Alabama Football: Assessing LSU’s top-ranked offense

An Alabama Football defense that has been one of the nation’s best will face its most difficult test of the season when it attempts to slow down the LSU offense.

The Tigers’ offense, led by Mike Denbrock, leads the nation in points per game (47.4) as well as total offense (552.9) and yards per play (8.1).

The passing game gets the most attention, with Heisman-contending quarterback Jayden Daniels at the helm along with a slew of gifted pass-catchers. LSU fields two different receivers who were leading the nation in yards (Malik Nabers) and touchdowns (Brian Thomas Jr.) heading into week 10. The LSU passing game thrives on big plays, as Nabors, Thomas Jr., and WR3 Kyren Lacy all average north of 17 yards per reception.

Although the passing attack has been both efficient and dynamic, the strength of the LSU offense lies in its balance.

The Tigers implement a ground game that is underrated nationally, allowing them to control the ball and keep defenses guessing. Running back Logan Diggs (611 yards, six touchdowns) and Daniels (521 yards, five touchdowns) account for most of the rushing production. LSU also gets contributions from veteran backs such as Noah Cain, John Emery Jr., and Josh Williams.

The balanced nature of the LSU offense cannot be understated; the Tigers rank third in the FBS in both passing yards per game (339.9) and rushing yards per carry (5.8). A defense for Alabama Football that has also proven to be a complete unit will have the tough task of stopping this offense.

It goes without saying that the key to the LSU attack is Jayden Daniels. His true dual threat ability puts immense stress on opposing defenses, and allows everything else to open up. The Bama defense has had trouble at times defending mobile quarterbacks.

It struggled to contain Arkansas’ KJ Jefferson and Tennessee’s Joe Milton, both big signal-callers with long strides. While the slightly-built Daniels won’t be as tough to bring down, he is even faster than the other two and is deceptively elusive. The Bama defense will need to limit the damage he does with his legs, particularly on third downs, to make sure it can get off the field routinely.

Alabama Football will certainly have a game plan for the LSU offense. However, with both teams coming off the bye week having had extra time to prepare, it’s difficult to know what to expect in this game.