Defenses Should Lock In As LSU Takes On Alabama

LSU vs. Alabama, 7:30 ET

College Football has been fantastic to watch this year. More than most years in recent memory, the field is wide open for who could win the National Championship. The best team in the nation, Ohio State, has barely any buzz around them this season because they've played a fairly boring schedule. They are likely to repeat, but there are plenty of teams that would at least have a shot against the Buckeyes. Two teams that had title hopes when entering the season square off today as LSU takes on Alabama.

Losing costs a lot of people jobs. That seems like a pretty obvious statement, but consider the ripple effect of one big program losing games. LSU enters today's game with a 5-3 record, and they are just 2-3 in SEC play. They've lost three of their past four games, and it cost their head coach his job. While I'm not arguing about LSU firing their coach, I would fully expect their quarterback and some key players to transfer out or lose their roles this season to see what the team has remaining as they build for next year. The coach being gone also means that most coordinators will be looking for new roles as well. The bottom line is that LSU didn't get the job done. They dropped a game to Ole Miss on the road, then they beat South Carolina. The next two games have been against ranked opponents, and they couldn't get it done in either of them. They fell to Vanderbilt by seven, and then lost at home last week to Texas A&M. Outside of beating Clemson in the season opener, LSU has lost to all ranked teams and now faces another this week. They can still make a Bowl Game depending on how they finish, but this season had higher expectations, and they didn't reach them.

BATON ROUGE, LA - NOVEMBER 23: Garrett Nussmeier #13 of the LSU Tigers in action against the Vanderbilt Commodores on November 23, 2024 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Gus Stark/LSU/University Images via Getty Images)

Alabama was a bit of a concern for some folks to start the year. They dropped their season opener to Florida State in a loss that looks worse and worse by the week. However, that is the lone blemish on their record. The Crimson Tide dropped that opener by 14 points, so it wasn't even like it was close. They did go through a gauntlet of good teams, facing Georgia on the road and winning, Vanderbilt at home and taking them down by 16, Missouri on the road by three, and hosting and defeating Tennessee by 17. There have certainly been some close calls, and some questionable decisions for the team, but they are in the driver's seat for the remainder of the year if they can win out. They have a very winnable remaining schedule with three games at home and the lone remaining road game at Auburn. The big thing to me is that the Alabama run game is doing very little. Their offense just doesn't look very explosive. They've had just one game with a rusher gaining over 100 yards, and only two games with receivers over 100 yards. 

It is hard for me to imagine that Alabama is just going to steamroll LSU, but I also have to wonder if the Tigers have given up on the season. Playing at Alabama is never an easy feat, and that is what is staring down LSU today. I lean to taking the points with them because it is still a matter of pride, and there are coaches/players fighting for their job. Plus, Alabama hasn't done a great job of demolishing teams. However, I think that is a better indication to take the under. As I mentioned, Alabama doesn't have the best offense. LSU isn't stopping many teams, but perhaps their gameplan can be to run the ball and milk some clock to keep it closer. I'll take the under for this one. 

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