BATON ROUGE – Two of the top defenses in college football will be on display on Saturday in Tiger Stadium when 10th-ranked LSU hosts sixth-ranked Alabama in a game between teams who are looking to stay alive in the Southeastern Conference Western Division race.
Kickoff for LSU and Alabama is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. and the game will be televised to a national audience on CBS. The winner of the LSU-Alabama game has gone on to claim the SEC Western Division title four out of the last five years. LSU beat Alabama in 2005 and 2007 and won the division title those years, while Alabama did it in 2008 and 2009.
Auburn, which is 6-0 in conference play, holds the tiebreaker over LSU and would need to lose twice in order to fall out of the league title game. LSU must win its remaining three conference games in order to have a shot at appearing in the SEC title game, while Alabama, which plays Auburn in the season-finale, is 4-1 and can advance to the SEC title game by winning its last three league games.
For LSU, it’s a one game at a time approach starting this week with Alabama. LSU goes into the contest against the Crimson Tide well-rested and eager to get back on the winning track following its 24-17 loss to Auburn two weeks ago. Both LSU and Alabama were off last week.
LSU goes into the game ranked No. 1 in the SEC in total defense and passing defense, while Alabama is first in the league in scoring defense and No. 2 in total defense.
Against the Crimson Tide, the Tigers will continue to use a two-quarterback system in an attempt to get the offense on track. The LSU offense has looked good at times under both Jordan Jefferson and Jarrett Lee, but has also sputtered. LSU coach Les Miles said Jefferson, who is 9-1 as a starter in Tiger Stadium, will start against Alabama.
“We need to play both quarterbacks and play to the strengths of both Jordan and Jarrett,” Miles said. “I think both Jordan and Jarrett have had two good weeks of preparation leading up to this game. I like the way we’ve thrown the ball in practice. Now we need to translate that into throwing it better in the game on Saturday. I am confident that we will be able to throw and catch it, but I’ve felt that way before.”
Both players have had their moments this year – Jefferson rushed for 74 yards and a TD against Auburn and Lee guided a late fourth quarter comeback with his passing against Florida. For LSU to have success against the Crimson Tide, the Tigers will need the combination of Jefferson’s legs and Lee’s arm to be at their best.
Defensively, the Tigers will be challenged by perhaps the best running back tandem in college football in Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson, along with a quarterback in Greg McElroy who has a 21-1 record as a starter and one of the best receivers in the country in Julio Jones.
“They are very good in all areas of their offense,” Miles said of Alabama. “(McElroy) makes few mistakes and makes all the throws. He has very talented targets to hit. We are very respectful of his abilities and our defense will look forward to matching their skills against Alabama’s.”
“You have to pick your spots on defense. Their running game is very difficult to stop without adding guys to the box and trying to clog it up in the middle. That makes those receivers one-on-one targets and that’s how their running game opens up the passing game.”
LSU will have a scaled-down practice on Thursday afternoon followed by a walk-thru on Friday.