Nick Saban shares mindset Alabama must keep to contain Jayden Daniels
Alabama has a tough challenge this weekend as the Crimson Tide will try to slow down LSU‘s explosive offense — led by quarterback Jayden Daniels.
The Tigers have multiple receivers who are dangerous, and Daniels is excellent at distributing the football. However, in addition to beating teams with his arm, the senior is also tough to contain on the ground.
Alabama coach Nick Saban was asked on Monday about the mindset you have to have when rushing Daniels so that you don’t get out of position and allow him to take off for a big gain.
“I think we want our guys to play aggressive. I don’t think you want guys to get pushed by the pocket. I don’t think you want guys to lose contain on the guy. So, you know, there’s a fine line between that,” Saban said.
“I mean, if you get pushed by the pocket, we’re playing with 10 guys now. If you lose contain and he gets outside, you’ve put everybody in harm’s way that’s trying to plaster their coverage and stay with the guys they’ve gotta guard. Plus he can take off running. So I guess there’s a fine line between that. We’ve never, ever told guys to rush in their pass lanes but be cautious. Never ever even thought of that. We’re not coaching that.”
So far this season, Jayden Daniels has 521 rushing yards and five scores and is averaging nearly 6 yards per carry.
During last year’s meeting with the Crimson Tide, he gave Alabama all kinds of issues.
Daniels rushed for 95 yards and a touchdown to lead LSU to an upset win over the Crimson Tide. Saban feels that every time Daniels pulls the ball down and takes off, he’s dangerous, whether it be a designed rushing attempt or a play where he improvises.
“He made a couple of plays on quarterback draws, but some of them weren’t designed quarterback draws. Two of his long runs in the game in critical situations came on busts up front in terms of gap control. And he just saw it and took off running,” Saban said. “So it looked like a quarterback draw, but I don’t really think it was a designed quarterback draw. They do have designed quarterback draws.”
Alabama must stay in its rushing lanes and try to get to Daniels, without getting out of position and giving up big gains on the ground.
“You know, it was a zone-option play he scored on us in overtime – 25-yard run. Another mistake that we made in run support and adjusting to motion,” Saban said. “So those are the kinds of things that you cannot afford to make those kinds of mistakes when you’re playing against a quarterback like this who basically is a great passer but [they] also have triple-option type plays in their running game to get him on the perimeter. So athletic, you’ve gotta have the right guys trying to get him on the ground.”