LSU vs ALABAMA PREVIEW

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By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN

Greetings, Tiger fans....

I'm not sure if you've noticed, but a football game is only days away....finally, after what feels like an eternally warped last week and a half of madness in and around LSU...some for the better, some for the worse, and other questions signifying the complete uncertainty of the current situation....

Still, there is a game to be played and play it these Tigers will....traveling to Tuscaloosa to face top 10 Alabama only a week after firing Head Coach Brian Kelly, Offensive Coordinator Joe Sloan, and multi-sport championship Athletic Director Scott Woodward, with former RBs Coach/Recruiting Director Frank Wilson now in charge of the program on an interim basis.

Suffering their 3rd loss in a historic beatdown at the hands of Texas A&M, Frank Wilson's Tigers will play for pride from here on out, with other changes including Alex Atkins moving to offensive coordinator and Cordae Hankton taking over Wilson's vacated Running Backs room.

This is a tough game to gauge....

If LSU is defiant, ready to spoil Alabama's season once again, if LSU can get Whit Weeks back in the lineup, if the Tigers can pick their heads up out of the mire from the past 2 weeks, then there's always a chance in this typically hard hitting, bloodthirsty, take no prisoners rivalry.

With the stale, failing habits of former Head Coach Brian Kelly only just fading in the rear view mirror, the main questions will be: "How 'bought in' is this team?"

"Will these coaching changes, most notably concerning Alex Atkins at offensive coordinator, deliver the goods???"

And, "will Blake Baker's defense be able to shake off a disastrous mid-season collapse for the 2nd straight season???"

Last season, LSU succumbed to a three game losing streak once November hit, dropping both A&M and Alabama in resounding, embarrassing defeat, before the Kelly-stained ineptitude culminated in a disgraceful double digit defeat against a 4-5 Florida team....

Now that LSU made these moves, firing Kelly, Sloan and making some drastic mid-season changes, there's a chance to stop the bleeding in 2025, at least save some face, and fight until the bitter end.

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2025 Alabama haven't been perfect, Lord knows, following their opening week "backseat diaper implosion" at the hands of crumbling 4-4 Florida State (currently 15th in the ACC), or their tepid attempts at a rushing game (averaging just 3.7 yards per carry on the ground with a leading rusher barely over 300 yards), however....Kalen DeBoer's 2nd year at Alabama has seen his squad grow into a fine, if not boringly effective top 10 squad.

Going through a gauntlet of a regular season schedule, beating 4 straight top 15 teams (including wins on the road @ Georgia & Mizzou), Alabama continues to ride the unexpected rise of QB Ty Simpson, tossing well over 2,000 yards, 20 touchdowns and just a single interception thus far in 2025, while WRs Geremie Bernard and Ryan Williams combine for 9 TDs and over 1,000 yards.

Alabama's short passing game is what worries me most....targeting linebackers and safeties across the middle, in the flat or from the backfield with a dizzying array of fakes, motions, play action, delayed routes by tight ends, etc, all a worrying matchup for LSU's defense (after Marcel Reed and Trinidad Chambliss' surgically effective aerial playmaking vs the Tigers).

LSU safety Tamarcus Cooley co-leads the team with 2 interceptions on the season, yet he's been picked on in coverage more than any other Tiger, allowing the most touchdowns of anyone on Blake Baker's defense, as well (3).

You've also seen LSU linebackers or Harold Perkins get ripped in coverage over the past few games, but against Ty Simpson, a smooth operator when using an opponent's blood curdling pass rush against themselves (throwing right into pressure, attacking the vacated spaces left behind by onrushing defenders) and a smart offensive playcaller in Ryan Grimm, Baker's linebackers, edge rushers, and safeties need to deliver or it could be yet another long night for the Tigers.

Finally facing a prototypical pocket quarterback for once, I expect elevated performances from Blake Baker's defense.

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Meanwhile, we have zero idea what we'll get exactly from interim offensive coordinator Alex Atkins, or how QB Garrett Nussmeier will react in the wake of Joe Sloan's departure....it is almost hard to imagine the offense becoming even worse.

Everything depends on the Tigers' O-line, alongside any offensive line changes made by Alex Atkins over the past 2 weeks.

LSU will not win @ Tuscaloosa with the same tired offensive line schemes, the same lack of physicality, or the same lineups up front....we know we'll see a few changes, although....can they run the ball enough to stem the entitlement-soaked Tide?

This is going to be a game won by the more exacting squad....

Pure passion, team ethos, and desire won't be enough on the road in Tuscaloosa, facing a top 10 team licking their chops after LSU's wildly historic past 2 weeks, from the beatdown at home by A&M, to the firing of Kelly, Sloan and Woodward, the installation of Verge Ausberry as athletic director, there is a lot going on for the Tigers, sure, but this is a chance for Frank Wilson's squad to finally get back to the task at hand...the reason they committed to LSU: playing against the best opponents, on the biggest stages, and suiting up in purple and gold.

LSU is facing a daunting task on Saturday night, but I don't expect a victory....not after all the dramatic changes & online fury of the past 14 days...

What do I expect?

LSU have a mission....Head Coach Frank Wilson's men must fight like hell, make a game of it, hold their own against Alabama within the trenches, and restore some dignity to the jersey....

LSUODYSSEY WILL HAVE A FINAL PREDICTION & PREVIEW SHOW ON FRIDAY EVENING!!!

JOIN US & HIT YOUR NOTIFICATIONS!!!

By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN

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