Nick Saban learned his lesson last week, and he didn’t wait long to make it clear.
After Ole Miss knocked off LSU in Oxford behind Trinidad Chambliss, the former Alabama and LSU coach turned ESPN analyst came back on Friday’s edition of The Pat McAfee Show and put Chambliss in the highest possible category. Ole Miss now heads to Florida for a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff Saturday on ABC, and Saban made it sound like he expects the Rebels’ quarterback to keep commanding the spotlight.
“I’m going to tell you one thing I learned last week. I’m never picking against Trinidad ever again,” Nick Saban said.
“I mean, that guy is the playmaker of all playmakers. You talk about a point guard who can score and create plays for other people in a game.
Nobody does it better than him.”
That kind of praise carries weight coming from Saban, who spent years coaching elite quarterbacks at LSU and Alabama before moving into his current role breaking down SEC teams. He had backed LSU in the Rebels’ matchup last week, and McAfee pointed out the mistake with “respect” during the segment.
Saban thanked McAfee, but the message was already clear: after what he saw against LSU, he’s not betting against Chambliss again.
Ole Miss enters the week 3-0 and ranked No. 4, while Florida comes in at No. 21 and riding momentum of its own. The Gators will try to slow down a Rebels team with national championship aspirations, but Saban’s view of Chambliss was the headline coming out of Friday.
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For LSU, the prediction is less important than the larger message it sends about where this game is being viewed from outside Baton Rouge. The Tigers will try to answer the doubts on their own field, but Burns pick underscores how much attention is on LSUs ability to clean up its offensive issues before Texas A&M arrives with momentum and a quarterback whose past against the Tigers is drawing notice. [Read more 🡒]