As Alabama Crimson Tide vs. LSU games are supposed to be; Saturday night will be huge in Baton Rouge. The loser will be out of contention for the 12-team CFB Playoff field. An Alabama Football win will propel the two-loss Tide into a safe space on Tuesday night's first Selection Committee top 25 rankings.
On Monday, Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer put the LSU game in proper context, "Our backs are to the wall. We're going to scratch and claw like you've never seen." The Bengal Tigers will do plenty of scratching and clawing as well.
Unfortunately, DeBoer also had some bad news. He announced wide receiver and punt returner, Cole Adams is out for the season. DeBoer did not disclose which Crimson Tide player will assume the punt returner role. The primary candidates are true freshmen Ryan Williams and Jaylen Mbakwe. Neyland Stadium is a threatening environment for opposing teams, but the Tide's freshman duo has never experienced anything close to the hostile environment of Tiger Stadium on a Saturday night.
Alabama Crimson Tide Defensive Coordinator, Kane Wommack heaped praise on LSU's offensive players. Wommack stated that tight end Mason Taylor is "as good a tight end as we have seen this year." Alabama football fans will remember that Taylor caught the game-winning two-point conversion pass to beat the Crimson Tide in 2022.
Wommack also spoke highly of the LSU offensive line, led by Will Campbell and Emory Jones. Most of Wommack's praise of LSU was about Garrett Nussmeier. He talked about LSU's ability to make explosive plays being enhanced by the aggressiveness of Nussmeier. Wommack added that Alabama must force Nussmeier into bad decisions. "He's an aggressive player. Sometimes you live by the sword and die by the sword."
Aggressive Alabama Crimson Tide Defense
Alabama football fans might find it reassuring that Wommack's comments on Monday suggest an aggressive defensive approach against the Bengal Tigers. Alabama will not sit back and let Nussmeier pick the defense apart.
Alabama Crimson Tide Offensive Coordinator, Nick Sheridan also provided a peek behind the curtain of Alabama's game-planning for LSU. Noting the Bengal Tigers' success pressuring quarterbacks, Sheridan said, "The way you try to counter (LSU's disruptive front 7) is to stay out of obvious passing situations. Being efficient on 1st and 2nd down will be important."
Alabama Crimson Tide fans can be confident Bama will be ready on Saturday night. LSU will be too.