When LSU head coach Nick Saban walks into his Wednesday press conference after a win, he expects to see one thing waiting for him — a Little Debbie cream pie.
After searching far and wide Wednesday for his sugary treat, Saban asked a member of the media where he could find it.
The response — “It’s time to move on, a’ight?”
Saban and the players have moved on, forgotten about Saturday’s miraculous catch and begun preparing for the daunting task of facing the No. 10 team in the nation, Alabama.
“I’ve been really pleased with the way we’ve practiced offensively this week,” Saban said. “We seem to have a little bit more confidence — a little sharper, a little crisper in what we’re doing.”
The offense is preparing to face one of the top defenses and one of the strongest defensive lines in the country. Alabama ranks third nationally in total defense.
Quarterback Marcus Randall said the team has prepared for the Tide defense by throwing quick, short passes and mixing in a steady dose of the running game. Randall said he feels he has progressed in three starts, particularly in his game management, but the offense needs to improve in the first half.
“We have started off kind of late in previous games, and we’re just going to have to come out and start early like we’ve been preaching for weeks and weeks,” he said. “It hasn’t happened, but we’re just going to try to go out, jump on them quick and let our defense put the pressure on them.”
While the offense has improved its play during practice, the defense has struggled through a myriad of injuries to some key players. Marcus Spears, Kenderick Allen, Chad Lavalais and Randall Gay are all nursing various injuries, but are expected to play Saturday.
“I feel bad for some of the players who have had to go through this,” Saban said. “I think all football players after nine games have something that hurts, and everybody has to have enough mental toughness to work through it.”
Alabama has improved its offense as well from the team LSU saw last season. Featuring two quarterbacks, the Tide have effectively moved the ball downfield this year, ranking second in the Southeastern Conference in total offense.
Linebacker Bradie James said the Tigers are not taking Alabama lightly.
“Even though they can’t go to a bowl game, the coach has got them ready and prepared to play,” he said. “Those guys haven’t backed down from many challenges. They’ve been playing well.”
Saban has prepared for Alabama to use some trickery in its offense to throw off the LSU defense, just as the Tide did last year against the Tigers. He has attempted to duplicate the surprise element by sprinkling trick plays in against the defense during practice.
“They do a little bit of that all the time,” he said. “It’s one of the ways that they add a big-play element to their offense.”
With the Tigers’ struggles with penalties in recent weeks, Saban has stressed playing mistake-free in practice.
“We always talk to the players about playing hard or playing with toughness or playing for 60 minutes and playing through their mistakes,” he said. “But maybe sometimes we haven’t emphasized enough to the players there’s things you can do, but there’s also some things you can’t do.
“You can’t push people in the back and get penalties. You can’t fumble the ball if you’re carrying it. You can’t let people get on top of you if you’re playing defensive back.”
Injuries
Running back LaBrandon Toefield has progressed well through his recovery from a broken arm and has practiced this week.
“He wants to play in this game,” Saban said. “And I think he feels like he’s ready to play in this game. We’re not going to make a decision on that until we get through the entire week, see how he goes through practice tomorrow, see how he feels, and it will be ultimately his decision.”