Nick Saban: ‘The rat poison this year, it’s worse than ever’

Alabama opens its season in Week 1 against Utah State, but fans are even more excited for Week 2 against Texas. Nick Saban has also heard a lot about the Longhorns — and he’s trying to stay focused on the Aggies first.

During “Hey Coach and the Nick Saban Show” on Thursday, Saban sounded off about the “rat poison” surrounding the high-profile matchup against former assistant Steve Sarkisian and Texas on Sept. 10. He didn’t sound happy people want to talk about that game more than the season opener against Utah State.

CLICK HERE to subscribe for FREE to the On3 YouTube channel

“I think the rat poison this year … it’s worse than ever,” Saban said, via AL.com’s Mike Rodak. “I’ve had more people ask me about how we’re going to do against Texas this week than how we’re going to do against Utah State.”

The matchup with Texas is garnering plenty of attention given the heightened expectations around the Longhorns program. They have a new starting quarterback in former Five Star Plus+ recruit Quinn Ewers along with some other high-profile transfer portal additions, including former Crimson Tide tight end Jahleel Billingsley.

However, Alabama brings back an impressive group from last year’s team, which reached the national championship. Bryce Young is back as he tries to build off a Heisman Trophy campaign, and the Crimson Tide have another potential Heisman contender on defense in Will Anderson. They also were busy in the portal, landing three of the top 10 players in the 2021 On3 Transfer Portal Rankings, led by running back Jahmyr Gibbs from Georgia Tech — On3’s No. 3 transfer to hit the portal.

However, both teams have a game to play before they square off. Alabama has Utah State Sept. 3 at 7:30 p.m. ET while Texas gets its season started against Louisiana-Monroe at home that same day at 8 p.m. ET.