TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama‘s playoff hopes took a hit when it suffered its first lost of the season at home to LSU on Saturday, but coach Nick Saban didn’t want to talk about the long-term ramifications of the game when he met with reporters on Monday afternoon.
“Look, the No. 1 thing that I’m concerned about, just so everybody gets it, is how we complete the season,” Saban said. “I don’t want to talk about anything other than the game that we have this week. We’re not making any predictions or whatever.”
Following the 46-40 loss, Saban said on Saturday that his team no longer controlled its own destiny. Alabama currently has no wins against ranked opponents, and only has one such game, against No. 11 Auburn, remaining on its schedule.
On Monday, Saban reminded everyone how the majority of his teams at Alabama have suffered one regular-season loss and gone on to have successful seasons. As recently as 2017, the Tide lost to Auburn to end the regular season, still made the playoff and beat Georgia in the title game.
“We have kind of a legacy around here that we’ve only had one team in the last 12 years that’s lost more than one game in the regular season,” Saban said. “I’d like for this team to be able to continue that, and we certainly want to focus on all the things that we need to do to try to be able to get that done.”
Saban also said that star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who played three weeks after having ankle surgery, is experiencing a little soreness following the game.
Tagovailoa committed two key turnovers, but still threw for 418 yards and four touchdowns.
“We did all the medical research that you could do on him to find out if he did any damage or hurt himself in any way, shape or form, and he did not,” Saban said. “So we’ll manage the soreness. We may give him a day off today and sort of start him back tomorrow a little bit.
“We’ll just have to manage it day to day and he should respond each and every week. The situation that he’s in is very much expected, and he doesn’t have any further issues.”
Wideout DeVonta Smith lauded Tagovailoa’s effort in the game, playing even though he believed he was less than 100 percent healthy.
Like his coach, Smith wouldn’t look at the loss and what it meant beyond next Saturday’s game.
“Right now we’re not worried about the playoff,” he said. “We’re worried about Mississippi State.”
Senior defensive lineman Raekwon Davis said it’s his job as a leader to keep the team together and keep in mind that they still have “a chance” and that the season isn’t done.
“Stuff happens,” he said. “We’re going to finish strong, though.”
On Saturday, Alabama hosts Mississippi State, which snapped a four-game losing streak when it beat Arkansas two weeks ago.