Tigers, Tide Clash Saturday night at Tiger Stadium-LSU

BATON ROUGE, La. – No. 15 LSU (6-2) and No. 11 Alabama (6-2) meet Saturday night in Death Valley at Tiger Stadium for a crucial early November showdown.

Kickoff is scheduled for 6:49 p.m. CT on ABC. Chris Fowler (pxp), Kirk Herbstreit (analyst) and Holly Rowe (sideline reporter) will join the call.

The legendary “College Gameday” show will also be in attendance, taking place in the Quad on LSU’s campus. This will be the 14th time the college game has been held in Baton Rouge, and the Tigers have a record of 7-6 in those occasions. It will be the 12th time LSU and Alabama have met when college game day is in town.

“We’re excited to have her here,” said head coach Brian Kelly. “Certainly it’s great for the community and our campus. The revelation adds much to the overall identity of Baton Rouge, the state of Louisiana and LSU.”

The 14th appearance will take place in Baton Rouge on Saturday @CollegeGameDay. See you in the quad! pic.twitter.com/khaltWYG8R

– LSU Football (@LSUfootball) November 5, 2024

The Tigers are coming off a disappointing loss to Texas A&M in College Station, but as things stand, LSU is still in a five-point tie at the top of the conference for first place. There’s still a lot at stake – as with any matchup between LSU and Alabama, and narratives continue to circulate across the country. But for Coach Kelly and his team, nothing else matters other than pulling out all the stops to win a decisive win at home.

“We’re much more focused on playing four quarters of football,” Kelly said. “All these other things are out there, but they don’t help us compared to what we’re doing. It’s about doing our best when we need our best.”

Quarterback Garrett Nussmeier enters Saturday ranked No. 2 in the SEC and No. 8 in the FBS in passing touchdowns with 20. In nine career starts, Nussmeier has thrown at least two touchdowns eight times and his 328.4 passing yards per game is tied for first No. 2 in the league and No. 5 nationally.

Despite suffering a loss last Saturday, redshirt sophomore receiver Aaron Anderson continued to shine, leading the team in receiving with 126 yards and a touchdown on three catches. Junior receiver Kyren Lacy had an impressive performance with 106 yards on five catches.

Defensively, linebackers Whit Weeks and Greg Penn were instrumental in the improvements throughout the year under first-year coordinator Blake Baker. Weeks totaled 75 tackles, including 7.0 for losses, and 2.5 sacks, while Penn had 59 tackles of his own. Defensive ends Bradyn Swinson (8 sacks, 10.5 TFL, 2 FF) and Sai’vion Jones (4.5 sacks, 5.5 TFL, 2 FF, 1 FR) have the most impact plays for the Tiger defense.

“The key to success is obvious: taking care of the football,” Kelly said. “We need to have better balance offensively. Defensively, stopping the quarterback will be paramount.”

Alabama is led by junior quarterback Jalen Milroe, who racked up 1,937 yards through the air with 13 touchdowns. Milroe had an outstanding performance against LSU in 2023, totaling four touchdowns and 155 yards rushing while also catching 219 passes.

Freshman wideout Ryan Williams has taken college football by storm with 702 yards receiving and seven touchdowns, averaging 20.1 yards per catch on 35 receptions this season. Defensively, the Tide are led by linebackers Deontae Lawson and Jihaad Campbell, who led the team with 66 tackles each.

“Probably the team we’re going to play this year is just as balanced in terms of talent level across the board,” Kelly said Monday. “In my eyes there are no weaknesses.”