BATON ROUGE — Yards and points are expected to be difficult to come by on Saturday as fifth-ranked LSU travels to face third-ranked Alabama in a match up of two of the nation’s top defensive teams.
As a result, LSU has focused its attention on eliminating negative plays on the offensive side of the football, while looking to contain running back Kenneth Darby and preventing big plays in the Crimson Tide passing game on the defensive side of the football.
Kickoff for the nation’s most anticipated college football game on Saturday is set for 2:30 p.m. at a sold out Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. The game will be televised to a national audience on CBS with Verne Lundquist and Todd Blackledge handling the call.
LSU goes into Saturday’s contest allowing only 13.9 points per game, while holding opponents to 295 yards of offense, which includes 107 yards rushing and 188 passing. LSU hasn’t allowed a touchdown in eight quarters and the Tigers haven’t yielded a first quarter TD since the Mississippi State contest on Oct. 1.
Alabama brings even a stingier defense into the contest as the Crimson Tide are allowing only 8.2 points per game and just 244 yards of total offense. The Crimson Tide hasn’t allowed a touchdown in 15-plus quarters, a streak that dates back to the first quarter of the Ole Miss game on Oct. 15.
“We have had a good week of practice,” LSU coach Les Miles said following Wednesday’s workout. “We started a little slow on the offensive side today and a little fast on the defensive side, but we finished with good tempo. We did the right things today and we got better as team.
“We have stressed (this week in practice) that we need to do the things that make an offense move the football like no negative plays, scramble for yards, rushing the football and making sure we put the ball where it’s supposed to be when we throw it. On the defensive side, we need to stop (Kenneth) Darby and give up no big plays in the passing game. Special teams need to continue to be a plus for us.”
Darby goes into Saturday’s contest ranked second in the SEC with 107 yards rushing per contest, which includes games of 100-yards or better five times this year. Last season, Darby rushed for 109 yards in the loss to the Tigers in Baton Rouge.
Miles said he expects the Tigers to go into Saturday’s contest trying to mix both the running game and the passing game in an attempt to be the first team to score a rushing touchdown against the Crimson Tide since Ole Miss nearly a month ago.
“You have to take your shots,” Miles said. “You have to make sure that you take the opportunities at big plays. Anytime that you play a team that is as good on defense as Alabama is, there is always that question, ?at what point in time do you put a back in the pocket, throw a deep one or do you rush it?’
“Hopefully, we will mix it up with just the right combination of run and pass.”
Miles noted that sophomore offensive guard Will Arnold returned to practice in a limited role on Wednesday. Arnold, who is expected to play against Alabama, has been out of action since late last week with a viral infection.
“We really only wanted to give him a partial go today to break him in a little at a time,” Miles said of Arnold’s work on Wednesday. “He will do some more work tomorrow and it appears that we will have him for the game.”
LSU will practice again on Thursday with a light workout followed by a walk-thru on Friday before departing for Tuscaloosa.