Alabama players ready for LSU

TUSCALOOSA — The loudest Javier Arenas has ever heard Bryant-Denny Stadium was when Terrence Cody blocked a field goal on the final play of the game against Tennessee two weeks ago.

But what does he know? There was a louder, longer sustained roar — although Arenas claims not to have heard it.

It came two years ago, when he broke a 61-yard punt return in the fourth quarter against LSU. That gave Alabama a 34-27 lead in a game the Tide lost 41-34 to the eventual national champions.

Related Information:

  · The Huddle: Alabama Edition
  Alabama sports writer Ken Rogers and Sports editor Jon Johnson preview the Alabama-LSU game.

 

·Ken Roger’s blog

“I wasn’t aware of the crowd noise when I ran my punt return back,” Arenas said. “I don’t know what to tell you about that time.”

Pieces are in place for more roars today. LSU and Alabama — ranked No. 9 and No. 3, respectively — collide in Bryant-Denny with title hopes on the line.

Arenas, who racked up 237 all-purpose yards against LSU two years ago, loves the challenge of facing the Tigers. It’s a straight-forward, no-gimmicks game. Forget pooch kicks, rugby punts or kicking out of bounds. LSU doesn’t concede field position that way.

“Even after I ran that kick back on them two years ago, they’ve kicked me the ball,” Arenas said. “They’re a good football team and they’ve got a lot of confidence in what they do, so why not?

“Both teams have a chip on their shoulder going in. It’s a very competitive environment and each guy wants to beat the guy across the ball.”

Crimson Tide junior middle linebacker relishes facing a physical running back like Charles Scott.

“I like power football, and that’s what they bring to the table. That’s what I like,” McClain said.

Alabama senior linebacker Cory Reamer said the game has usually decided who wins the SEC’s Western Division.

“Every year it’s come down to LSU and it’s been a big game and it’s always lived up to the hype,” Reamer said. “Each team wants it just as badly as the other, and they’ve got the same stuff riding as we do. It’s not any different for either team.”

LSU coach Les Miles said the Bayou Bengals are embracing the challenge.

“We enjoy going to Bryant-Denny Stadium. It’s one of the finest collegiate venues in the country. It has a great game day atmosphere,” Miles said.

“I think this team that we play is very talented and very well-coached. There are no weaknesses. ... Since I’ve been here, we’ve enjoyed games of significance. This certainly is that.”

Alabama is 8-0, 5-0 in the SEC. LSU is 7-1 overall, 4-1 in the league after losing at home to top-ranked Florida on Oct. 10.

“It’s just going to be a matter of who goes out there and executes,” Reamer said. “Like coach Saban says, who plays their best game.”

Saban has told his players to pay attention to executing their assignments — and nothing else.

“That’s got to be the focus of what we need to do,” Saban said throughout the week. “Not focus on the result, but focus on the process of things that you need to do to play the best football you can — individually and collectively.”

Quarterback Greg McElroy said this is the biggest game of the year because it is the next game. But he knows it will be special.

“It’s huge for us, it’s huge for the coaching staff, it’s huge for our fan base,” McElroy said. “It means a lot to play LSU on our home turf. I expect to have a lot of good support on Saturday from everybody around us.”

Alabama running back Mark Ingram said little things will make a difference.

“You can’t really focus on, ‘We’ve got to make this big play’ or ‘We’ve got to do this or got to do that,’ ” Ingram said. “We have to focus on the game plan, perfect it and execute it. Whoever does the little things right the most consistently wins the game.”

Reamer said despite the intensity, it is fun to play in games like this.

“You want somebody’s best. You want to be tested. You want to get out there and have somebody challenge you and be able to rise up to the occasion,” Reamer said.
“It’s something to look forward to because it’s such an intense rivalry. There’s always usually a pretty good bit riding on it.”