Saban Identifies Biggest Challenges for Alabama at LSU

During his weekly appearance on the Pat McAfee show, former Alabama head coach Nick Saban outlined what he believes the keys to success are for the Crimson Tide as his former team enters one of its most difficult tests of the season: a road trip to Death Valley.

The conversation began with Alabama quarterback Keelon Russell, who has flashed some pretty elite talent at times during his first year as a collegiate starter. The Texas native has also seen some growing pains throughout the season, which were well-documented by Saban.

"I think the big thing with Keelon Russell is in the last couple weeks, he's had more turnovers, gotten sacked more," Saban said.

Those issues contributed heavily to Alabama's loss at Tennessee and the scare the Tide had two weeks ago against Texas A&M. As the level of competition ramps up this week against LSU, Saban believes limiting negative plays and turnovers will be paramount in his UA's success this week.

He also pointed out that Alabama will be getting some major pieces back after the injury bug wreaked havoc on this team throughout the last month or so. The team announced Friday that wide receiver Ryan Coleman-Williams, center Racin Delgatty, and defensive lineman Terrance Green, with others possibly joining them.

Getting this level of talent back won't save the Crimson Tide on its own in a place like Tiger Stadium, a venue that is widely regarded as one of the most challenging places to play in all of sports.

"Going to LSU and playing, you gotta have a special maturity as a team to be able to be, I mean, on top of your focus to go in there and be able to play, to overcome the noise, the circumstance, and LSU's got a very good team," Saban said.

Throughout his coaching career, it's been well-documented how much mental toughness means to Saban, especially on the road. He brought up the potential for the team's struggles at Tennessee to be a lesson in this department.

"So you're going to have to overcome a lot, and that's going to take a lot of maturity on their part," Saban said. "Now, they didn't show they could do that at Tennessee, and to me, LSU is a little bit of a similar team in terms of they're going to play good defense, they're going to pressure the quarterback a lot, which Alabama's going to have to handle, and these guys can put points on the board even better than Tennessee."

Despite the challenges that Death Valley and the Tigers present, Saban believes Alabama has the pieces to compete if it can correct its recent hiccups.

"So this is going to be a big, big challenge for Alabama," Saban said. "They're going to get some of these players back and get some of these issues fixed, and Keelon Russell can play with a little more consistency."

For Russell specifically, Saban's advice was simple: don't let the desire to make a big play turn into a costly mistake.

"You know, it's okay to punt," Saban said. "I used to tell the quarterback all the time, 'If every drive ends with a kick, we're ok. Punt, field goal, extra point, but you don't have to try and make plays that aren't there, that turn into negative plays, that just kill you in the game."

That mindset may be exactly what Alabama needs as it heads into one of its biggest games of the season.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/alabama as Saban Identifies Biggest Challenges for Alabama at LSU.