On Alabama: “Alabama is a very, very fine football team. They’re well-prepared and very talented. Certainly they’ve won every game by a minimum margin of 19 points. I watched every snap on Saturday in the Mississippi St. versus Alabama game. It looked just as bad on the coach’s copy. It looks like that Alabama team is pretty good.”
On Alabama’s offense: “The quarterback A.J. McCarron just seems to make all the throws. He’s a quality leader. He’s thrown 18 touchdowns and no interceptions. They’re a positive 17 in turnover margin. They have a big offensive line that’s very mobile and very athletic. They have quality running backs in T.J. Yeldon and Eddie Lacy. They have a receiving core that can run and catch it, a big time tight end and Michael Williams.”
On Alabama’s defense: “Their defense is the best defense statistically in the country. You can see it when they play. They play with great technique. They’re very disciplined and never out of place. It’s a very, very capable defense. They look like the No. 1 team in the country: very talented, very capable, well-prepared. Coach (Nick) Saban’s done a great job there. They have talent, and they’re well-prepared. You can see that it’s the team that deserves to be the No. 1 team in the country.”
On the familiarity of playing Alabama: “We take into account a long view of how we played against this team for years, including the national championship game. We also look at this year’s film more appropriately to personnel. You find that there are changes in the defense, but really, they’re very small. They’re really tweaked here or there, or they maybe add a blitz in here on a blitz in there. That’s new, but it’s not really new. It’s more how they’ve always operated. They just really incorporated that against that personnel group. We take that into account. They know us and we know them, and that’s probably understandable for two teams that are as ambitious as we are playing in the conference and playing in the division. How it turns out will just be throwing them into the stadium and figuring it out.”
On playing in the rivalry between Michigan St. and Ohio compared to LSU vs. Alabama: “As a player, I enjoyed my coach. He always enjoyed rivalry games. He always enjoyed getting to play the Buckeyes. It was a joy as a player to be around him. He was a very special coach and a very special man. The rivalry was special to me as an Ohio guy and as a player at Michigan to play against a very quality Ohio State game. I can tell you that in the most competitive division in college football, there are two very quality teams that are going to play every year, and I think the similarities between the Ohio and Michigan team certainly draw the comparison in this conference. It’s so difficult for me to look back on that and compare an experience I had in college and I had as an assistant coach at Michigan, and now to bring it to life here. It’s a great rivalry. It means so much. It’s an opportunity to take the west, and it will always be that. I think our guys enjoy playing in this game. They recognize a very quality opponent. They’re challenged to do their best. I think generally year in and year out that they meet that challenge.”
On having the home field advantage: “I can tell you that our team will look forward to playing in this stadium. There’s no place like it. The environment that can be created in Tiger Stadium certainly will help the home team. Our guys play best in that stadium and in that environment. I think they’ll look forward to playing in it. I imagine it will be pretty special.”
On Alabama running backs Eddie Lacy and TJ Yeldon: “They’re not only very strong, very physical runners, but they’re also loose, which I always see is the issue. (T.J.) Yeldon seems to have a little more make and miss. (Eddie) Lacy runs hard and both play very sound ball security style of football. I think they’re very talented.”
On Alabama’s approach: “I don’t know if they’re exactly the same team we played in the national championship game. If I was them, I think I would use the same game plan. It certainly worked once, I wouldn’t imagine they would change it much. It’s always a pleasure to professionally test yourself against someone that’s a very quality and very capable coach. I think Coach Saban has really prepared an Alabama team extremely well. When you’re challenged, and if you enjoy challenge, well, you enjoy it.”
On LSU players from Alabama: “We have a number of guys from Alabama from our team. Kwon Alexander would have loved to play in this game. Josh Williford is trying to get healthy. I know he’s looking forward to playing in this game. Connor Neighbors is just a wonderful guy. He works so hard, he’s such a part of our team. Anything you ask him to do, he does it and does it well. He is welcome, very welcome. We look forward to him playing in this game. I think there is probably a little bit more energy in some of those guys from Alabama.”
On mixing things up with trick plays, etc…: “I’m just telling you, you beat quality teams not by stuff, things. You beat them with quality play, physical game plan.”
On this weekend affecting recruiting: “I think that’s certainly an issue. We recruit in Alabama as well. To some guys, that’s a big deal. Certainly it is to us. We do well in Louisiana because we represent all of the right things. They’re encouraged and guided to get their degree. An championship football, they get to play it. This game has the potential to have an environment that‘s pretty special. Last time that they were here, that environment existed.”
On “revenge”: “Honestly, I’m not motivated that way. That’s not how this works. This is about how we play, and did we play our best (in January)? No. We can play our best. We have played our best. If you look at the record, we’ve played pretty well. This is a different team, different year.”
