Brian Kelly might be new to the Southeastern Conference, but he's plenty familiar with Alabama.
That's because twice his former Notre Dame squad met up with Nick Saban's Crimson Tide in the postseason scenarios, and both times resulted in big defeats. But he knows this first foray into the LSU-Alabama rivalry runs a bit deeper.
"Any time you play a game like this that's within your conference, they have to have significance, historically," Kelly said. "But, you know, in real time, both teams are fighting for the SEC West. So the games matter when both teams are in a position for this game to have the kind of scrutiny that it does today. So, yeah, I think that this is what you're looking for if you're an Alabama fan or an LSU fan."
Kelly began his Monday press conference by wishing Saban a happy 71st birthday, possibly a ploy to soften up the gruff 7-time champion. It's an interesting strategy, but it's not one that will likely work with this edition of the annual matchup holding so much weight.
Unlike in 2020 and 2021, the rivalry game holds SEC West implications for both teams. Both teams are 3-1 in conference and the winner on Saturday will have the inside track. The winner will also retain hopes for a CFP bid, while the loser will almost certainly have those dashed.
"This one becomes even more because of the success that both programs have had," Kelly said. "These are two teams that have won national championships within the last few years. So, you know, they bring on a lot of national notoriety as well."
No. 15 LSU and No. 6 Alabama kick off at 6 p.m. at Tiger Stadium.
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INJURY UPDATES
- S Major Burns has been cleared to participate and is expected to be back in action this week
- OL Garrett Dellinger is day-to-day
- WR Jack Bech is back to practice this week
- RB John Emery's status is still unclear
JAYDEN DANIELS' COMFORTABILITY THE LAST FEW WEEKS
LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels has been stellar all season, but the last two weeks of performances have taken things to another level in wins over Florida and Ole Miss that served to propel the Tigers back into the national rankings and conversation. He's completed 44 of 60 passes for 597 yards and 5 TDs, while also running 37 times for 165 yards and 6 TDs. He hasn't turned the ball over in either game and the Tigers have won by an average of 17.5 points.
"Yeah, you can see [the confidence] in practice. I think there's much more of an understanding of where they're going to be and what they're doing. And he doesn't need to look them down," Kelly said. "There was a lot of visual hookups, if you will, where he was waiting for that receiver. He can get the ball out of his hands now without the receiver being out of his break. And so that just takes time. We just didn't have that time earlier in the season, and that's starting to build that kind of relationship that wasn't available to us earlier in the year."
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ON IMPORTANCE OF RUN-PASS BALANCE
"I think it's like anything else, you need to find some balance within your offensive structure," Kelly said. "If you're so one-dimensional, that you have to throw the ball on those second- and third-down situations, then the defense has the advantage in those kinds of situations. ... I think [OC Mike Denbrock's] done a really good job of of making sure that through play calling, you know, there is a balance where you have to defend the run and you have to defend the pass. And, you know, that's been that's been the philosophy from Day 1 is that, you know, we better be equally as good at both, depending on what we get, and I think we've done a pretty good job."
ON STARTING QUICKLY AND WITH PHYSICALITY
LSU has big wins to its credit this season, but even in those there have been early struggles and deficits. Kelly said he's changed some of the team's practice routines to move up the physical work, and he hopes that will help spur his team to come out hotter in this game, where a slow start could doom the Tigers' chances against another top-10 group.
"We're looking at all those things to make sure and sometimes it's maybe it's just, you gotta go make a play," Kelly said. "You know, let's make that catch. Let's make that play and get off to a good start."
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