INSIDE SLANT
For the first time in three years, the talk leading into the annual Alabama-LSU game was not about Nick Saban coaching his old team, or LSU's Les Miles coaching against the man he replaced in Baton Rouge.
This time, the game seems to be enough.
No. 3 Alabama (8-0, 5-0 SEC West) hosts No. 9 LSU (7-1, 4-1 SEC West) Saturday in Bryant-Denny Stadium, where the Tide has not beaten the Tigers since 1999 ... although Alabama did beat LSU in Baton Rouge last year.
At stake is simply first place in the SEC West. If the Tide wins, it clinches the division championship and a spot in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta against Florida, which clinched the Eastern Division title last week.
And, of course, almost every believes that the winner of the SEC championship will be one of the two teams that play for the BCS national championship at the Rose Bowl in January.
But while LSU's offense has been improving -- the Tigers have scored 31 and a season-high 42 points in the last two games -- Alabama's offense has been going in the opposite direction, going from 38 points four weeks ago to season-lows of 22, 20, and 12 in the previous three weeks.
Tied into Alabama's drop in production seems to be a passing game that is struggling, and Saban made it clear what he wants to see from QB Greg McElroy this week -- throw the ball deep.
"It's a point of emphasis for us," Saban said.
"We need to do it. Just because we don't have success doesn't mean it doesn't have an effect on the game. We used to play the Raiders when I was in pro ball. They'd have two fast guys. They were going to throw them the ball five or six times in a game and they were going to run deep down the field and you had to cover them.
"That guy that's playing them, whether they catch it or not, it makes him play different all the other plays in the game. It's not just about the results sometimes. It's about how it affects everything else."
In other words, if Alabama is going to get back to cracking open opposing defenses -- starting with LSU on Saturday -- McElroy has to give them something more to worry about than just stopping tailback Mark Ingram and the Tide running game.
McElroy says he believes the passing game has been fine in the past three weeks. He said he hasn't thrown deep because the defenses haven't given him the chance to do so, and McElroy is justifiably proud of having thrown only three interceptions, tied for fewest in the league.
Saban, however, sounds like a coach who would rather see his quarterback take a few more risks.
"To me, you want to play aggressively and think (about) what you have to gain -- that's your motivation," Saban said.
"I know it's easy to say, but that's what we would rather focus on rather than creating a lot of fear and negative motivation about, 'Here's what's going to happen if you don't,' or 'I'm going to threaten you with what's going to happen if you don't.'
"That doesn't work with my kids. It doesn't work with my players. It doesn't work with anything."
Or, as Saban said, "If we're going to go down, let's go down guns a-blazing."
This is clearly the time to do it.
NOTES, QUOTES
--What does a football coach do with an off-week?
Try to be normal.
Alabama coach Nick Saban said he got away for a day, "but I also took my computer," he said. "I had a lot of tape to watch. I really watched some football games, some baseball games on Saturday. I really enjoy seeing what everybody in the world goes through on Saturday rather than what I go through: watch a bunch of games, flip back and forth on the channels, have about four going at the same time and a baseball game while my wife yells at me the whole time because we're not watching what she wants to watch."
--Over the past 22 games, Alabama has held 19 opponents to less than 100 yards rushing and is giving up an average of 71. 36 rushing yards per game. This season, only Kentucky has managed more than 74 yards rushing against the Tide, which has not allowed an individual back to gain more than 100 yards since 2007, when Ole Miss' Ben-Jarvis Green-Ellis went for 131 on Oct. 13, 2007. That's a span of 27 games.
--TB Mark Ingram leads the nation with 32 rushes of 10 or more yards, and has eight receptions for 10 or more yards. Of Ingram's 172 touches this season (153 rushes, 19 pass receptions), almost a quarter have gone for at least 10 yards. In addition, according to school stats, Ingram has 645 yards gained after initial contact this season.
SERIES HISTORY: Alabama leads LSU, 44-23-5 (last meeting, 2008, 27-21 OT Alabama).
SCOUTING THE OFFENSE: The key to Alabama's success continues to be time of possession. Alabama leads the SEC, averaging 32:35 in possession time. The Tide is plus-40 in fourth-quarter scoring, allowing just 21 points while scoring 61. And the Tide offensive line has allowed the fewest sacks in the SEC -- eight in eight games. SCOUTING THE DEFENSE: Alabama continues to have one of the most dominant defenses in the country. Telling stat: The Tide has allowed only five touchdowns to opponents in 14 trips inside the red zone. Those five touchdowns rank second nationally in fewest allowed in the red zone, and limiting opponents to just 14 red zone chances is the fewest in the SEC.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "I'm not going to insult anybody here, in terms of talking about this game, but like every other game we play this year, this is the most important game we've played all year long because it is the game that we play this week." -- Alabama coach Nick Saban, sticking with the party line that every game is important, despite the fact that the Tide can clinch the SEC West title with a win Saturday.
STRATEGY AND PERSONNELTHIS WEEK'S GAME: LSU at Alabama, Nov. 7 -- It's a game between two top-10 ranked teams that will likely determine who wins the SEC West and goes to the SEC Championship Game. LSU has had the upper hand in the series recently.
KEYS TO THE GAME: Both defenses have been dominant, with Alabama allowing only 11.4 points per game and LSU 12.1 points per game. So the question is, which quarterback -- Alabama's Greg McElroy or LSU's Jordan Jefferson -- steps up and has the bigger game? McElroy's numbers have been on a slide since the first five games of the season, while Jefferson has played his best recently, although those efforts came against Auburn and Tulane. Tide coach Nick Saban wants McElroy to take more chances; LSU coach Les Miles wants Jefferson to be more careful. We'll see whose strategy pays off.
PLAYERS TO WATCH:
RB Mark Ingram -- He remains in the Heisman Trophy conversation, leading the SEC with 125 yards per game (6.6 per carry average) and eight touchdowns.
PK Leigh Tiffin -- He leads the league in scoring, averaging 10.5 points per game, connecting on 20 of 23 field goals and 24 of 26 PATs.
CB/KR Javier Arenas -- He leads all SEC defensive backs in sacks with four, has 8.5 tackles for loss and leads the SEC in punt returns (16.8 yards per return).
ROSTER REPORT:
--LB Jerrell Harris continues to get in the rotation at outside linebacker, which means he could become a pass rusher in passing situations to add depth to a position that misses injured LB Dont'a Hightower.
--TE Colin Peek sprained a knee during warm-ups for the Tennessee game when DE Lorenzo Washington accidently fell on him. Peek is listed as day-to-day going into the LSU game.
--CB Dre Kirkpatrick and TB Terry Grant both have been limited in practice with pulled muscles.
Previous Report: 10/28/2009
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