have good teaching, players do adapt and they do improve and they do adjust. I think the team is playing with a lot more discipline and they’re really focused on what they have to do. I think they believe in each other. I think they believe and trust in the coaching staff they have and that’s why they made the progress that they’ve made.”

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