BATON ROUGE — After using the first four bowl practices to focus on fundamentals and getting back into shape, LSU used practice No. 5 to start working on Iowa as the Tigers went through another workout in preparation for the Capital One Bowl here Saturday at the Charles McClendon Practice Facility.
The Tigers will practice again at 2 p.m. on Sunday followed workouts on Monday and Tuesday before breaking for Christmas.
“Today was our first day working against Iowa, and I think it excited the players a little bit to be able to go against someone else,” LSU coach Nick Saban said following the practice. “To have four really kind of prep practices, fundamental practices, against each other gets old quickly, especially at this time of year, but something that’s necessary in terms of the amount of time that we had off relative to what we need to get accomplished to get back in shape to play a good football game.”
Saban said Saturday’s practice was that of a typical Monday practice during the regular season.
“We kind of do this in sections where we have a four-day period of fundamental work and then we have a four-day stretch where we work on Iowa almost like if we were playing them this weekend,” Saban said. “Then the players get off four days for Christmas, and then we basically do the same thing in terms of repeating getting ready to play Iowa again in five practices down at the bowl site.”
“Hopefully by doing that, the players have already been exposed to it. They’ve already done a good job of preparation here so that maybe they can be well prepared but still not spend quite as much time on having to do it when we get there and enjoy themselves a little bit because Orlando is certainly a great place for them to do that.”
Saban has said that the first five practices in preparation for the 12th-ranked Hawkeyes have been good.
“The focus on the game has been good, and I’ve been very pleased with the practice that we’ve had and the progress that we’ve made,” Saban said. “We’ve made a tremendous amount of progress in these five practices. Just to see in conditioning how quickly the guys have kind of come back has been really good because I think we needed that to happen. The concern when you’re off for that long is how we are going to respond to getting back in playing shape. I’ve been pleased with that part of it.”
Saban said defensive back Daniel Francis (ankle) continues to be sidelined, but is expected to be back at practice when the team reports to Orlando. Francis has been out of action since the Ole Miss game. In addition, Saban said wide receiver Early Doucet returned to practice on a limited basis on Saturday after missing two workouts with a hip flexor.
Against Iowa, the Tigers are preparing for a team that has an offense that revolves around its quarterback and a team that is solid both defensively and on special teams.
“Their quarterback is very resourceful that’s got great instincts in the pocket and makes a tremendous amount of plays for them,” Saban said. “He’s very resourceful and a great competitor.
“I’ve talked before about what good defense they play. This is probably as sound and solid a team on special teams and in every phase of the game that we’ve played all year in terms of how they don’t beat themselves. I think that’s very important. The two games that they’ve lost, as I mentioned before, they had 10 turnovers in those two games. In the games where they didn’t give the ball away, they certainly were pretty unbeatable.”
When asked about the Miami Dolphins head coaching position, Saban responded by saying, “there is nothing new to report. I haven’t talked to them anymore. My concern right now is the bowl game and doing the best I can coaching our team.”