Nick Saban: Alabama must show 'maturity' amid atmosphere at LSU, compares to Tennessee game

As Alabama comes out of its bye this week, a trip to Baton Rouge awaits. The Crimson Tide will visit LSU for a highly anticipated matchup in a hostile environment, and Nick Saban said there’s one big key to finding success. Saban said “maturity” will be important for Alabama as the Tide enters Death Valley on Saturday afternoon. He drew parallels to the rivalry matchup against Tennessee, which came in front of a raucous crowd at Neyland Stadium as the Volunteers got the victory. $39.99 gets you a FULL year of On3 | Rivals national coverage While he noted Keelon Russell needs to emphasize taking care of the football and Alabama will get some key pieces back from injury, Saban said the Crimson Tide’s ability to maintain focus will be crucial in Saturday’s game. That’s in addition to overcoming the challenges LSU’s defense presents. “Going to LSU and playing, you’ve got to have a special maturity as a team to be able to be on top of your focus to go in there and be able to play, to overcome the noise, the circumstance,” Saban said on The Pat McAfee Show. “And LSU’s got a very good team. So you’re going to have to overcome a lot, and that’s going to take a lot of maturity on their part. Watch on Fubo (Try for Free) “Now, they didn’t show they could do that at Tennessee. And to me, LSU is a little bit of a similar team in terms of they’re going to play good defense, they’re going to pressure the quarterback a lot – which Alabama is going to have to handle – and these guys can put points on the board even better than Tennessee. So this is going to be a big, big challenge for Alabama.” Nick Saban: Keelon Russell must find ‘consistency’ The expectation is wide receiver Ryan Coleman-Williams will be able to suit up this week, On3’s Pete Nakos and Chris Low reported Friday. Other players are also getting healthy, which Nick Saban said is important for the rivalry matchup. When it comes to what Keelon Russell can do, though, Saban wants to see him avoid trying to force big plays and, as a result, risking turnovers. Instead, his message would be that it’s alright for drives to end in punts. “They’ve had a bye week,” Saban said. “Hopefully, they get some of these players back and get some of these issues fixed and Keelon Russell can play with a little more consistency in terms of, it’s okay to punt. “I used to tell the quarterback all the time, if every drive ends with a kick, we’re okay – punt, field goal, extra point. But you don’t have to try to make plays that aren’t there, that turn into negative plays, that just kill you in the game.”