Nick Saban evaluates how Penn State will handle dual-threat SMU QB Kevin Jennings

Among all the many successes during his time in Tuscaloosa, Nick Saban‘s Alabama football teams routinely struggled against true dual-threat quarterbacks.

Whether it was Auburn‘s Cam Newton and Nick Marshall, Florida‘s Tim Tebow, Ohio State‘s Cardale Jones or, gasp, Texas A&M‘s Johnny Manziel, running quarterbacks regularly caused Crimson Tide fans heart palpatations over Saban’s 17-year tenure at Alabama.

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Given those experiences, the former coach-turned-ESPN College GameDay analyst was the perfect person to evaluate how No. 6-seeded Penn State will approach defending sensational SMU dual-threat QB Kevin Jennings in their first-round College Football Playoff game Saturday in State College, Pa. (12 noon ET, TNT/MAX).

“I think first of all it depends on style of play,” Saban said on Thursday’s The Pat McAfee Show. “One of the reasons that we always had difficulty (against running QBs) is because we played a lot of max coverage, so — even when we played zone, we matched up zones — (and when) you have people matching patterns all the time so they’re not always looking at the quarterback. And then when the guy scrambles you don’t get that immediate sort of break on the ball.”

Saban: Ball security remains an issue for SMU’s Kevin Jennings

Saban has long voiced his appreciation for how Jennings has performed this season after being promoted to starting QB after a Week 3 loss to BYU. But it’s Saban’s one criticism of Jennings that could ultimately reveal Penn State’s defensive gameplan against him.

“I think the big thing they’re probably emphasizing with their players – I love Kevin Jennings as a player, but his ball security isn’t what it needs to be, and when he’s turned the ball over they’ve had issues and problems,” Saban continued, “and I bet you that Penn State is saying, ‘We’re going to knock the ball off this guy, we’re going to knock the ball out of his hand when he has one hand on the ball, even when he runs it.’ I don’t think you stop a guy like that, I think you’ve got to make this guy beat you throwing it, which I think he’s a good thrower.”

Unfriendly weather conditions — including sub-freezing temperatures with minimal snow expected — could also aid the host Nittany Lions against Jennings and the Mustangs offense.

“I think the conditions probably will affect SMU a lot more than it’s going to affect Penn State,” Saban added. “Throwing a cold ball, catching a ball, holding onto a ball when it’s cold and you’re not used it is a lot different. So I think Penn State is going to try to knock the ball away from this guy and create a lot of turnovers in this game.”

Kirk Herbstreit reveals biggest concern for SMU vs. Penn State

Penn State is set to host SMU in the first round of the College Football Playoff on Saturday, and many see the ACC runners-up as underdogs heading into the matchup — including in Vegas.

There is cause for concern regarding the Mustangs against the Nittany Lions in the trenches, so this high-scoring SMU team may have to outshoot Penn State in their home stadium to advance to the quarterfinals. ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit isn’t counting the Mustangs out, either.

“My big concern for SMU in that game is, like you would think, the line of scrimmage on both sides,” Herbstreit told the Pardon My Take crew on Wednesday. “Penn State, I thought, pushed Oregon around pretty well in the Big Ten Championship game at the line of scrimmage.”

Barkley Truax contributed to this report.