Alabama Crimson Tide defensive coordinator Kane Wommack took to the podium Monday afternoon to preview the upcoming Week 11 game against the LSU Tigers.
In this press conference, Wommack was also asked multiple questions about the Tigers high-powered offense, with the Alabama defensive coordinator giving some of his thoughts on the LSU position group.
Here is everything that Wommack said about LSU during his Monday press conference, which included an overview of the Tigers offense, quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, and more:
LSU Tigers Offensive Overview
“This is a very explosive football team,” Wommack said. “A lot of athletes that are on the field. Coach Kelly is obviously, his resume speaks for itself with the success he’s had at multiple places, and the way he manages his football team. I have a lot of respect for Joe Sloan, their offensive coordinator, I’ve known for a number of years, and he’s really done a great job wherever he’s been. Frank Wilson was my position coach at one time in college, and a number of guys on their offensive staff that I think do a really good job.”
LSU Tigers quarterback Garrett Nussmeier
“From an offensive standpoint, I think you can talk about the quarterback all day long,” Wommack said. “I think Nussmeier, he’s a coaches kid, and you can tell he’s been very well trained, know’s where to go with the ball, has great answers, and is probably to me up there with the Carson Beck’s of the world in terms of his ability to see the field and make great decisions. He’s as good as we’ve seen this year. Aggressive with the ball. I know sometimes that has gotten him in trouble, but it’s also created a lot of explosive plays that they have been able to make because he’s aggressive, and certainly he’s got players on the perimeter and in their tight end room that will go up and get the football. Even if guys are covered, he’s going to throw the ball so we’re going to have to make plays in contested catches, and do a great job against an explosive team with a great quarterback, an awesome system, and one of the best environments in college football. It’ll be a great challenge for us, one that our players are certainly looking forward to on Saturday.”
LSU Tigers wide receiver Kyren Lacy
“I remember Kyren when he was in the Sun Belt playing at Louisiana my first year as the head coach at South Alabama,” Wommack said. “I think he transferred the year after in 2022. Long, physical presence who does a great job with the ball in the air. I think he makes contested catches. I think he’s grown so much as a route-runner, and is someone that you can tell Nussmeier really trusts to get the ball to, even in situations where he’s got body-on-body to go make a play for him. Very impressed with his skill-set, and he’s got all the tools. Can run, and make contested catches. The makings of a great receiver.”
LSU Tigers offensive line and their struggles in Texas A&M Aggies loss
“I think A&M, they do a great job on defense, schematically they’re really good, and their personnel up front is as good as I’ve seen,” Wommack said. “Those guys do a really good job in one-on-one matchups, and I thought they did a great job of finding and creating one-on-one matchups based off of how they situated their personnel, and were able to win a number of one-on-one’s, so that’ll be the challenge for us. I thought they did some really good things that you can look at, and say how does that fit what we do and kind of build off it from there. You kind of take little pieces from everybody. Ole Miss played them really well for the vast majority of the game, and just couldn’t seem to get off the field at the end. Having both personnel groupings based off the groupings they have on the field. They’ve got a lot of different things they do on the field based on their personnel with 12 and different tight end groupings that come on the field, and also things from a scheme standpoint to be able to have answers against a very prolific offense I think is going to be critical at the end.”
LSU Tigers tight end Mason Taylor
“I think he’s as good a tight end as we have seen this year,” Wommack said. “You can tell their quarterback trusts him, and another guy when the game is on the line, he continues to show up in those big moments. He will make contested catches, even being body-on-body, the guy can make those contested-type throw-and-catch, which is ultimately what is hard about covering a tight end. You’ve got some 6-foot-6 guy that you’re covering with a linebacker or defensive back that ultimately, a good quarterback is going to throw away from leverage, and he’s going to be able to come down with the ball. I think the dude takes pride obviously in not coming off the field, you can tell that’s kind of thing that they’re constantly keeping him on the field and having different groupings and packages around him. When you have a good tight end that can do things in the run game well enough, and then by dynamic in the passing game, that’s why those guys are so valuable in the professional league right now because they’re rare, but they’re really hard to defend for a number of reasons, so we’ll have our work cut out for us.”
Alabama and LSU will officially meet Saturday night in Baton Rouge for what is considered an elimination game for the College Football Playoff.
The Crimson Tide’s defense will likely be key as well to Alabama’s potential success against one of the top offenses in the SEC.