Nick Saban on ‘Mentality’ Alabama’s Jalen Milroe has to beat LSU

Alabama’s Jalen Milroe and LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier are very different quarterbacks but have similar traits – both good and bad – former Crimson Tide and Tigers coach Nick Saban said Saturday.

During a film recap with fellow analyst Kirk Herbstreit on Saturday’s edition of ESPN College GameDay, Saban noted that both Milroe and Nussmeier are capable of outstanding performances at any time. But when they get themselves and their team in trouble, that’s when they do too much, Saban said.

The first-year GameDay analyst used a basketball analogy when discussing how Milroe and Nussmeier could avoid mistakes in Saturday night’s SEC showdown at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge.

“That’s the biggest problem these people have,” Saban said. “They want to make plays, but they don’t need a shooting guard mentality. You need a point guard mentality. You have 13 assists in a game and no turnovers and that’s good quarterback play.”

Milroe has thrown for 1,937 yards and 13 touchdowns with six interceptions and added 380 yards and 12 rushing scores this season. However, he threw five interceptions and was sacked nine times during a three-game stretch in October in which Alabama played its worst football, going 1-2 against Vanderbilt, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Nussmeier, more of a pure pocket passer than Milroe, has passed for 2,627 yards and 20 touchdowns with nine interceptions this season. In the 38-23 loss at Texas A&M two weeks ago, the Tigers’ first SEC loss of the season, he threw three interceptions, was sacked twice and completed just 50% of his passes.

“Both of these guys are great competitors and want to play,” Saban said. “But what I always tried to stress to Jalen last year was, ‘You can’t make drives-stopping plays, you can’t get sacked, you can’t throw interceptions, you can’t make bad decisions.'”