Nick Saban reveals how Alabama will prepare to face off against LSU's Jayden Daniels

Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide are currently enjoying their bye week following a streak of six straight wins, five of which were against SEC opponents. But after this week they have a highly anticipated matchup with LSU next Saturday as they’ll look to avenge last year’s overtime loss to the Tigers.

A major key to success next Saturday for Alabama will be slowing down LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels, who’s proven to be one of the most dangerous dual-threat quarterbacks in the country for a second straight season. Saban joined the ‘Pat McAfee Show’ on Thursday and pulled back the curtain on preparing his defense to face Daniels and the challenges that come with that.

“Well I think first of all it’s very difficult to find a person who can simulate his speed, quickness, change of direction, his ability to read the zone read plays with the sliders and all that,” Saban said. “It’s very difficult to get that kind of execution at that tempo in practice.”

Daniels has been the engine of LSU’s high-powered offensive attack this season, which has been the most effective in the SEC averaging a league-high 552.9 yards and 47.4 points per game. Like Daniels, Alabama’s starting quarterback Jalen Milroe provides dual-threat abilities as well, but the Crimson Tide defense won’t be able to rely on him so much to prepare for their matchup against Daniels.

“Now Jalen Milroe is a guy that can definitely do it, he’s the same kind of athlete, has the same kind of speed. But he’s got to get ready to do what we’re gonna do in the game. Though we don’t practice against each other, maybe 12 plays of team run, maybe 20 plays against each other in one period and that’s basically it,” Saban explained. “So we have to find somebody else who can simulate that kind of speed and explosiveness and that’s the hard part. And then when the game comes, the speed of the game is completely different.”

Finding an athlete who can mimic what Daniels is capable of is not easy and reminds Saban of a similar dilemma from the past in his earlier coaching days.

“It’s almost like in the old days when you played against a wishbone team,” Saban said. “You could never get a guy to run the wishbone like Oklahoma‘s quarterback did, so when the game came they were just so much faster and it was happening so much faster it took the players a while to respond to it.”

LSU’s offensive scheme doesn’t resemble the wishbone in the slightest, but it’s made their opponents wish that Daniels wasn’t their starting quarterback. Daniels leads the nation in touchdown passes with 25 through eight games this season, also ranking second in passing yards with 2,573.

He also ranks seventh in the SEC and first amongst quarterbacks this year in rushing yards with 521 yards on the ground and five rushing scores this year, leading to McAfee asking Saban if a skill player on his roster could potentially play the role of Daniels in practice.

“We’ll put somebody who has great speed and can execute the plays, that’s the problem. Now the guy can be an athlete, but he hadn’t ever played quarterback before it’s really hard to get them to execute the plays,” Saban explained.

The Crimson Tide will definitely have their hands full both preparing and facing the dynamic Daniels, as Alabama and LSU will square off next Saturday, November 4 in Tuscaloosa.