Saban has no plans to sit QB this week

Alabama coach Nick Saban said he has no plans to hold out quarterback Tua Tagovailoa this week against The Citadel.

Tagovailoa has been bothered by a right knee injury and left the Mississippi State game after getting hit on it. The top-ranked Crimson Tide host huge underdog The Cit- adel on Saturday, and Saban said Tagovailoa is “OK” and will practice.

Saban was asked Monday if he would consider sitting Tagovailoa for the game to allow him to rest the knee.

“No. Why would we do that?” Saban said. “I mean, to say this was not an important game or he doesn’t need to play? I think we need to do a better job of the people playing around him, doing what they’re supposed to do so he doesn’t get hit. And he needs to do a better job of stepping up in the pocket and getting rid of the ball, which he had several opportunities to do.

“Some of these hits could be avoided by better execution, and I think that’s what we’re going to focus on, not trying to take a guy out of the game so he can’t improve or do what he needs to do to get better.”

Tagovailoa sat out the fourth quarter against Mississippi State and was sacked four times in the game. Saban said afterward the quarterback could have returned if needed in the 24-0 win.

Backup Jalen Hurts hasn’t played in the past two games after sustaining an ankle injury against Tennessee, leaving Mac Jones to get more playing time and chances in practice.

Boston College: Coach Steve Addazio said quar- terback Anthony Brown is day to day with an abdom- inal injury but the coach wouldn’t rule Brown out for Saturday’s game at Florida State.

Carroll College: Carroll College coach Mike Van Diest announced his retirement after 20 seasons and six NAIA national championships. Van Diest’s teams posted a 20354 record during his tenure in Helena, Mont., winning 14 Frontier Conference titles and going undefeated in 2005, 2007 and 2010. More recently, the Saints have struggled through four consecutive losing seasons, including a 5-6 record this season.