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By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN
LSU vs Alabama....
...College Football Playoff spots on the line, a place in the SEC Championship Game up for grabs...
....6:30pm....
....early November....
....Tiger Stadium......
Does it get any bigger than this???
A matchup & setting that has turned many a great player into stone cold legends...a theater of battle that is among the most physically violent in the sport.
At 6-2, Brian Kelly's Tigers would usually be out of the playoff or championship hunt just as the November slate arrives....but 2024 isn't like other years.
Taking on fellow 2 loss Alabama inside the confines and chaos of Tiger Stadium's thunderdome theaterdream, LSU have a second chance at making a serious run.
Due to the complete madness & parity of the SEC, top 10 A&M (who strode into Columbia undefeated in the conference after pasting LSU a week ago) became chicken feed by the end of proceedings as South Carolina destroyed the Aggies. This loss, just like a bunch of others during this wild campaign, opened up the SEC Championship race yet again to the very real possibility one or both of the SEC title game participants will carry 2 losses down to Atlanta.
Could that 2 loss squad actually be Brian Kelly's LSU Tigers???
Well, it seems the entire nation wants to know the same answer to that question, as College GameDay will be back in Baton Rouge next Saturday for the first time since 2019, as will longtime LSU commit Bryce Underwood the nation's #1 QB from the 2025 class, joining a long list of other national figures finding their way down to Louisiana for what should be an ultimate feast of footballing delights.
Much will be made of how first year Alabama Head Coach Kalen DeBoer handles his Death Valley debut, while on the other side of the coin, this should be a moment where LSU's star power coaching staff delivers the goods.....
Regardless of where you land on the LSU-Alabama battle line, I feel there's some mystery & mischief ahead on Saturday night, with both squads posing a myriad of questions:
LSU should hold the coaching edge, but will Blake Baker's defense be able to contain or even stuff the legs of running QB Jalen Milroe, who torched the Tigers last season for a career high 155 yards and 4 rushing TDs???
Will the Tigers' offense finally find their groove regarding their own rushing game, which has let LSU down in too many big situations against top opposition during the Brian Kelly era?
Which team will fight with the most brutality & savagery inside the trenches???
Will this be a defining game in the LSU careers of Will Campbell & Emery Jones Jr, a night where the program's most talented bookend tackle tandem take over the line of scrimmage with savage demarcation???
Which QB will make game-altering mistakes, LSU's Garrett Nussmeier or Alabama's Milroe?
Which secondary group brings it more on the night, in coverage & when it comes to hitting???
Will Alabama have an answer for Whit Weeks or Bradyn Swinson's game-changing capabilities?
On a night where every yard matters, will Slade Nagle's special teams unit find their way back to consistency after a horrorshow outing vs A&M???
Many questions, unknown factors or possible surprises abound everywhere on both rosters, however.....there is one certainty going into Saturday night:
In a nailbiter, Death Valley will always tip the scales in LSU's favor, especially in recent times: Brian Kelly's Tigers haven't lost a home game since a blowout to Tennessee on October 8th, 2022 (winning their last 14 outings inside Tiger Stadium).
Following 2 bad losses in a season full of growth, frustration, triumph, and just about every other human emotion for LSU's veterans, we've seen the rise of elite young talents (gaining priceless experience as they hold their own during SEC play), we've witnessed massive injuries to key players continuously limit the Tigers' depth, we've endured & celebrated gritty (even ugly) victories, we've seen the worst & the best this group are capable of and still I'm not sure if I have any sensible clue what this squad will do with 4 games left and every postseason goal there for the taking.
As familiar as I am with 2024 LSU's individual Tigers, when they combine as a team on Saturdays, I can't help but feel we've been treated to an embryonic version of what this team could really become....
...led by Blake Baker's defense that not only flashes collective & individual brilliance, turnover or havoc creation, but low points totals, making LSU competitive in every game; Then you have Joe Sloan's offense that should be far more explosive through the air, and was anything but dominant on the ground for the bulk of 8 games.
Most would look at these facts, an uneven, inconsistent offensive unit, plus a defense that, despite showing improvements, is still capable of getting gashed when you least expect it, a special teams battery featuring a limited range kicker & confidence-shaken punter, complete with catastrophic errors in defeat vs A&M (that came straight from the Brian Polian 2022 Greatest Hits CD), and you would probably say, "this team is still a year away from complete championship contention"....and yet on Saturday night, LSU hold in their hands one more stoned gold opportunity to take that next step right now....this fall.
The real, ultimate question is:
Will Brian Kelly's 3rd year LSU squad possess the fight, the craftiness, the football IQ, the emotional control, and the killer instinct to make the jump???
OUR IN DEPTH PREVIEW PART II & PREDICTIONS COMING NEXT
By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN
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