On November 4th, Alabama football gets to show their dominance over LSU in prime time, in front of the country on a national broadcast.
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According to Christopher Dabe of NOLA.com, “The SEC announced a 7 p.m. start time on CBS for the game that commonly carries with it a chance for either team to hold a lead in the SEC West. The schools have played in prime time every year since 2011 and on CBS every year since 2007. The game this year is in Tuscaloosa.”
LSU coach Ed Orgeron was quoted saying, “It’s a big deal […] LSU-Alabama, it doesn’t get bigger than that. We’re going to worry about that when we come back from our break on that Sunday. … I know they’re going to be up for the game. It’s going to be a challenge. We’re going to be up and ready to go.”
That’s nice. However, as with much of the competition in the Southeastern Conference in recent times, the hype for this game is mainly billed from years past as opposed to this current team.
Yes, because LSU’s conference record is 3-1, if they were to upset Alabama then they would hold the lead in the SEC West by way of a tiebreaker from the head-to-head victory. Yet, Alabama’s 8-0 overall record, 5-0 in the SEC, suggests that LSU is not as scary as it has been before.
LSU’s two losses were to Mississippi State (7-37) and the Troy Trojans (24-21). Troy’s two losses came from South Alabama and Boise State, not exactly powerhouse programs. LSU has improved since then, beating Florida (17-16), Auburn (23-27), and Ole Miss (40-24); however, these victories did more to debunk Florida and Auburn’s glory and just confirmed Ole Miss’ ugly season. It did not do much to make LSU look too dangerous.
In fact, Halloween has looked much scarier than anything that Alabama football will have to face this fall. Except, maybe, itself:
As Dabe points out, “Alabama has an average winning margin of more than 30 points, and the Tide has scored 41 points or more in all five home games this season.” LSU has scored 41 of their points from turnovers, so the fact that they still only score 27.4 points per game does not mean much. Alabama almost never turns the ball over, with their only two interceptions coming in the same game by unlucky chances. The only fear would be the punt returners, who have bobbled the ball on numerous occasions.
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LSU’s defense has allowed 20 points per game to sub-par opponents, making Alabama look like a juggernaut in comparison. With the plethora of running backs to choose from, the Crimson Tide will look like the Grim Reaper as they hack through the D-Line. The LSU defense has given up 4.4 runs per carry to teams who have mainly looked to the passing game to pick up yards.
This game may be what people in Louisiana have been waiting for, as they continue to want revenge against Nick Saban for leaving them for the NFL and, quickly, returning back to college football under Alabama colors. However, the hype machine is what is making this game a prime-time event. The game is being looked at as a pre-Mayweather-Pacquiao slugfest, but will likely have the same outcome of overwhelming disappointment for LSU or neutral fans after it is over. The only difference may be that Pacquiao (represented by LSU, in this case) may actually get knocked out at the end of the fight.
Next: What will happen in Alabama's second half of the season?
Alabama football hopes to give their fans what they want: a flawless victory by a clear knockout, in front of the prime-time national spotlight.