For all of the Video games of the Century and Saban Bowls, all of the SEC West battles and nationwide championship matchups, there has by no means been an LSU-Alabama battle just like the one about to unfold this weekend. The School Soccer Playoff truly begins Saturday evening in Demise Valley.
Alabama (6-2, Three-2 within the SEC) travels to Baton Rouge to face LSU (6-2, Three-1) with, in all chance, a CFP playoff spot on the road. Though the 2 groups have equivalent data, Alabama was ranked No. 11 within the CFP's first division and LSU was No. 15, which additionally obtained votes, primarily due to Alabama's September win over Georgia. However because the win slips additional again, Alabama and LSU should keep away from that essential third loss.
The 2 groups have met 88 instances since 1895, with Alabama main the rivalry 56-27-6. No season defines the Alabama-LSU rivalry like 2011, when No. 1 LSU beat No. 2 Alabama 9-6 within the common season … after which, due to the magic of upsets, voters, computer systems and the BCS, a rematch. Alabama Highway in January. Eight years later, with LSU and Alabama once more ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, the Tigers' Joe Burrow edged out the Tide's Tua Tagovailoa, knocking Alabama out of the playoff hunt as a part of absolutely the dominance of LSU on the 2019 school soccer season.
This 12 months, school soccer gamers are in Georgia and Oregon, not Alabama and Louisiana. The Tigers and Tide each struggled with inconsistency and focus main on to the 2 losses. LSU fell in its opening sport towards what turned out to be a foul USC workforce, then dropped the battle for the SEC result in Texas A&M. Alabama received hammered by Tennessee State, shedding in a classic upset to Vanderbilt after which operating out of fuel towards the Volunteers.
Each coaches stated all the correct issues earlier than the sport. “Each week within the SEC is an unimaginable problem and one we're going to have to satisfy with our greatest sport of the 12 months,” LSU head coach Brian Kelly stated this week. “Numerous pleasure that GameDay is right here and positively a nationally televised sport in prime time creates plenty of pleasure. However with that, you must do an important job together with your preparation and deal with enjoying 4 quarters of excellent soccer.”
“I see a workforce that has nice athletes, offensively, defensively, explosively,” Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer stated of LSU. “Nicely educated. We've been via fireplace, dwelling, away, shut video games.”
The Tide ready to play in one of the vital hostile environments in school soccer. “The offense is sick of listening to, the final two weeks, a talker,” DeBoer stated on his “Hey Coach” present. “I will need to have misplaced a few of my listening to within the final two weeks.”
It may be for the very best, given the phrases Tiger followers could have for the Tide. There's a little bit of hateful incongruity right here; LSU followers have a tendency to think about Alabama their most hated rival, whereas Alabama followers rank LSU effectively behind Auburn, Tennessee, and presumably even Georgia on the record of most hated packages. That's partly as a result of Nick Saban left LSU for the NFL after profitable a championship for the Tigers … then turned again and returned to the SEC West when Alabama opened a financial institution vault for him in 2006.
Alabama's relative disregard for the Tigers comes from the truth that, effectively, the Tide took Saban … and likewise the truth that Alabama largely owned LSU throughout the Saban period; The Tide had a 13-5 document, together with the nationwide championship sport, towards LSU since Saban's first season at Alabama.
However Saban is not on the sidelines, even when Kelly means that Saban remains to be “the person backstage” at Alabama, as Kelly put it this week. “I don't wish to take something away from Coach DeBoer as a result of it's his workforce,” Kelly added, “however you’re feeling a bit of little bit of Nick there.”
Alabama might use a bit of of the previous Saban magic on the sidelines; the workforce's inconsistency and ineffectiveness ran via the blood on each side of the ball. Quarterback Jalen Milroe already has as many interceptions (6) as he did all of final season. And Alabama as a workforce ranks 128th out of 134 in penalties per sport; solely Ole Miss is worse within the SEC.
In the meantime, LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier is prospering; he leads the SEC in each completions and makes an attempt, and his 20 touchdowns are seven greater than Milroe's so far. (An odd footnote: Nussmeier's father, Doug Nussmeier, was Saban's offensive coordinator on the 2013 nationwide championship workforce when Alabama blew out a Notre Dame workforce coached by … Brian Kelly. “Yeah, talked about it,” Kelly laughed Wednesday. “And I informed him to close up and cease saying it.”
Alabama is a 2.5-point favourite going into the sport, however it's value noting that Kelly is 13-Zero in as many evening video games at LSU. Somebody's going to destroy another person's 12 months in Demise Valley Saturday evening, just a bit sooner than typical.