ORLANDO, Fla. — On the eve of his final game as LSU’s head football coach, Nick Saban put his Tigers through a one-hour walk through here Friday at Tinker Practice Field at the Florida Citrus Bowl.
Friday was a busy day for LSU as Saban and Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz meet the media one final time before Saturday’s 1 p.m. EST kickoff. The team coaches, who are longtime friends and were part of the same coaching staff at the Cleveland Browns, then posed for pictures with the Capital One Bowl trophy.
Both teams then participated in the annual Capital One Bowl Kickoff Luncheon at the Renaissance Orlando Resort.
Later in the day, LSU took a team picture at midfield at Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium followed by its walk through, one that even had Terry Saban watching as the Tigers went through one last workout under perhaps the greatest coach in the history of the school.
“We’ve had a good week, the focus has been good and we’ve done a good job of getting ready for this game,” Saban said. “I think this is going to be an outstanding football game. This is a real opportunity for us being an SEC team to have the opportunity to play a team from the Big Ten the caliber of the Iowa Hawkeyes.
“I’ve been very pleased with the focus and attention that our players have been able to maintain. The big thing that we like our players to think about is that this is their reward for having a great season. That has been my focus as a coach. I think everyone in the organization has done a great job of that.”
Saturday’s game will be the final contest for Saban, who leaves the Tigers after five years to take over as head coach of the Miami Dolphins. Saban has guided the Tigers to the best five-year stretch in the history of the school while claiming a national title and a pair of conference championships along the way. In all, Saban will bring a 48-15 record at LSU into his final contest as a Tiger.
While Saturday’s game will certainly be an emotional one for Saban and his family, the coach has said all week that this game is for the players and he’s going to do whatever he can to help them be successful against the Hawkeyes.
“This game is about the players,” Saban has said time and time again this week. “We’re going to do everything we can as a staff to help the players be successful in this game so they have a chance to leave a legacy of being the only team in school history to have double-digit wins in back to back seasons.”
The Tigers, who are currently riding a six-game winning streak, are 9-2 this season after going 13-1 on their way to claiming the 2003 BCS National Title a year ago.
Saturday’s contest will feature two of the nation’s stingiest defenses going against offenses that differ in their approach. LSU brings an offense into the game that ranks first in the SEC in rushing yards per game at just over 200 yards per contest, while Iowa rushes for only 75 yards a game.
When it comes to throwing the ball, Iowa is one of the best around, tossing for 236 yards per game, compared to 199.4 yards for the Tigers. Iowa’s offense revolves around quarterback Drew Tate, who Saban has likened to Doug Flutie on more than one occasion this week.
“He’s very resourceful,” Saban said of Tate. “He’s the catalyst for their team. He is a real competitor. I think he has a tremendous affect on the way their team plays.”
Senior quarterback Marcus Randall will again take the snaps for the Tigers, coming off one of the best game of his career in LSU’s 43-14 win over Arkansas on Nov. 26. In that game, Randall threw for 173 yards and two scores and rushed for 79 yards and two more touchdowns.
“Marcus Randall had a fantastic game at Arkansas and I think that has really helped his confidence,” Saban said. “His leadership and his demeanor as a player has been a little bit different since that time. I think he has practiced and played the best through these practices.”
When the Tigers aren’t throwing the ball, they’ll rely on the running of Alley Broussard and Joseph Addai. Broussard leads the Tigers with 758 yards and nine TDs, while Addai has rushed for 653 yards and three scores.
Defensively, the Tigers continue to be anchored by one of the nation’s top defensive linemen in Marcus Spears. Spears, a First-Team All-America in 2004, leads a Tiger defense that ranks third in the nation in both total defense (249.9) and pass defense (145.4). The Tigers are allowing only 15.9 points per game.
Iowa’s defense has been just as effective, ranking 10th nationally in total defense (289.1), which includes only 90.2 yards rushing per game, a figure that is the sixth-best nationally.