LSU coach Nick Saban is convinced the media thinks that Saturday’s game against No. 7 Georgia will make or break the Tigers’ season. But Monday at his press luncheon Saban assured the media that the world will not come to an end if the Tigers lose their Southeastern Conference opener against the defending SEC champion Bulldogs.
“We don’t need to be focused on the results of winning or losing the game or of trying to make this some kind of a big game that the sky will fall if we don’t have good success,” Saban said. “The sky will not fall. I bet it won’t.”
Saban said he remembers a similar situation in 2001 when LSU faced No. 7 Tennessee, losing to the Volunteers 26-18. The Tigers went on to face them again in the Southeastern Conference Championship game, winning 31-20.
“What if we lose this game?” Saban said. “We might play Georgia again. It’s tough for me to make comparisons [of big games] like that because every game is an important game because our goal as coaches is to get our players to play the best that they can play.”
“It’s not really a defining game for the SEC. How would it be if we won this game and lost to Mississippi State?”
The Tigers (3-0) have dominated their pre-conference competition and they have to do the same in SEC play, Saban said.
“Georgia is a very good football team, a nationally recognized program,” Saban siad. “What we try to prove now is that we can be a contending, dominant team in our conference.”
Saban said he wants the players to focus on how they can correct the mistakes from past games and dominate the player opposite of them.
“They’re a ranked team,” Saban said. “We’re a ranked team, so there’s a lot of interest. It’s early in the season and the focus needs to be on every player getting better and every player on our team playing better than the guy he has to play against each and every week.”
Saban said Georgia (3-0, 1-0 SEC) is a good team in all facets of the game. Georgia’s defense ranks fourth in the SEC with total defense, allowing 263 yards per game. He said their offense leans heavily to the passing game (248 yards per game) but he said they run effectively too (170.7 yards per game).
“They have great team speed,” Saban said. “They do a really good job of executing on defense. Their skill people outside make a lot of big plays. They throw the ball downfield effectively and they make a lot of big plays on defense. You always have to be concerned because they will run the ball on you if you let them. They run direct runs. They get a hat on a hat.”
“This is a balanced, good, all-around football team.”
Saban has beaten every SEC team he has faced at LSU. Georgia and Vanderbilt are the only SEC teams he hasn’t faced.
Saban said previous experience against teams is an advantage, but the Tigers have been practicing for possible situations they might see against Georgia since fall camp.
“We try to do a mock game plan as to what we can do based on what they do,” Saban said. “We don’t know exactly what they’re going to do against us but they’re a team that really beats you with good execution. They don’t trick you a lot. They don’t run different plays every week. They usually have a few wrinkles in what they do on offense and the same thing on defense.”
Saban said both Ben Wilkerson and Michael Clayton are expected to return to practice today after sitting out of Monday’s practice with sprained ankles.
Kirston Pittman (MCL) is questionable for Saturday’s game and Jack Hunt (concussion) practiced Monday with no physical contact.