Nick Saban, College GameDay pick Alabama-LSU showdown

Who did Nick Saban and the ESPN College GameDay crew pick in the LSU vs. Alabama game on Saturday evening in Tuscaloosa?

In what has felt like a month-long layoff from playing a game, this LSU team will take the field against one of the best teams in the country. 

Desmond Howard: I love the energy coming out of Baton Rouge. This is going to be a high-spirited ball game, but Alabama has too much talent. They are going to overwhelm in LSU in the second half. Roll Tide

Pat McAfee: Looking on Saban Field, obviously, you’ve won a national championship or many of both of these scores. This is the Saban Bowl. I believe in Ty Simpson. They’ve won the last seven. 20 touchdowns, one interception over the last seven. He’s been dominant. I think that continues today.

Nick Saban: It will be interesting to see how LSU comes in from a psychological standpoint based on all the distractions that they’ve had. But this is a rival game. It’s a rivalry game because both teams are good, and LSU’s got a lot of talent, but Alabama’s going to prevail at home.  

Patrick Mahomes (Guest Picker): I think it’s going to be a tough game for them. I think Bama, comes out with a win, but I think there will be a psychological boost for LSU with that new coach coming in. I love Coach Kelly, but sometimes you play a rivalry game; everybody thinks you’re down, then you play up to another level. It’s going to be a close game, a hard-fought game, but I’ll take that Bama

Kirk Herbstreit: I think this is going to be an inspired LSU team. Frank Wilson’s had two weeks to bring a former players in, talk to these guys, let them know what it means to win, and I think that will have them ready to play at the end of the day. I don’t think they’re ready in the line of scrimmage, on the offensive line, on the road against this Bama defense.

Frank Wilson Previews Alabama

“They do a lot of things well. Most prominently with their quarterback play, their passing game, an offensive line that keeps them upright, that can protect well for him. But they’re not shabby running the ball either. They can run the ball effectively. For us, it’s about us, right? And so, maintaining gap integrity, holding the point when run is to you, running a heel line, and being disciplined on the backside when run is away from you. Secondary guys that come from depth that have run fits, being where we’re supposed to be when we’re supposed to be there. We like to use the word ‘fit’ like a glove, all right, where there’s a gap— where you take all the air out of it and don’t leave available gaps for the offense to be able to run through.”

“I think if we do those things in both pass game and run game, it’ll give us an opportunity. On the back end, we just got to contest it. They’re really good at the wide receiver position. But I like our secondary, and I like our ability to be able to compete. We got guys, I think, who are game. We have guys that have length and guys that have speed. It has to transfer onto the football field when the ball goes up and it’s 50-50 that we’re there to contest it.”