Is Alabama better than LSU...

Despite Tide loyalty you have to wonder...

Hightower is one tough player...

     I read that in game one of the of the LSU game the Crimson Tide was able to move the ball inside of the LSU 30 yard line 9 times. That means that 'Bama scored 6 points when they might have scored 63 points. Hmm... that doesn't speak well for the offense.  I know it is fashionable to wear Crimson Colored Glasses along with your game day jersey, but does it seem to you that 'Bama has struggled on offense to some degree all season? It seems that way to this writer. Fluid has never been a term associated with any Nick Saban offense. The words workmanlike and efficient are used a lot to describe the Alabama pro-set offense. It also seems to me that anytime the Tide has the ball inside the 20 yard line (aka - the red zone) the word struggle comes to mind. When you have had a back like Trent Richardson running the ball you have to wonder exactly what gives?  I know the defense can key on Trent but  that means the passing lanes should be there for the picking. The loss of two players, Julio Jones, and Duron Carter, had a bigger impact on the Tide's offensive woes than most Tide fans want to believe.

Great Stats...
     The numbers are there to indicate a really dominating offense. Despite the numbers it seems the offense tends to sputter when you'd like them to run like a fine tuned engine. Part of that might be the Alabama belief that you want your quarterback to "not lose" the game instead of winning the game. The coaches don't telephone me asking my coaching advice but I've always wondered why you can't have both. I do know this - LSU has improved on offense since game one and I'm not sure we have. The game plan against Auburn gave me some hope that the Tide has more in the game plan than we've seen this season. The use of the tight ends will work against almost any defense, and certainly should work against a hard pursuing LSU team. The LSU defensive ends and corner backs are superior to Auburn's counterparts as much as day is different from night.
At any level it always appears that the tight ends are an afterthought on offense. I'm not sure how 'Bama's success against Auburn with the tight ends will effect LSU's run defense. The defensive ends and outside linebackers can't just ignore Brad Smelly and company. That will like give Richardson, Lacey, and Fowler a little more room to gains a few more yards. A few more yards may be all the Tide needs to beat LSU this time.


Home Field Advantage...

     I continually hear from LSU fans that the Super Dome will be Death Valley South. I don't buy into that primarily because Alabama fans are going to find a way to buy pretty half the tickets. I had four. They were on the forty yard line. I sold two so Alabama power can now rest easy about my power bill for a few months. Why anyone would pay that much money for a couple of football tickets amazes me. Besides most of the pre-game activities in New Orleans involves avoiding fights, having a fight, or breaking up a fight. I'd prefer to stay home and scream loud enough to scare all my Auburn neighbors to death. That plus, the closest hotel room you can find is somewhere around Hattisburg, Ms. In my younger days I'd have gone in a heart beat. I did make sure that the two tickets were going to 'Bama fans. I was offered almost 20% more from two LSU businessmen but that wasn't going to happen. No way that would ever happen. Instead, my cousin is coming down from Huntsville to watch on our HDTV. We normally would have gone to the game in New Orleans together but his pre-game activities involve not involving fights, actually fighting, and his firm belief that actually breaking up a fight in progress violates every know rule of Southern Men. I will not embarrass him with the story of the $600.00 bar bill after the last national championship game. Let me give the younger patrons of any bar on Bourbon Street some advice - never say next round is on you, drunk or sober.

National Championship - only
the SEC needs apply, as # 6 is in the
BAG...


Back to Tider Insider

     As always my stories tend to wander a bit and this one is no exception. So let me sum up what I wanted to say before - either Jordan Jefferson or A.J. McCarron is going to win or lose this game. This isn't going to be three yards and a cloud of burning astro-turf. I think both teams are going to wind it up and let it fly. It's the only way the Tide can win. I hope our kicking team and special teams prove me wrong. That's the part it seems shaky to me...

Early hunch... Alabama by one?