The League: Can LSU turn Tide?

<p>Welcome to Alabama-LSU. Complete with LSU prank calls, Nick Saban bashing and championship hopes.</p><p>But this time around, both coaches are looking to steer clear of those distractions. Saturday’s game features a No. 9 LSU (7-1, 4-1 SEC) team traveling to No. 3 Alabama (8-0, 5-0 SEC), and that’s how they want to keep it. </p><p>“The game should be about the players and it’s going to be a great game,” Saban said. </p><p>Whether Alabama’s coach discusses it or not, the outcome of this game will be pivotal in the SEC championship race. </p><p>With a win, Alabama would take a two-game lead over LSU, clinching the West with two SEC games remaining. A loss would make for identical records, but give the Tigers the edge in the head-to-head department. </p><p>The Crimson Tide would then have to win at Mississippi State and Auburn and would need LSU to lose either at Mississippi or against Arkansas. </p><p>To take control of their destiny, LSU coach Les Miles said the Tigers have to find the soft parts to Alabama’s game. </p><p>“It’s not where their strength is,” he said. “It’s where their weaknesses are. Right now, we’re having a difficult time pointing them out.” </p><p>Destroying those weaknesses, not clinching the West, is the primary focus for Saban’s team. </p><p>“You’ve created a great opportunity for yourselves, so now let’s focus on playing the best football of the season and everybody get prepared to do that,” he said. “That’s what great competitors do and that’s what we’d like our players to do.” </p><p>Alabama and LSU rank second and third in the SEC in scoring defense. The Tide is holding opponents to 11.4 points, while the Tigers allow 12.1. Alabama’s giving up a little more than 240 yards per game (second in the SEC) and LSU ranks fourth in the conference at 293. </p><p>Saban said he can’t predict the direction Saturday’s game will go, but the game has the makings of being a grind. </p><p>After scoring 34 or more points in its first five games, Alabama has averaged 18 points in its last three games. In that stretch, the Tide are averaging 322 yards of total offense as opposed to the 460 yards it averaged through the first five games. Alabama also has six turnovers in the three-game span. </p><p>Conversely, LSU’s offense has picked up recently. The Tigers still rank last in the conference in total offense (325.1 yards a game), but they’ve averaged 415 yards and nearly 37 points in the last two contests since their 13-3 loss at home to No. 1 Florida in early October. </p><p>Miles attributed quarterback Jordan Jefferson’s managing improvements on the field and the increase in confidence out of his players to the offense’s revival, but he’s quick to point out the talent difference the Tide present. Match that with his defense, and this should be a slugfest. </p><p>“I suspect there will be two very good defenses on that field,” Miles said. “It’s hard to figure out exact scores, but I suspect both offenses will move more slowly than they’d like.” </p><p>With LSU’s road success this year and the bond Miles said his team has formed in the last few weeks, his confidence is high as he prepares his team to enter what should be the most hostile environment his players will see all season. </p><p>“I like this team on the road,” he said. “This team has come together and has played with poise on the road several times this year. I just want us to play like we play. If we do that, I like how we’ll represent ourselves and, certainly, the outcome.”</p>