Hello and Roll Tide!

On Saturday, Alabama defeated the LSU Tigers 31-13 in Death Valley. A top-15 road win proved the committee right having ranked the Tide #5 in the country. Alabama’s game plan worked perfectly, using Kiffin’s aggressive play calling against him. Kalen DeBoer is now 3-0 against the Tigers as Alabama’s head coach. Next season Alabama and LSU will not play in the regular season for the first time since 1963. The Tide will boast a 4-game series winning streak when LSU visits Tuscaloosa in 2028. Below are injury updates, depth notes, an LSU recap, and Week 10 storylines revisited. Let’s go!

Injury Updates:

• Zabien Brown exited after playing only 22 snaps; he is QUESTIONABLE for Vanderbilt • Josh Ford suffered a season-ending knee injury late in the 4th quarter • William Sanders was listed as “game-time-decision” but did not play against LSU • Keelon Russell is considered day-to-day as he is nursing an ankle injury

Depth Notes:

• Mal Waldrep replaced injured Will Sanders at left guard, taking all 55 offensive snaps • Lotzeir Brooks recorded only 26 snaps as he dealt with a minor injury • Trae’shawn Brown and Daniel Hill handled all but 1 RB snap with 31 and 23 respectively • Carmelo O’Neal handled 58 snaps, covering for a banged-up Zabien Brown • Devan Thompkins led the defensive line with 52 snaps, followed by London Simmons and Terrance Green who each recorded 41 • Xavier Griffin had a big role, recording 32 snaps • Fatutoa Henry recorded 39 snaps, backing up Devan Thompkins

Week 10 Recap: LSU Tigers

Offense – Alabama’s offense was effective right out the gate, marching 50-yards and converting a field goal on the opening drive. The run game complimented screen passes that kept the defense guessing. Kaleb Edwards picked up 25 yards on a tight end screen due to a great play-action sell by Keelon and the offensive line. Keelon was fantastic all night tricking the defense with play-action, read-options, quick screens, and scrambles. He was an efficient 17 of 24 passing for 206 yards and 3 touchdowns. Keelon added 25 yards with his legs. He often operated a busy pocket but showed patience and poise, taking what the defense gave him. His biggest highlight came immediately after LSU took a 13-10 lead: the pocket slid to the right, he waited for Ryan Coleman-Williams to clear out the safety, stepped up and delivered a strike downfield to Rico Scott who added yards after the catch for a 58-yard gain. Keelon delivered the dagger with 9:44 left in the 4th quarter finding Ced Morgan for a 25-yard touchdown. Alabama capitalized on a 32-yard punt return by RCW. Trae’shawn Brown and Daniel Hill combined for only 16 carries and 50 yards (3.1 ypc) as Alabama’s run game continues to struggle. In response, Alabama ran quick outs and screens that picked up short yardage. Keelon distributed the ball to 9 different receivers. Rico Scott and Kaleb Edwards lead the group with 3 catches each. Late in the 4th, Rico set a legal pick (the pass was behind the line of scrimmage) which opened up Kaleb for a 4-yard touchdown. Ryan Coleman-Williams was involved in multiple ways. Ryan scored the first touchdown for Alabama as Keelon faked a handoff and flipped it to RCW who ran counter to the play, tricking the defense and walking into the end zone untouched. While he only recorded 2 catches for 14 yards, often Ryan was running downfield opening up routes for others. While Alabama only totaled 285 yards of offense, they executed their game plan effectively. Alabama controlled the ball for 27:15 while running only 55 plays; LSU ate up 32:45 of clock while running 81 plays. Alabama sustained long drives and scored effectively.

Defense – Kane Wommack took the bend-don’t-break approach Saturday as Alabama’ defense allowed 380 total yards but only 13 points. Kane was comfortable allowing LSU to complete short passes in front of the defense, trusting that the defense would stand tall in pressure situations. They did just that. LSU was 0-4 on 4th down conversions. Correlated to this, LSU scored on only 3 of 5 red zone trips. Much of Alabama’s success came by pressuring LSU’s quarterback Sam Leavitt. Alabama pressured Leavitt on 25 drop backs and sacked him 4 times. Starting with the defensive line, Devan Thompkins recorded 6 pressures (2 sacks), London Simmons had 2 pressures, Kedrick Bingley-Jones had 2 pressures, and Terrance Green had a sack. Devan Thompkins dominated the LSU front. With Terrance Green back, the two of them found themselves in more 1-on-1 situations. These monsters often beat their man straight up, causing Leavitt to hurry. Yhonzae Pierre came back to life, pressuring Leavitt 4 times and recording a sack. Behind them, linebacker Luke Metz led the team with 11 tackles and Caleb Woodson recorded 8. Freshman Xavier Griffin pressured Leavitt twice, one such instance forcing an incompletion on 4th down. While the plan was to allow short completions, the secondary did make some mistakes. Late in the 2nd, Carmelo O’Neal missed a tackle on a short pass, leading to a 31-yard gain. O’Neal struggled after being thrown into action due to Zabien Brown’s injury. LSU often targeted him when they identified him as a lone defender. Dijon Lee also got beat by a double move, leading to a 32-yard gain in the 3rd quarter. LSU’s top receiver Jackson Harris torched Alabama, catching 11 passes for 166 yards. Alabama’s secondary was busy as Leavitt attempted 47 passes. Bray Hubbard and Red Morgan each recorded 9 tackles. Red Morgan continues to be a Swiss army knife for this defense. He was effective while blitzing, in run support, and in pass coverage. Late in the 4th, Leavitt made a great throw to the end zone, but Red made a fantastic play on the ball, breaking up a would-be touchdown. A surprise contributor in the secondary was Chuck McDonald. Chuck had two major pass deflections. One came on 4th down, forcing a turnover on downs and the other came in the end zone while he was 1-on-1 in man coverage. He looks to be the next man up at the nickel corner behind Red Morgan. This defense may be difficult to watch, allowing opposing offenses to slowly move down the field, but they continually stand tall in the red zone. Kane had a plan for this game and the defense executed it flawlessly.

Special Team – Conor Talty made his only field goal attempt from 41-yards out, opening the scoring. Alex Asparuhov was fantastic punting the ball, totaling 248 yards on 5 punts (49.6 avg). He had a long of 51-yards and pinned LSU inside the 20 once. Ryan Coleman-Williams had an electric punt return early in the 4th quarter, returning a punt 32-yards. He set up Alabama on the LSU 25-yardline, allowing them to capitalize on the field position immediately.

Week 10 Storylines Revisited

Hold the Line – Alabama’s offense held up well against arguably the second best defensive line in the SEC. The line allowed 7 pressures and Keelon was sacked twice. Keelon did not let the pressure disrupt him. The line was not too effective in run blocking, missing multiple assignments, but it did not deter the passing game. Alabama’s defensive line wrecked LSU’s blockers, keeping Sam Leavitt under fire all game. Alabama was the better unit on both sides of the ball.

Strike First – While Alabama did not score a touchdown on their opening drive, it was good to see steady ball movement and a clear vision. Grubb balanced the rushing and passing attack well and kept the defense guessing. Outside of three false start penalties, the crowd noise did not seem to impact the Tide. Alabama’s offense eventually was too much for LSU to handle.

Stand tall when your back is against the wall – The defense was ready for all high-leverage situations. Stopping LSU on all 4 of their 4th down attempts provided huge momentum changes. Luke Metz picked off Sam Levitt just outside of the red zone, stopping another LSU offensive march. Alabama truly bended without breaking. They played at their best with their backs against the wall.

What plays stood out to you? Do you think Alabama is a national title contender? Reach out with any questions or comments that you have. If you know of anyone interested in joining the newsletter, send their info my way.

Roll Tide! -Jake