BATON ROUGE — LSU and Alabama – teams who have won two of the last three national championships – will try to remain in the hunt for the 2010 national title on Saturday when the Tigers and Crimson Tide square off in Tiger Stadium.
Kickoff for the Tigers and the Crimson Tide is set for 2:37 p.m. in a sold out Tiger Stadium. The game will be televised to a national audience by CBS and can be heard on the LSU Sports Radio Network. LSU and Alabama, who both had an open date last week, bring identical records of 7-1 overall and 4-1 in league play into the game.
It’s the fifth time in the last six years that either LSU or Alabama go into the game with just one loss or undefeated. LSU has been 7-1 going into the Alabama game four of the last five years, while the Crimson Tide has been undefeated three times during that span, including the last two years. It’s also the third time since 2005 that both teams go into the game ranked in the top 10.
LSU Football Live Updates: Twitter | Facebook | Stats | Audio | CBSsports.com Video
The LSU-Alabama game is one of the two biggest games in college football on Saturday as its joins the Utah-TCU contest as the only two this week involving top 10 teams. LSU goes into the Alabama game ranked No. 10 in the BCS standings, while the Crimson Tide is No. 6. TCU and Utah features as No. 3 vs. No. 5 matchup.
 |
GameDay Info LSU vs. Alabama | GameDay Central GameDay Forecast Times of Interest 8 a.m. Buy and Print Tickets Online 8:30 a.m. Club-Level and Suites open at Tiger Stadium 11:45 a.m.
12:45 p.m. Presentations:
Guest Captains |
“I can tell you that we look forward to big games, and whenever you line up against Alabama, it’s a big game,” LSU coach Les Miles said. “It is one in which will be approached with the mindset of let’s just play and let’s enjoy how we play. Let’s prepare well so we can let it rip and let our best team present itself. I think this will be a lot of fun and I think our guys are looking forward to playing a very physical football game on Saturday in Tiger Stadium.”
For LSU, Saturday’s game represents another opportunity to validate a season that has seen the Tigers play dominate at times, but then sputter on other occasions.
Despite how its looked from week to week, LSU remains winners of seven of its first eight games and is in position, along with some help during the final three weeks of the regular season, to still achieve the goals it started the season with. In order to reach the SEC Championship Game, LSU must win its remaining three league games and Auburn must lose to both Georgia and Alabama.
 |
 |
| LSU At the Game programs are available on campus three hours prior to game time and online while supplies last. |
“We are taking it one game at a time and not looking beyond that,” Miles said. “Alabama presents a tremendous challenge on both sides of the ball for us. They have a very talented offense led by perhaps the best running back tandem in college football in Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson along with a quarterback who makes great decisions, can make all the throws and is an outstanding manager of the game.
“They also have one of the best, if not the best, receiver in college football in Julio Jones.”
The Tigers will combat an Alabama offense that is averaging 34 points and 440 yards per game with a defense that leads the league in both yards allowed (277) and passing yards allowed (149). The key for the Tiger defense will be getting off to a good start, which is something that they’ve done so far this year. In eight games this season, LSU has allowed just three first quarter touchdowns and they haven’t allowed any points on the opponents opening drive.
“I expect our defense to match up and play a very good football team against a very quality opponent,” Miles said. “We are very respectful of their passing game and their running game is difficult to stop without adding guys into the box and trying to clog it up in the middle. That makes those receivers one-on-one targets. That running game sets up that passing game. You have to pick your spots.
“Our defense will look forward to matching their skills against Alabama’s.”
Linebacker Kelvin Sheppard leads the Tiger defense with 73 tackles and 3.5 sacks, while defensive tackle Drake Nevis has 40 tackles, 11.5 tackles for losses and 5.0 sacks. Nevis has been named the SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week a league-high three times this year.
Offensively, the Tigers will continue to go with a two-man rotation at quarterback with Jordan Jefferson and Jarrett Lee sharing snaps. Jefferson, who is 16-6 as a starter which includes a 9-1 record in Tiger Stadium, will get the start. Jefferson has started all eight games this year.
If the Tigers are to have success against Alabama, they will have to throw the ball well in an effort to free up running back Stevan Ridley. LSU is averaging 179 rushing yards per game – fifth in the league – but just 139 passing yards per game – last in the SEC.
“We threw the ball well in practice this week,” Miles said. “We need to translate it from throwing well in practice to doing it in the game. I am pretty confident we will be able to throw it and catch it, but I’ve felt that way before.”
Lee has been LSU’s most accurate passer, completing 44 of 64 attempts for 448 yards and a pair of scores. Lee has thrown just one interception. Jefferson has thrown for 623 yards and two TDs, but he’s also thrown eight interceptions.
Terrence Toliver and Rueben Randle lead the Tigers in receiving with 25 catches each. Randle has 344 yards receiving and two TDs, including a 51-yard scoring reception against Auburn, while Toliver has 311 receiving yards and a pair of scores, both of which came in the win over Florida.
When the Tigers aren’t throwing the ball, they will turn to Ridley, who ranks second in league in rushing with 723 yards and six TDs to his credit. Jefferson has also shown the ability to run the ball, as he scored on an 83-yard run against Tennessee and he led the Tigers in rushing with 74 yards and one TD against Auburn.
Special teams will likely also play a factor in the game as LSU features one of the top return men in the nation in Patrick Peterson, who leads the SEC in punt returns (19.7 avg.) and is second, along with Alabama’s Richardson, in kickoff returns with a 25.2 average.
The Tigers also have an outstanding kicking tandem in punter Derek Helton and placekicker in Josh Jasper. Helton is averaging 44 yards a punt, while Jasper ranks second in the SEC in field goals with 14 this year.
LSU Football Notebook
- Over 600 credentials have been distributed for the Alabama game. In addition to CBS, other national media covering the game include ESPN.com, AOL Fanhouse, Sporting News, the New York Times, CBSSportts.com, Yahoo Sports, and Sports Illustrated.
- LSU is 14-1 in games following a loss under Les Miles.
- LSU has only lost back-to-back games one time under Les Miles that coming in November of 2008 when the Tigers fell to Ole Miss and Arkansas in consecutive weeks.
- LSU is 6-0 this year and 42-6 under Les Miles when scoring first. The last time LSU lost a game despite scoring first came against Alabama last year.
- Under Les Miles, LSU is 5-0 when returning to Tiger Stadium for a game that immediately follows a road loss.
- LSU coach Les Miles has a 23-9 mark in games decided by 8 points or less.
- Since 2001, LSU is 9-0 in games that follow the Auburn contest. Of those nine wins, five have come against SEC opponents, including a 41-34 win over Alabama in 2007.
- LSU hasn’t given up a rushing TD and a passing TD in the same game this year.
- LSU has allowed just 2 first quarter TDs over its last 11 SEC games dating back to last year. Tennessee and Auburn (both this year) are the only two SEC teams to score touchdowns against LSU during that 11-game league span. In its last 11 SEC games, LSU has held opponents to a total of 26 first quarter points – Auburn (7), Tennessee (7), Ole Miss (6), Arkansas (3), and Florida (3).
- Under Les Miles, LSU is 21-2 when having a 100-yard rusher and the Tigers are 34-0 (and 6-0 in 2010) when reaching the 100-yard rush mark as a team and holding the opponents to less than 100 rushing yards as a team.