2015 Common Opponents Preview: LSU

We’re on the home stretch folks. Only three more Common Opponents left. The LSU Tigers are the fifth team in our 2015 Common Opponents Preview series.

2014 Recap:

Nick Saban upped his record in Tiger Stadium to 3-1 as Alabama’s coach. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Alabama played yet another classic against LSUeaux in 2014. Although it didn’t have the hype of the 2011 “Game of the Century”, the contest was plenty exciting. The game was in Death Valley and the Crimson Tide prevailed 20-13 in Overtime.

On a night where Blake Sims didn’t play his best, the Alabama defense was able to hold off the Tigers long enough.

LSU jumped out to a 7-0 first quarter lead, only to have Alabama take a 10-7 lead into the half. After three quarters of play, the Tigers had tied it up 10-10 setting up what looked to be an epic fourth quarter. I can confirm that the situation did not disappoint, things stayed deadlocked at ten heading into the final few minutes and that’s when all hell broke loose.

TJ Yeldon fumbled deep in LSU territory with just over a minute left, robbing us of some prime JK Scott action. LSU then proceeded to do the most LSU thing possible when Vadal Alexander was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. The flag sent the Tigers back to the 21-yard line, and they were only able to get a field goal out of it.

The 3 points gave LSU a 13-10 lead with only 50 seconds left; which at the time was not a good thing for Alabama considering how Blake Sims had performed up until then.

LSU proceeded to kick the ball out of bounds on the next play giving Alabama the ball at the 35. Blake Sims worked some magic and got Alabama in field goal range to try and even up with score. Based on past performances I was sure we would miss the kick and lose the game, but much to my surprise I was wrong. Adam Griffith nailed the 27-yarder and we were headed to OT.

In overtime, Sims connected with DeAndrew White for the 7 point lead and the defense held for a well fought Crimson Tide victory.

Alabama came away with a tough road victory in 2014 against the Tigers.

Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Thank god LSU didn’t have an adequate quarterback or this game could have and probably would have turned out different. LSU signal-caller Anthony Jennings ended up with a measly 76 passing yards on a night where LSU could’ve used just a little bit more.

2015 Look Ahead:

The Crimson Tide will host the LSU Tigers on November 7^th in Tuscaloosa. No official time has been set for this to my knowledge, but I’d have a hard time believing this won’t be CBS’s Primetime game for the year. In the case, get ready to hear Uncle Verne add crazy Cajun accents to everyone’s name.

Both teams will have a bye week before this game; Alabama will face Tennessee before the bye and LSU will be hosting Western Kentucky before theirs.

Key Losses/Returnees:

For the first time in a while LSU actually returns most of their starters, until they inevitably do something stupid before the season starts. They did, of course, lose some players to the NFL, but not the usual annual event where every junior on the team declares. In the end they lost four draftees and La’el Collins; Collins probably would have been a first-rounder but he ran into some police questioning at the wrong time.

Leonard Fournette is an absolute beast, but will he be enough to keep the Tigers relevant in 2015? Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Superhuman running back Leonard Fournette will be back for the Tigers in 2015. Their QB situation looks about as bad as it did last year (Hey Tigers, miss Jarret Lee yet?). Even as bleak as the QB situation seems, LSU, much like Alabama, doesn’t need an all world QB to get to Atlanta. All in all, LSU will still be really good and you can almost certainly bank on them giving Alabama a good game.

Alabama leads the all-time series 49-25-5 and has won four straight against the Cajun Corndogs, including a National Championship, remember that Tigeuxers? The Tide will look to push that streak to five on November 7^th in a game that will almost certainly play a big part in who represents the SEC West in Atlanta.

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