Nick Saban breaks down controversial hit by Dallas Turner which injured Jayden Daniels

Alabama star linebacker Dallas Turner delivered a big-time hit on LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels during Saturday’s rivalry game.

The hit drew a flag on Turner for roughing the passer, but it did not lead to an ejection for targeting.

Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban met with the media on Monday and shared what he saw on the play and if there were any coaching points he could share with Turner after the hit.

“Look, I don’t know if there is a technical coaching point. You always tell players you want them to see what they hit,” Saban said. “It wasn’t like a direct hit or intentional hit to the head. It was a really good hit, but unfortunately his helmet did slide up and hit the guy, so it’s a foul. If you hit the quarterback in the head, it’s going to get called all the time.”

Turner’s hit on Daniels occurred early in the fourth quarter, when the game was still close.

Jayden Daniels stayed in the game for a little bit longer after the hit but was eventually taken out of the game and put into concussion protocol.

Saban did see a minor change Dallas Turner could’ve made on the hit.

“We just wanna have him keep his eyes up and see what he hits and hopefully target down a little bit so it doesn’t happen again,” Saban said.

Following the game, LSU coach Brian Kelly spoke about the hit and if it should’ve been called targeting.

“We asked them. They said that the replay booth was reviewing it for targeting. Obviously, I don’t have the ability to see that. But anytime that there is contact to the head or neck area, you’re thinking that there must be some form of targeting. They reviewed it, didn’t feel there was and we moved on,” Kelly said after the game about his discussion with the officials.

LSU lost to Alabama, 42-28, and Daniels finished 15-of-24 for 215 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He also had 11 carries for 163 yards and a touchdown.

Brian Kelly calls Jayden Daniels day-to-day entering Florida week

On Monday, LSU coach Brian Kelly provided an update on Jayden Daniels after he was knocked out of the Alabama game over the weekend on the hit by Dallas Turner.

“I would consider him day to day,” Kelly said Monday. “He’s going through the injury protocol. And he’s made improvements. But this is a process that we’ll just have to, you know, see how it plays out from day to day, but I can tell you that he’s made some progress.”

Kelly also addressed the lack of targeting once again and said there should be an emphasis on protecting the quarterback. But ultimately in the moment, it was what it was.

“I want to protect the quarterback and certainly there was a penalty on the play,” Kelly said. “You know, targeting is looked at by the replay officials. They had plenty of time, I think we even went to a timeout there as well. So there was plenty of time to look at it. They must have felt that there wasn’t targeting. 

“We sent it into the league office, because we felt like it checked all the boxes, but again, you know, we want to protect the quarterback here, obviously.”