This past weekend the Alabama Football team avenged one of its losses from last season beating Tennessee 34-20, next Saturday they’ll have a chance to avenge its other loss when they face off against the LSU Tigers. The Crimson Tide lost last season’s matchup 32-31 in an overtime thriller in Baton Rouge. The loss gave the Alabama Football team its second loss of the season all but eliminating them from the playoff conversation. Entering this year’s matchup Alabama is once again 7-1 while LSU is 6-2 as they were when they entered the matchup.
This season’s matchup will look much different with many players departing on both sides. Alabama has a new quarterback, lead running back, new coordinators on both sides of the football, and many other players we didn’t see in last season’s matchup. For LSU, their leading receiver in last year’s matchup, Kayshon Boutte has left for the NFL as well as Bj Ojulari who ranked second on LSU’s team in sacks.
The Alabama Football team will have to win the key matchups as it did vs Tennessee.
Last week, the Alabama Football team won key matchups across the board with the biggest being Kevin Steele versus Josh Heupel. This Alabama Football team can’t afford to start slow again as it faces an explosive LSU offense. The Tigers are averaging 340 yards passing a game and 213 yards rushing a game. This is an opponent you can’t afford to get behind against, Alabama was able to overcome a 20-7 halftime deficit against Tennessee, but this LSU team is far more explosive. This game will be won if the Alabama defense can make their presence felt and they will have quite the challenge against the Tigers.
Kool-Aid Mckinstry and Terrion Arnold Vs Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr.
When the teams take the field, we will watch arguably the Nation’s best cornerback against arguably the nation’s top wide receiver. For LSU, Malik Nabers leads the country in yards with 981, while ranking in the top 10 in catches with 56, and top five in touchdowns with nine. As for Mckinstry, he’s only been targeted 27 times allowing 12 catches for 131 yards and a touchdown. Mckinstry has faced a gauntlet of some of the nation’s top wide receivers having to cover Xavier Worthy, Adonai Mitchell, Evan Stewart, Ramel Keyton, and Squirrel White.
The Secondary matchup to watch is Brian Thomas Jr versus Terrion Arnold. While their counterparts have cemented themselves among the nation’s best at the position Arnold and Thomas have flown under the radar. Brian Thomas Jr has 42 catches for 732 yards and 11 touchdowns which is the most touchdowns of any receiver in the country. Terrion Arnold has impressed improving massively since last season and has 40 tackles, a sack, six passes defended, and an interception to show for it.
For Alabama to come out on top in this game they’ll need the best performance of the season from Kool-Aid and Terrion Arnold as Nabers and Thomas Jr may be the nation’s best receiving duo. Against a similar matchup in Texas’ Adonai Mitchell and Xavier Worthy, the Alabama duo allowed the receivers to rack up 8 catches for 153 yards and three touchdowns.
The Alabama Football team has been led defensively by its star edge rusher Dallas Turner. Against the Tigers, he’ll face off against LSU’s sophomore Left Tackle Will Campbell. For those unfamiliar with Will Campbell, he’s been so impressive in his young career that Brian Kelly named him the player that would continue their tradition of the number seven given to the team’s top playmaker. This marked the first time the number was given to a lineman although, he’ll only wear a patch as he wasn’t allowed to wear the number by the NCAA. Campbell grades out as the third-ranked offensive tackle in the SEC per PFF.
Dallas Turner leads the Alabama Football team in sacks with eight which lands him fifth in the nation. Turner will have to pressure LSU Quarterback Jayden Daniels often as their passing attack averages 340 yards per game. If Daniels can sit back and pick apart the Alabama secondary it will be near impossible to beat this LSU team. The Alabama defense averages 3.6 sacks per game, they’ll need to continue their sustained pressures to slow down the LSU Offense and it starts with Turner. Jared Verse another one of the Nation’s top edge rushers faced off against Will Campbell and was only able to beat him cleanly once forcing a strip sack on Daniels.
True freshman Kadyn Proctor has had a very up-and-down season for the Crimson Tide. It’s a rarity to see a true freshman start for an Alabama Football team, especially in the trenches. Proctor will be tasked with his toughest matchup yet in LSU’s Harold Perkins. In last year’s matchup, Perkins was a game wrecker recording eight tackles, seven pressures, three QB hits, and a sack. To maximize Perkins’s impact Brian Kelly and LSU will likely have him rush against Kadyn Proctor rather than against JC Latham. Last week against Tennessee James Pearce was able to beat Proctor resulting in a strip sack that led to a Tennessee field goal. Tommy Rees will likely give Proctor help having either a tight end or running back chip and help in pass protection. It’ll be important that Proctor doesn’t allow Perkins to wreck this year’s game again as it will be a game the Crimson Tide needs to score in bunches to keep up with the LSU offense.
The most underrated matchup in this game and the matchup that’s been a weakness for the Alabama Football team in 2023 is the special teams battle. This season fielding punts has been an issue for Alabama, as they allowed multiple punts to bounce and be downed inside the ten-yard line. Alabama will have to find a way to fix this over the bye week as in the Tennessee game this could’ve been a major issue as Tennessee pinned Alabama on its own three-yard line late in the game.
In the kicking matchup Alabama will have a slight advantage in Will Reichard is 40-40 on kicks this season as he goes against Damian Ramos who’s 58-60 on the season. Alabama will have to limit LSU in the return game as Kaleb Jackson has flashed in the return game with a 60-yard kick return against Auburn two weeks ago. Alabama can ill afford to give away crucial yards in a game that will be a battle for four quarters. The team will need to focus on Special Teams in this matchup and make positive plays in the third phase of the game to let their defense and offense have the best opportunities possible.