BATON ROUGE — The focus this week for 13th-ranked LSU has been that of teaching and learning, especially with the young players, and Nick Saban is pleased with what he’s seen from his team heading into the Mississippi State contest.
“We’ve worked really hard this week to try to teach,” Saban said following Wednesday’s workout. “We tried to get the players to understand that doing it the right way is really important to having success, and showing them every opportunity that we can, that when they don’t do (it right) what the consequences can be.
“I think young guys sometimes don’t get that, but I think we’re getting more and more of them to see and are more willing to see that after you get beat.”
The Tigers (2-1 overall, 0-1 SEC) host Mississippi State (1-2, 0-2) at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday in Tiger Stadium. Jefferson Pilot will televise the game. LSU is coming off a 10-9 loss to Auburn last week, while the Bulldogs dropped a 9-7 decision to I-AA Maine.
“We’ve had a good week,” Saban said. “I think that the attitude and the effort in what we wanted to try to accomplish this week in terms of improvement has gotten better. The interesting thing is that these young players that we have, I know it’s some painful lessons that we learn with them as we go through things and see their errors and mistakes.
“But each and every week I see one or two more of those guys seem to start to get it, to understand the consequences of not doing things correctly, to trust in what they’re being told to do and go out and do it and start playing fast again. Hopefully, each and every week we’ll have more and more guys that are able to improve, and that’s going to help our team improve more and more.”
Saban said the Tigers would go into Saturday’s game with wide receiver Skyler Green still being listed as day-to-day. Green, who also doubles as a punt and kickoff returner for the Tigers, has been slowed with an ankle injury since the middle of August.
“We’re only going to play Skyler if he’s physically able to play,” Saban said. “Right now, I’d say he’s day-to-day. We’re not going to do anything that’s going to set him back.”
Saban said tight end David Jones and center Ben Wilkerson will both be in action on Saturday after missing some practice time this week due to injuries suffered against Auburn.
“This is as beat up as we’ve been for a long time after a game in terms of guys missing practice,” Saban said. “I think, in most cases, the guys will be okay for the game.”
The Tigers will practice again on Thursday followed by a walk-thru on Friday afternoon in Tiger Stadium. Fans are reminded to wear gold to Saturday’s contest.