Nick Saban provides message to disappointed fans after narrow LSU win

Alabama has been a dominant college football team for a very long time under the direction of Nick Saban, so Crimson Tide fans expect their team to win week-by-week – and by a lot of points. After the Tide beat LSU by just six points Saturday night with a 20-14 win, Saban had a message for the fanbase.

“I know that sometimes we have an expectation that we’re going to win easy, but sometimes it’s not so easy,” Saban said. “I think it’s difficult to win in this conference and I think it’s difficult to win week-in and week-out. I think you’ve got to play your best – we probably didn’t play our best in some areas of the team – and we’ve got to get more consistency in how we play.”

Alabama certainly wasn’t at its best against LSU, as it allowed the Tigers to score the first points of the game and lead 7-0 after the opening quarter. The Crimson Tide also gave up 295 total yards and let LSU go 5-for-7 on third down.

While its overall performance wasn’t the best, Alabama – which is ranked No. 2 in the first College Football Playoff Top 25 of the season – still won, moved to 8-1 on the season and 5-1 in SEC play, and will remain in the CFP top four this week – no question.

Saban praises defense for making final stop

Alabama’s victory over LSU may not have happened if the Tide’s defense hadn’t have stopped the Tigers’ final drive of the game.

Trailing 20-14 and only needing a touchdown and an extra point to win, LSU drove down to the Alabama 30-yard line. However, with no time left on the clock, quarterback Max Johnson’s pass on 1st-and-10 from that spot was incomplete and the Tide came out on top.

“I’m really proud of our players, actually, for how they competed in the game,” Saban said. “There was no way we were going to let them score at the end. I think the defensive players really stepped up, and that was great competitive character.”

Alabama will step out of conference play Saturday and host New Mexico State at Bryant-Denny Stadium.