Nick Saban explains why LSU game is a 'very scary situation' for Alabama

Historic rivals No. 4 Alabama and LSU will clash Saturday night in Tuscaloosa. It will mark the first game for LSU since it parted ways with head coach Brian Kelly following the Tigers’ blowout loss to Texas A&M on Oct. 25, which dropped them to 5-3 on the season.

These programs are going in much different directions this season, as the Tide have won seven consecutive games and look to be en route to their first College Football Playoff appearance under Kalen DeBoer. LSU, meanwhile, is riding out the season en route to hiring a new head coach.

Nick Saban called LSU game ‘a scary situation’ for No. 4 Alabama

For now, associate head coach/running backs coach Frank Wilson has assumed interim head coaching duties for the Tigers. With Wilson in charge, College Football Hall of Famer Nick Saban claimed that this game is a ‘very scary situation’ for his former Alabama program.

“I think that’s it’s a very scary situation because it’s very unknown to them how is LSU’s team going to react to this,” Saban said. “What changes are they gonna make? Their players have nothing to lose. So are they going to play free and easy and go out and try to play the best football they can, and they probably feel a little disrespected. I’m talking LSU, relative to where they are, where their season is and how it’s gone.”

“Their coach got fired. It’ll be interesting to see how they respond, so this is not a game that Alabama cannot go out and play their best game of the year. For Alabama, to me, LSU has a great secondary and Alabama is dependent on the forward pass quite a bit this year with the receivers they have and the quarterback. Their inability to create consistency in the running game makes this a pretty good matchup for LSU. Their defense vs. Alabama’s offense. It’s gonna be a really interesting game to see how LSU responds.”

Last season, Alabama absolutely steamrolled LSU 42-13 in Baton Rouge in the first game of this rivalry with head coach Kalen DeBoer in charge.

Jordan Rodgers expects to see ‘the best of LSU’ on Saturday

ESPN‘s Jordan Rodgers shared a similar sentiment on Friday morning’s edition of ‘Get Up’, saying that he expects Wilson to unlock ‘the best we see of LSU‘ this season.

“I think this might be the best we see of LSU,” Rodgers said on Friday morning’s edition of Get Up. “I talked to Kirby Smart last week doing the Georgia game, and he said you have to be really wary of the interim (coach) juice that teams can have after you fire a coach. There’s a new voice, new leadership, and new energy. Something to prove. There’s still a lot of talent in that locker room, on both sides of the football.”

“I think they put it together this week,” Rodgers continued. “I don’t think it’ll be enough to beat Alabama, but I think this is the best version of Garrett Nussmeier and these weapons on offense we’ve seen because of the renewed energy. Might be a lot of weight off their shoulders now that Brian Kelly is out of there.”

LSU has allowed 30-plus points in consecutive SEC games

A strong performance from Nussmeier on Saturday would be very much welcomed by LSU fans, as the preseason Heisman Trophy favorite has had a disappointing senior season in Baton Rouge. After passing for at least 300 yards in eight games last season, he has yet to hit that mark in a game this year. 

Improvement from the defense would be welcome as well, as LSU has been thrashed over the past two games by No. 17 Vanderbilt and No. 3 Texas A&M. After successfully not allowing more than 20 points to an opponent over its first six games, LSU has allowed 31 and 49 over its last two. The Tigers certainly have a tall task ahead of them this weekend, as Alabama is averaging 29.4 points against SEC competition.

Saturday’s meeting will mark the 90th meeting between the two historic programs. Alabama leads the all-time series 57-27-5 and has won 12 of the past 14 meetings.