All week, there was a narrative going around the media that the matchup in Lexington for Alabama could be your classic “trap game.”
And for good reason. It had all the makings of one.
Alabama traveling far north, an 11 a.m. kickoff, the Tide coming off a huge win against LSU and the SEC West all but locked up. All things that Nick Saban refers to as “rat poison” is the exact type of mindset he tries to root out from his players.
Well Alabama looked every bit of prepared and ready to go from the jump against Kentucky, getting out to its fastest start against an SEC opponent all season for an early 21-0 lead.
After the big 49-21 win, Terrion Arnold shared how Nick Saban had been keeping his team’s eye on the ball all week, saying that Saban and the staff placed actual rat traps around the facility to remind the team that they need to keep the same mindset heading into Lexington:
Terrion Arnold on the literal rat traps around #Alabama’s facilities this past week: https://t.co/vfO6DHdQjO pic.twitter.com/r3agcRx9Gq
— Cody Goodwin (@codygoodwin) November 11, 2023
“Yeah we had rat traps in the locker room, all around the facility, it’s all about not getting caught in it. When you look at all the external factors, coming off two big wins, like coach says, it’s human nature to be happy with that,” Arnold said.
Arnold went on to state that he tested out the traps with his fingers to see if they were in fact real, and to no one’s surprise, they were indeed.
An interesting strategy from coach Saban, but clearly it worked, with the team effort as high as it has been all season in Lexington.
Michael Brauner is a Senior Sports Analyst and Contributing Writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @MBraunerWNSP
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