BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Midseason stumbles by No. 9 Alabama and 15th-ranked LSU briefly threatened to lower the gravity of what will be the last of 64 annual matchups on Saturday.
The Crimson Tide (6-2, 4-2 SEC) and Tigers (6-2, 3-2) have since rebounded with convincing victories to again set the stage for another memorable, early November tilt that even First Lady Melania Trump is scheduled to attend.
“November, meaningful games, that’s — I don't mean arrogantly
— that’s what we’ve been used to for a lot of years now,” Kiffin said, referring to both LSU and his own coaching experience at other programs.
“We should be even in better position,” Kiffin continued, referring to narrow road losses to No. 12 Mississippi and No. 8 Kentucky. “Less margin for error than we would have. So, we’ve got to be on everything and we’ve got to make sure that we perform really well against a really good team that’s coached really well that has really good players.”
Both teams remain in the hunt for an SEC title and College Football Playoff Berth, but with little margin for error.
Alabama raced to a 5-0 record in what is coach Kalen DeBoer's third season as the successor to Nick Saban, who won six national titles at Alabama and one at LSU a few years before his tenure with the Tide.
But back-to-back losses against No. 2 Georgia and No. 16 Tennessee left Alabama with little margin for error itself. The Tide responded with a victory over Texas A&M before entering a concurrent bye week with LSU.
Since arriving at Alabama, DeBoer has won his first two encounters with LSU, but this will be the first since Kiffin — who has never beaten Alabama in five chances as a head coach — memorably left Mississippi late last season to take over the Tigers.
“Kiffin’s done a great job bringing a lot of new faces together in a short amount of time," DeBoer said. "You see them continue to improve. ... Very explosive in all ways. So, obviously going on the road, that’ll be a challenge.”
These teams won’t play during next year’s regular season because of new SEC scheduling — beginning this season — that is designed to ensure all 16 teams play each other at least once every other season. The new formula lowered to three the number of annual opponents each team could have.
During LSU's past two games — lopsided victories over Mississippi State and Auburn — Tigers QB Sam Leavitt did not throw an interception.
Those performances contrasted with Leavitt's first six games, during which he threw at least one interception in each contest and eight total.
Alabama's defense has intercepted opposing QBs 12 times this season, tied atop the SEC in that department with Kentucky (the last team to intercept Leavitt).
Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Womack said Leavitt, who also scrambles effectively, is playing “at a really high level right now.”
“Very impressed with his arm talent. He’s got a lot of toughness and moxie and has got a lot of weapons that he can get the ball to,” Womack continued. “Obviously has probably had some throws that he would want back, but he’s also very, very dynamic.”
Kiffin, longtime offensive coach and a former college QB himself, said it can take time for a new quarterback in a new system to start minimizing mistakes.
Lately, Leavitt has “just made really good decisions," Kiffin said. “He hasn’t forced (throws). He’s thrown a lot of check downs, a lot to the running back and taking what they've given.”
“He’s just a lot more comfortable, which probably should have been expected,” Kiffin added.
Leavitt has completed 70.3% of his passes this season for 2,173 yards and 17 TDs. He also has rushed for 324 yards and eight scores.
Those numbers compare well to those of Alabama's Keelon Russell, who's completed 67% of his throws for 2,057 yards and 15 TDs with five interceptions, and who has rushed for 251 yards and five TDs.
Kiffin lamented that because of a decision by television networks, the game would kickoff in daylight at 2:30 p.m. Central Time, rather than at night.
While LSU fans love Saturday night's in Death Valley, the Tigers have won 16 of their last 17 2:30 home games since 2009.
When asked about whether Alabama was pleased about the earlier time slot, DeBoer said, “Well, I feel like we’re on the road. And so, I’d rather play at home if I’m going to have all the advantages."
Meanwhile, DeBoer has an unblemished record coming off byes. He's gone 6-0 in such games with Division I Football Bowl Subdivision programs: 2-0 with Fresno State, 2-0 with Washington and 2-0 with Alabama.
“Our staff does a really good job with kind of laying out a plan for our players" during bye weeks, DeBoer said. “It’s just being really methodical; it’s taking advantage of every day you have.”
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