Nick Saban breaks down challenges of facing Harold Perkins Jr.

Facing a team like LSU presents a multitude of problems for Alabama — none more threatening than Harold Perkins Jr.

With Saturday being his second time having to gameplan around Perkins, Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban raved about the Tigers linebacker ahead of the blockbuster SEC West contest.

“No. 4 is a really good player. This guy is dynamic, in terms of his quickness, his burst, his acceleration and how fast he reacts to things, he’s a good pass-rusher,” Saban told Pat McAfee on Thursday. “They use him out there in the apex some, almost like a star and he’s a great blitzer. But the guy makes an unbelievable amount of plays. Unbelievable, in whatever they’re asking him to do. And they use him in a lot of different ways.

“He’s been pretty good — every time they’ve called on him, he’s done a really good job wherever they put him.”

One the season, Perkins has compiled 39 total tackles, three sacks and has produced two forced fumbles, and interception and four pass break ups.

In fact, Perkins has been so good this season that even Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin revealed that the Rebels gameplanned specifically to stop Perkins. Despite this, Perkins finished with his best performance of the season with nine tackles even though the Rebels ultimately prevailed 55-49.

Kiffin said that he won’t be revealing that gameplan since Perkins has to return to college for at least one more season, but he said that he’s never gameplanned around someone so specifically as he did for Perkins.

Since arriving in Baton Rouge in 2022, the Louisiana native has compiled an astounding 111 tackles — including 59 solo — to go with eight PBUs, 10.5 sacks, five forced fumbles and two touchdowns. He’s a game-wrecker in every sense of the phrase and despite standing 6-foot-1 and 220 pounds, which is generally undersized for an SEC linebacker, but is more disrputive than any other defender in the league.

Saturday’s opening kickoff between the two ranked SEC squads is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. ET live on CBS. The Crimson Tide are three-point favorites, per Vegas Insider. The over/under total is set at 60.5 points.

During last season’s game, Perkins was front and center having contributed eight tackles, one sack and a PBU during the matchup. Now more mature, his versatility is undoubtedly going to be on display during Saturday’s blockbuster matchup — and it’ll be up to Saban to put a stop to it.