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Alabama Football: Welcome back, Crimson Tide defense with LSU shutout

By Ronald Evans

BATON ROUGE, LA - NOVEMBER 03: Joe Burrow #9 of the LSU Tigers tires to avoid a sack during the second half while playing the Alabama Crimson Tide at Tiger Stadium on November 3, 2018 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Alabama won the game 29-0. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
BATON ROUGE, LA - NOVEMBER 03: Joe Burrow #9 of the LSU Tigers tires to avoid a sack during the second half while playing the Alabama Crimson Tide at Tiger Stadium on November 3, 2018 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Alabama won the game 29-0. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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Alabama football dominated the No. 3 ranked LSU Bengal Tigers the old-fashioned way Saturday night, with a suffocating defense.

Saturday night, in Tiger Stadium, Alabama football threw out the script about the 2018 Crimson Tide. The old script was about college football’s most dynamic offense, accompanied by a below-average Crimson Tide defense. Evidently, the members of the 2018 Alabama football defense had grown weary of all the attention being garnered by their teammates on offense. What better place than Baton Rouge to write a new story? And that is just what the Crimson Tide defense did.

How good was the Tide’s defense against LSU? Staggeringly good! The LSU Bengal Tigers had 11 offensive possessions. The first nine ended in punts. The tenth was a missed field goal. The last possession ended with a Mack Wilson interception. The Bengal Tigers rushed for a net 12 yards.

Only in the Big 12, where defense is shunned, can a team compete without a rushing attack. Not in the SEC, where top teams still consider running over opponents as a badge of honor. The Alabama football front seven was so dominant against LSU, it became almost pointless for LSU to attempt to rush. Even taking away the negative yards from Joe Burrow sacks, the LSU running backs averaged only 1.46 yards-per-carry.

Speaking of sacks, the Crimson Tide dumped LSU’s quarterback five times. In addition, the Tide defense had 10 tackles for a loss, seven pass breakups, two QB hurries and the interception. Alabama football defensive lineman, Quinnen Williams was sensational, making a case for being the nation’s best. Williams made 10 tackles, seven of them solo. He had 2.5 sacks and 3.5 tackles for a loss.

The Bengal Tigers’ only viable offensive option was to pass. LSU threw 35 passes for a total of only 184 yards. In route to the shutout, LSU converted only five of 16 third downs. The strongest weapon for LSU was its punter who averaged 43.1 yards on his nine punts.

LSU head coach, Ed Orgeron called the Crimson Tide defense “overpowering” and added,

"(Speaking about pass protection) We tried everything we possibly could… we just got beat."

Beat. Badly… by a Crimson Tide defense seeking to reverse its role of playing second-fiddle.

The LSU defense and particularly its defensive coordinator, Dave Aranda earned a tip of the hat. Holding the Crimson Tide to 29 points without much help from their offense was an accomplishment.

Nick Saban said on Thursday night he wanted his football team to choose to kick some ass. Nick got just what he wanted Saturday night. The only negatives coming from the game were injury concerns. Henry Ruggs III and Najee Harris left the game with ankle injuries. Tua appeared to tweak his knee again while celebrating his touchdown run. After the game, Nick Saban said none of the injuries were severe.

Next. Five Bold Predictions for the Crimson Tide in November. dark

What’s next? The pesky Bulldogs, a scrimmage and then another somewhat meaningless Iron Bowl. After which it is back to Atlanta… and likely beyond now that the Crimson Tide defense has written a new script.

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