There were no miracle cures or last-minute reprieves during LSU’s open date.

So the No. 13 Tigers will go into their annual biggest game of the year Saturday against No. 8 Alabama with a patched-up, inexperienced secondary and missing the heart and soul of their defensive line.

Defensive tackle Mekhi Wingo had surgery during the open date for what head coach Brian Kelly described as a lower-body injury, and will miss at least the rest of the regular season.

LSU (6-2, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) has depth at the position. Kelly said Monday that one of the backups, West Virginia transfer Jordan Jefferson “has graded out probably as our best defensive tackle.” Two other transfers, Paris Shand (Arizona) and Bradyn Swinson (Oregon), are also no strangers to playing time.

“We’re built for injuries,” Kelly said. “You can’t build with (just) 11 players. We have depth.”

Next men up in the secondary will be a little dicier against an Alabama team (7-1, 5-0) that has the SEC’s 10th-ranked offense — also 10th in passing — but has improved steadily in recent weeks under quarterback Jalen Milroe.

LSU cornerback Zy Alexander has started every game. But he was injured in the first half against Army on Oct. 21 and won’t play, Kelly said, adding that he “could be out a significant amount of time.”

The murky status of transfer cornerbacks Deuce Chestnut and Denver Harris hasn’t changed — “unavailable,” Kelly said, although neither is known to be injured.

That will leave the position opposite Sage Ryan — who himself moved from safety to the corner in Harris’ absence and often moves to the nickel spot — to one of three true freshmen.

Ashton Stamps, the only one of the trio with a start (one, against Ole Miss), has returned to practice after missing the last two games to injury. Javien Toviano and Jeremiah Hughes are also possibilities, Kelly said.

Kelly tried to look on the optimistic side, saying he has confidence in all three freshmen.

“They’re inexperienced, yes,” he said. “They haven’t played a lot of SEC games, but they know what they’re doing. They understand our techniques, they know what’s expected of them.”

Toviano and Hughes have played in every game, although it was mostly special teams until the Army game.

Stamps has eight tackles and one pass broken up. Toviano has five tackles, Hughes has two, and neither has a statistic against a pass.

“These kids, they were elite players coming out of high school,” Kelly said. “Now you’re putting them in a position where they just have to be confident and trust their technique, trust what we’ve taught them.

“We’ve been at it long enough where these guys are ready to go. They’re got no choice. They’ll go out there and they’ll compete.”

a TUBING: LSU won’t know the kick off time or network for next week’s game against Florida until Sunday.

CBS, which has first dibs for its 2:30 p.m. time slot, said it will wait until then before making its choice. The other possibilities for the LSU-Florida game are 6 p.m. on ESPN or 6:30 p.m. on the SEC Network. The networks will be choosing between that game and Ole Miss at Georgia and Tennessee at Missouri.

a SCARY BABY: Tuesday is Alabama head coach Nick Saban’s 72nd birthday. Another famous Halloween baby is legendary former LSU basketball head coach Dale Brown, who will turn 88 today.