The college football game of the year takes place this weekend in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The rivalry will be renewed between LSU and Alabama. Will the Tide roll? Or will the Tigers Geaux? Tune in at 3:30 on CBS to find out!
2 LSU @ 3 Alabama -6.0 (3:30 PM)
Key Players:
Alabama: QB Tua Taigviola, RB Najee Harris, WR Jerry Jeudy
LSU: QB Joe Burrow, RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire, WR Justin Jefferson
Key Stats:
Alabama: 48.6 ppg, 338.6 passing yards per game, 127.4 rushing yards allowed per game
LSU: 46.8 ppg, 158.8 rushing yards per game, 97.9 rushing yards allowed per game
Preview: This game is the headliner not only for the weekend, but for maybe the entire college football season. The Tigers travel down to Tuscaloosa to take on the Tide in what should be an exciting high level matchup. Alabama star QB Tua Tagovaiola is looking like he will return this week from his ankle injury he suffered against Tennessee. He will be going head to head against LSU QB Joe Burrow, who leads a dynamic and high powered LSU offense for the first time in years. Both Tua and Burrow are Heisman candidates and figure to be first round picks in next years NFL Draft. But for now, the two will be battling it out down south and the winner will be in the drivers seat for the SEC West regular season title.
Over the past several years LSU has been great at producing defensive backs such as Tyrann Matheiu and Jamaal Adams, and Alabama has produced great receivers such as Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley. This game could come down to whether or not the LSU defensive backs can contain the dynamic receiving duo of Jerry Jeudy and DeVonta Smith. Tua has the arm strength where he can beat you over the top with these receivers or he can hit them on short routes and they can make the plays themselevs. LSU allows 217.5 passing yards per game, and if they can slow down the dynamic Bama receivers with a hobbled QB leading the Tide offense, they have a real shot to win this game.
Another reason to believe that the Tigers have a shot in this one is that Bama is giving up 127.4 rushing yards per game. If LSU is able to establish the running game against the Alabama front seven early in this gridiron matchup, it will allow Burrow to have more openings in the passing game and have deep passing plays available for the Tigers.
With all these telling stats that point to LSU having a real shot in this game, the Tide have an advantage in three major areas. Nick Saban is a better head coach then Ed Orgeron, Tua is better than Burrow, and Alabama is the home team. In a big matchup like this, those three advantages will be key. Tua might not be 100 percent, but his 85 percent is a lot better then most of the QB's in the nation. Look for Alabama to pound the rock with Najee Harris early and include their other RB's in the game plan as well. Bama will look to get the ball out of Tua's hands quick and limit the amount of hits he takes. This game will be close throughout due to LSU having an offense that can put up points this year, but in the end the Tide will prevail yet again.
Prediction: Alabama 27 LSU 23
*ALL STATS VIA ESPN*
Comments