dpAlabama will get some key players back from injury when the Crimson Tide heads to Baton Rouge to face Lane Kiffin and LSU on Saturday.
None of that puts Nick Saban’s biggest concerns to ease when it comes to Kalen DeBoer’s team.
The Crimson Tide’s NIL entity announced on Friday that wide receiver Ryan Coleman-Wiliams, center Racin Delgatty and defensive lineman Terrance Green are cleared to take the field.
However, what concerns Saban, the former Alabama coach, is the Tide’s matchup with Kiffin.
“The thing I’m most concerned about is how does Alabama’s defense play against LSU’s offense,” Saban said Saturday during ESPN’s “College GameDay.”
“I don’t care how they do it. You can talk about stealing signals, talk about how you disguise your defense, but when LSU and Lane Kiffin know what you’re in, they are going to dial up the best play they can run against that look.
“You’re always going to be behind on defense, always going to be one play behind. They take advantage of that as well as anyone in college football.”
Saban said the Tide will have to disguise pre snap what they are in to have any success.
Both teams remain in the hunt for an SEC title and College Football Playoff Berth, but with little margin for error.
Alabama raced to a 5-0 record in what is coach Kalen DeBoer’s third season as the successor to Saban, who won six national titles at Alabama and one at LSU a few years before his tenure with the Tide.
But back-to-back losses against No. 2 Georgia and No. 16 Tennessee left Alabama with little margin for error itself. The Tide responded with a victory over Texas A&M before entering a concurrent bye week with LSU.
Since arriving at Alabama, DeBoer has won his first two encounters with LSU, but this will be the first since Kiffin — who has never beaten Alabama in five chances as a head coach — memorably left Ole Miss late last season to take over the Tigers.
