UA-LSU: Bama's trip to Baton Rouge has a different feel in 2020
John Metchie and the Alabama offense look to have a big night against LSU on Saturday (Alabama Media Relations)
By TIM GAYLE
Alabama coach Nick Saban said he won’t spend one second talking to his players about last year’s loss to LSU, a much-publicized spectacle that included locker room rants by head coach Ed Orgeron and several displays by his players.
Of course, he admitted, he doesn’t have to mention avenging last year’s loss to the Crimson Tide players.
“To be honest with you, I never try to use that as a motivating factor,” he said. “But do I think it is a motivating factor with individuals and players? I absolutely think it is. I think that awareness of what happened in last year’s game and all that is always something that players remember, think about how they felt after the game last year or whatever. I do think that it’s a motivating factor.
“I think that nobody likes to get disrespected and I think when you lose a game you feel that way to some degree. I think it's human nature to try to make it right. I do think that that is a motivating factor for most human beings.”
The top-ranked Crimson Tide (8-0) is a 29.5-point favorite to “make it right” against the Tigers (3-4) at Tiger Stadium on Saturday night. Kickoff on CBS is 7 p.m.
For Alabama, there is a Southeastern Conference West Division title on the line and a No. 1 ranking in the College Football Playoff. For defending national champion LSU, there’s only pride.
“We’re playing Alabama at home, that’s all we need to hear,” Orgeron said. “Playing Alabama is a great rivalry for us, a great game over the years for us, a tremendous challenge. They're the No. 1 team in the country coming to Tiger Stadium. Let's play.”
The game was originally set for Nov. 14 but was postponed after coronavirus cases robbed the Tigers of several players. Since then, LSU’s top offensive threat, receiver Terrace Marshall, opted out of playing the remainder of the season, robbing a struggling offense of another weapon.
“He’s got great size and great hands and he’s very instinctive as a player, so I don’t mean to be like glib about the fact that he’s not going to play, but I do think that they have other skill guys that are very, very good as well,” Saban said. “Some of them maybe not as experienced as Terrace Marshall (but) I don’t know that they’ll do a lot of things differently.”
The Tigers are coming off their best defensive game of the season, holding No. 5 Texas A&M’s offense to a pair of touchdowns and keeping the conference’s top-rated running back, Isaiah Spiller, in check. This week, they’ll face another challenge with the conference’s No. 2 rated tailback, Nagee Harris, coming to town.
“First of all, they run a little different scheme,” Orgeron said. “This is the best offensive line we see come into Tiger Stadium in years. This is going to be a challenge. One of the best running backs. He's very physical. They know what they doing. The margin of error is going to be very small. We have to play well up front, we have to tackle. We have to eliminate the explosive plays.”
By eliminating the explosive plays, Orgeron is talking about the Tide’s passing game.
“You’ve got to find where (Alabama receiver) DeVonta Smith is, number one,” Orgeron said. “You’ve got to know where he’s at, what he’s going to do. You have to cover him. You may have to double cover him. You’ve got to be able to eliminate him from getting the ball over the top.”
Saturday’s game will be the first of three explosive offenses facing the Tigers, who travel to Florida on Dec. 12 before returning home to close out the regular season against Ole Miss on Dec. 19. Alabama, meanwhile, can reach the Southeastern Conference Championship Game with a win either on Saturday at LSU or on Dec. 12 at Arkansas.