Alabama Safety Talks LSU and Defensive Mindset During Bama’s Second Bye Week

Alabama fans everywhere will tell you that this bye week came at the perfect time. The Crimson Tide recently endured one of the most difficult five-week stretches in recent history, taking on four consecutive ranked opponents to start conference play. After four straight wins against teams ranked no lower than 16th, their reward was a trip to one of the more underrated venues in both the conference and the nation. Williams-Brice Stadium and the South Carolina Gamecocks gave Alabama all they could handle and then some last Saturday. It took a pair of late touchdowns, including a two-point conversion on the first, to secure a 29-22 victory and a 5-0 start in SEC play for the Tide. To say this bye week was needed would perhaps put you in the running for understatement of the year.

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Alabama’s next opponent is none other than the Bayou Bengals themselves, the LSU Tigers. Since the turn of the century, this game has carried significant implications that have been felt throughout the college football landscape. The winner of the matchup that increased in intensity after Saban's hiring at Alabama in 2007 usually went on to represent the SEC West in the conference championship game, but that was never the final destination of either team. Ever since Nick Saban left his mark on either of these programs, it’s been championship or bust every year.

This year, however, things look a little different in Baton Rouge. Brian Kelly was fired less than 24 hours after an embarrassing home loss at the hands of Texas A&M, the Tigers’ third loss of the season. It isn’t the end of the world at LSU to lose three games in a season, but if the third loss arrives before November, that’s a different story. Although Kelly won at least nine games in each of his first three seasons, he failed to do something that has seemingly become a must to keep your job. All three coaches before Kelly won national titles within their first four seasons. I say this to illustrate to all who may not be familiar with LSU that they are a proud program, and even in the midst of a down year, they will still step into the arena as a talented, motivated, and highly dangerous group of individuals.

Now, I’m no betting man, but if I had to take a gamble on it, I’d say the Tigers are preparing for next Saturday’s game with the sole intention of playing spoiler to one of the hottest teams in the country. Alabama has played at an all-world clip since the abomination of a loss to Florida State, but that’s no reason to take its foot off the gas pedal. Alabama believes that if they can do their jobs on November 8th, it will be enough to come out of that game with yet another victory. Don’t believe me? Ask starting safety Keon Sabb, who had this to say when asked about his keys to victory against LSU.

“Just play our game and do our job. Defense, just being gap sound, and offense just doing their job as well," Sabb said during Thursday's media availability. The Crimson Tide tends to keep things simple when discussing what it takes to win, as almost every conversation I’ve ever had with any player has revolved around simply doing their job. It’s a testament to the culture and identity the team has taken on this season, more so than anything else.

Outside of the obvious rivalry at hand, next Saturday’s matchup presents us with another storyline: LSU’s first step out of the Brian Kelly era. Teams that are playing their first game after firing a head coach are hard to prepare for; you don’t know what kind of emotional fire the team will bring to the game, and you have no way of knowing what kind of wrinkles the interim coaches will implement into the game plan.

Sabb says that while preparation will mostly remain the same, they’re still anticipating both differences in gameplan and attitude from the LSU sideline, “I think we’ll practice the same, film-wise, they may have some different wrinkles from a different coaching staff. I think they’ll come out with a lot more fire because they’re fighting with their backs against the wall.”

If LSU wants to earn only its second victory in Bryant-Denny since 2011, it’s going to take the entire program’s best performance of the year. I say program instead of team because in a game like this, the Tigers’ coaching staff will play just as crucial a role as any player that steps on the field. One thing is for sure: interim head coach Frank Wilson will never forget his first game as LSU’s head coach, as it will take place in one of the great cathedrals of college football, under the spotlight as one of the nation’s most entertaining games of the year.

Alabama will host LSU on Saturday, November 8. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT.