Loser leaves town
GEAUX!!!
Playing Nice: Zach Junda and Brent Taylor
Playing Dirty: Evan Saacks and Brent Taylor
Three Specific Predictions: Saul Garcia
For the first time in my six years with this website, I head into the Alabama game thinking “I hope we win!” or “I think we win!”, I’m heading into this game thinking “I expect LSU to win.”
Alabama is just another good team nowadays. The aura of invincibility has been fading for years and now that You Know Who isn’t on the sidelines anymore, it’s gone completely. I’ve seen this Alabama team struggle at Vanderbilt and Tennessee, so why on Earth should I expect them to suddenly figure out their road woes in Death Valley, at night, when LSU is fighting to keep its season alive?
LSU being a home dog in this game is absurd to me. They have the better quarterback, a better head coach—in my opinion at least, I’m not sure how the rest of y’all feel—a defense that’s spent the last week stewing on getting carved up by a quarterback with the same skillset as Jalen Milroe, and, again, they’ve got the home field advantage. Now LSU being at home didn’t matter when Alabama came to town in 2012, ‘14, ‘16, ‘18, or ‘20, but this Bama team ain’t those Bama teams.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying LSU isn’t without their flaws. The last time we saw them they were averaging about one yard per carry on the ground, Garrett Nussmeier had a second-half short circuiting for the ages, and the defense (by Greg Penn’s own admission) looked like they had never practiced against a quarterback that’s just as much a running threat as he is a passer. Alabama’s probably more talented than LSU top to bottom, sure, but not so much so to have a near 70% win probability per ESPN’s analytics. To me, Alabama’s getting far too much credit for the names on the front of their jerseys, rather than the backs and the days of “well it’s Alabama” are over.
“This is Death Valley, this is where opponents’ dreams come to die,” quipped Les Miles once upon a time. Tonight, I think we’ll add another team to the Death Valley graveyard.
Final Prediction: LSU 31, Alabama 24