Alabama takes the field against LSU

BATON ROUGE, La. — Something is going to give when top-ranked Alabama visits No. 15 LSU today.

The Bayou Bengals (6-2, 3-2 SEC), eager to welcome Nick Saban back to Tiger Stadium for the first time as Alabama’s head coach, have defeated the Crimson Tide five straight seasons and seven times in the last eight meetings.

Alabama (9-0, 5-0) takes a 10-game winning streak into the game, tied for second-longest in the nation behind Texas Tech (11). The Crimson Tide can clinch the SEC West title with a victory.

Alabama will play with the No. 1 ranking for the first time since 1980, when it ended an eight-week run as the nation’s top-ranked team with a 6-3 loss to Mississippi State.

Imposing Tiger Stadium is known for providing LSU a tremendous home-field advantage. However, LSU is 1-4-1 against top-ranked teams at home.
ESPN GameDay will be on hand. The Tigers are 5-1 when the pregame show broadcasts from Baton Rouge — and 8-2 overall. The Crimson Tide is 5-7 in GameDay appearances.

And all of that, Nick Saban will tell you, has nothing to do with the outcome of this game. The real answer comes up front, at the line of scrimmage. In fact, this will be as physical game as Alabama will face this season.

“They are a very talented team with a lot of good players. They are as good as anybody in our league, regardless of their record,” Saban said.

LSU coach Les Miles is still looking for a 60-minute effort from his team. The Bengal Tigers’ two losses came against Florida and Georgia, when they gave up a combined 103 points.

“The key for us is that we play four quarters of football, from start to finish and without lapses on offense, defense and special teams,” Miles said. “That’s what our push is, to play our best game versus arguably the best opponent that we’ll face.”

It will be a battle won up front. LSU junior running back Charles Scott averages more than 111 yards per game, second in the SEC. LSU is 26-0 under Miles when rushing for 100 or more yards and holding its opponent to fewer than 100 yards.

Alabama, however, leads the league in rushing offense (205 yards per game) and rushing defense (65.5 ypg). Saban said LSU’s defense is at its best when the Tigers pressure the quarterback. They are more dangerous if they can do that without blitzing linebackers.

“I think they have three or four significant rushers, especially edge guys. Tyson (Jackson), (Kirston) Pittman as well as Rahim Alem, all three guys are very good edge rushers,” Saban said. “They’ve got speed, they can move, they can turn speed to power.

“It’s important that we do a good job of not letting those guys affect the game when four guys rush because that is going to help their coverage element, and that makes it more difficult when a team can do that.”

Crimson Tide senior defensive end Bobby Greenwood said he feels a sense of urgency to snap the losing streak against LSU.

“I’ve got to get a win against these Tigers,” Greenwood said. “Death Valley has a great atmosphere down there. It’s going to be loud, and it’s always a good game. We’ve got to get a win. It’s definitely a big game for us. They’ve got a strong offensive line and a real strong back, we just have to contain them and make them one-dimensional.”