LSU and Ole Miss will battle for the Southeastern Conference’s Western Division crown Saturday afternoon at 2:30 in Oxford, Miss.
The scenario is simple. Ole Miss wins and it is the SEC West Champion. If LSU wins, it must also beat Arkansas the day after Thanksgiving to be assured of being the West representative for the SEC Championship game.
But for LSU coach Nick Saban, this is not on his mind. Saban spoke at Monday’s weekly press luncheon and said the team has other goals.
“This is an opportunity for our team to win 10 games,” Saban said. “I know there’s not been a whole lot of [LSU] teams that have done that, so it’s certainly something this team would like to accomplish.”
Saban also pointed out those who thought the Georgia game would be the Tigers’ biggest game of the season were wrong.
“I know there were some people in this room that tried to make the Georgia game the game of the year and got upset with me when I didn’t think it was the game of the year,” Saban said. “Now does anybody understand why?”
In reviewing LSU’s 27-3 road victory over Alabama, Saban said he was impressed with how the defense made several critical stops in the game. He said there are a few things to work on offensively, however.
“Offensively, we got off to a great start in the beginning and kind of relaxed a little bit in the second quarter, which has kind of been a pattern for us … that some time in the game when we get ahead sometimes we relax a little bit.,” he said. “We actually got a few penalties, threw an interception and did some things we would like to be uncharacteristic for how we play with consistency.”
Saban admitted relaxing with a lead in the second quarter is a natural thing to do.
“It’s human nature when you get ahead a little bit that you relax, but in competitive situations you would like to keep your intensity level the same at all times because all that counts is the next play and all your focus should go on the next play,” he said. “That message was kind of loud and clear this morning in terms of what we talked about with our team.
“We want our team to play with consistency and there’s two times you’re going to get tested in this area. When things go bad, are you going to be able to respond to it? When things go well, are you going to be able to focus on the next play and keep your intensity where it needs to be? What I’m talking about here is intellectual intensity, I’m not meaning physical intensity.”
Saban said the problems were not physical problems.
“Most of our decisions stop us, not our physical execution put us in bad situations,” he continued. “That’s something I think we need to improve on.”
As far as the Tigers’ next opponent, Ole Miss will go into Saturday’s game with a six-game winning streak, which is currently tops in the SEC. The Rebels are also the only team still undefeated in conference.
“Ole Miss has got a very, very good team,” Saban said. “They’ve got one of the best offensive teams in the country. There’s no doubt that [Ole Miss quarterback] Eli Manning is one of the top quarterbacks in the country and no question one of the couple guys that deserve to be in the highest consideration to win the Heisman Trophy.”
Saban emphasized Ole Miss’ offensive success is not just Manning alone.
“They’ve got good players around him – their receivers, their offensive line and they’ve had several guys contribute at running back, they’ve all done a great job of being effective when they get the opportunity,” he said.
Saban also said statistics are not indicative of the talent level of the Ole Miss passing defense or its defense in general. The Rebels are 116-of-117 Division 1-A teams in pass defense.
“Their defense has played much better this year,” he said. “[They are] much improved in terms of … they seem to get pressure on the quarterback, make a lot of plays and give a lot of problems to a lot of offensive teams they’ve played.”
Injuries
Saban said there is only one player he thinks will be out for the Ole Miss game. Tight end Demetri Robinson (groin injury) has been out for the past three games.
Another tight end, David Jones, sprained his elbow, but should be available to play Saturday. He practiced in a non-contact jersey Monday.
Offensive guard Nate Livings, who injured his knee against South Carolina nearly a month ago, will practice in a non-contact jersey and could be back Saturday if he does not have any pain and can make it through practice, Saban said.