After struggling with stopping Texas A&M's Marcel Reed, the Tigers now have the challenge of stopping Jalen Milroe. Last year when LSU faced Alabama, Jalen Milroe ran all over LSU rushing for 155 yards and four touchdowns adding 219 yards passing. Now that Jalen Milroe has better weapons on the outside, his passing numbers are picking up making him a more dangerous player.
At running back, Alabama has a two headed monster in Jam Miller and Justice Haynes if the Tide decide to run often. On the season, Miller leads the Tide in rushing with 450 yards on 72 carries averaging a whopping 6.1 yards per carry. Justice Haynes has been solid for the Tide as well with 350 yards and five touchdowns averaging 6.4 yards per carry.
Greg Penn III, Whit Weeks, and Major Burns will play a massive role in slowing Alabama's run game. If the Tigers learned anything from last year's game it's that the Tigers will need to deploy a spy to discourage Milroe from running and that will likely be the job of Whit Weeks or Major Burns. When the Tide do go with the traditional run game, Whit Weeks and Greg Penn will need to fill the rush lanes fast as both running backs have big play ability.
The Crimson Tide's wide receiver room is filled with weapons all of which bring a different skill set to the table. If you've watched an Alabama game you've heard countless times about 17 year old Ryan Williams who leads the Tide with 702 yards and 7 touchdowns as he picks up 20.1 yards per catch. Germie Bernard is right behind him as a reliable receiver for Jalen Milroe as he's racked up 463 yards and two touchdowns. Outside of the leading duo, LSU has the reliable Kobe Prentice, a massive deep threat in Emmanuel Henderson, and a do-it-all player in Kendrick Law.
This weekend, Zy Alexander and Ashton Stamps may have their biggest test of the season when they try to slow Ryan Williams and Germie Bernard. When opposing defenses have knocked Ryan Williams off his game its been because they played the freshman physical which should be LSU's key. When Alabama's receivers do catch the football, the Tigers need to bring them down on the first tackle attempt as the Tide have killed teams after the catch.
The tight end position has been solid for Alabama helping cover up their lack of a true third wide receiver. CJ Dippre has been a reliable safety blanket for Jalen Milroe during his two years in Tuscaloosa ranking third on the Tide in yards this season. Robbie Outzs will come into this game as a reliable blocker especially as the offensive line has struggled. In the passing game Josh Cuevas hasn't been used a ton but, he's a player that can beat defense deep.
The play of the safeties will be so vital in this game for LSU as the Tigers will need to limit the number of big plays the Tide hit on.
The biggest weakness on Alabama's offense and maybe on their entire roster has been their offensive line especially at the tackle position. The Tide haven't been able to find a full time right tackle after losing JC Latham to the NFL Draft and its been an issue for the Tide. Jalen Milroe has been sacked 16 times this season but, the pressure has also kept Alabama from creating explosive games.
This has to be one of the biggest showings by Bradyn Swinson and Sai'vion Jones if LSU is going to slow this Alabama offense. The Tigers will need to set a solid edge to keep Jalen Milroe from escaping the pocket while both edge rushers should have a ton of opportunity to sack the quarterback.
LSU wins this game by creating pressure
When Tennessee knocked off Alabama it did it by pressuring Jalen Milroe, sacking him three times, holding him to just 11 rushing yards, and forcing two bad interceptions. Blake Baker loves to bring pressure and this may be the best game to do it against a struggling offensive line and a quarterback that has shown he's prone to turnovers. If the Tigers allow Jalen Milroe rushing lanes and time to throw the Tigers will not win this game while their chances to win improve each time they heat up Jalen Milroe.
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Note: Stats via ESPN