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LSU wrap-up: Bama makes physical statement in suffocating win over Tigers

At one point in the run-up to Alabama’s game against LSU on Saturday night, the rental live tiger that had been secured for this game by LSU school officials appeared to be sleeping in his cage.

A fitting scene, especially since the Tigers themselves fell asleep at the wheel in the game that followed, allowing Bama’s Jalen Milroe to run all over them for the second consecutive season. The result this time was much the same as the first time Milroe was allowed unfettered access to the second and third levels of the LSU defense.

Alabama imposed its will upon LSU. For fans who had been clamoring to see more old-school, smashmouth football, the last two weeks have been like listening to a favorite musical artist’s greatest hits album. Alabama shut out Missouri two weeks ago by a 34-0 score, and were 11 seconds away from shutting the LSU offense out of the end zone, too, before Brian Kelly chose to leave his starting offense in the game well after Alabama had pulled its starting defense in favor of young subs.

The late touchdown in a 42-13 stomping may have disappointed Alabama’s defensive assistants, but as a practical matter, it really didn’t matter. Alabama had just finished stuffing the results down the Tigers’ mouths, and suddenly the remainder of the season looks a lot more manageable.

Jalen Milroe put up a total of just 109 yards through the air (on 12-of-18 passing), but added 185 yards on the ground and scored 4 touchdowns. Moreover, he directed a physical attack that seemed determined to set the tone early and often. Alabama took the fight directly to the LSU defense, and responded in kind to hold LSU to 104 yards rushing on 24 carries, a respectable 4.3-yard average but nothing special. Alabama, meanwhile, put up a total of 311 yards on 48 carries (6.5 average) and scored 6 touchdowns on the ground.

Maybe Alabama was trying to make a statement; maybe it wasn’t. But whether or not the Crimson Tide tried to say something specific to LSU, its actions spoke much louder than words.

Kalen DeBoer’s offensive system has been praised heavily for its ability to change to meet the needs of different teams’ offensive personnel. At times in 2024, Alabama has had a problem establishing both an identity and a purpose. Over the last two weeks, though, the Crimson Tide has grown more determined to be a run-first team with a noticeable physical presence. This approach would seem to be likely to serve Alabama well over the last three weeks of the regular season, but can the Tide advance far in the College Football Playoff without a truly dynamic passing attack?

If Alabama continues to beat teams into a pulp the way it did Saturday in Baton Rouge, that may be a question that doesn’t really need an answer.

Here’s the Five-Point Breakdown for Alabama-LSU:

  1. Bama OL played its game of the year, especially against LSU’s interior DL. We talked in the preview about how LSU’s defensive line, while statistically productive, was unbalanced. The defensive ends were often found making big negative plays, but the interior tackles had been average at best due to offseason talent loss and then a set of injuries. Alabama went directly at that weakness, and it showed up vividly in Jalen Milroe’s stat line. Bama’s guards were able to go hunting for work at both the first and second levels of the LSU defense, and if it wasn’t for the solid play of LB Whit Weeks, the middle of the LSU defense would have looked like the aftermath of an encounter with a live grenade. Weeks put up 15 tackles, a TFL and a pass broken up, but he couldn’t do everything. Gio Paez, one of LSU’s top defensive tackles, was held to a single tackle. Bama yielded no sacks to any Tiger. It was a mauling.
  2. Milroe’s athletic ability again too much for the Tigers to stop. We would say LSU simply didn’t have an answer for Milroe out of being unfamiliar with his skillset, but Milroe romped against LSU last year, too. Milroe was able to goad defenders into getting out of position pre-snap, then ran by them once he had the ball, getting them to overrun angles or take themselves out of the play. Milroe needs to be more consistent with his inside running approach, and future games need to look as much like this one as possible. He hit on all cylinders against LSU.
  3. Campbell, Lawson led the way for Bama defense and answered a lot of criticism. Jihaad Campbell led Alabama with 12 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 1 QB hurry and 1 PBU. It was one of the most complete stat lines for a Tide defender in many years, and his strip-sack of Garrett Nussmeier in a key situation was huge. Lawson was second on the team in tackles with 7, including 1 tackle for loss and what might have been the biggest single play of the game, an interception in his own end zone on a drive upon which LSU looked certain to score. We’ve been highly critical of Alabama’s linebackers for failing to take good angles, make good run fits and generally fail to live up to preseason billing, but this was a masterclass in inside linebacker play tonight.
  4. Alabama DL exploited LSU’s injuries at guard and kept Nussmeier in a state of frustration. Again pulling from our game preview, Alabama was able to put LSU’s interior OL in bad positions throughout the night, keeping the Tiger running game to average levels and affecting Garrett Nussmeier’s focus. Alabama dumped Nussmeier twice for sacks, and also forced a fumble, along with a couple of QB hurries and pass break-ups. We talked before about how Alabama might try to avoid confrontations with LSU’s fine offensive tackles and instead take the fight to a much less experienced interior OL, and that’s just what Bama did – to great effect.
  5. Playcalling was focused on establishing the run, setting the tone and then leveraging matchups, Both DeBoer and offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan deserve kudos for having a coherent idea of how to attack LSU, and then committing to doing it by the book. Bama continued to work the belly of LSU’s defense all night, even when it appeared to be a tough assignment. Alabama was 10-of-13 on third-down conversions, a testament to patience, resiliency and effectiveness.

Follow Jess Nicholas on X at @TideFansJessN

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