Alabama vs. LSU: 5 Guys Who'll Carry the Most Weight on Their Shoulders Tonight

Nick Saban and Les Miles are under a tremendous amount of pressure for the national championship, but who’s under the most pressure?

The Saban/Miles rivalry will meet it’s climax tonight with a national championship at stake, and you better believe both men are feeling the weight of the moment.

But they’ll be coaching on the sideline, and the players on the field are the ones that decide who wins and who loses tonight.

These are the top five guys that will carry the most weight on their shoulders tonight.

5. Les Miles

It’s only natural for an LSU head coach to be under a tremendous amount of pressure for a big game, and Les Miles is no different. After all, this is the same guy that was on the hot seat one year ago.

LSU fans are as guilty as anybody when it comes to loving a player/coach one minute and wanting him out the door in the next. Just ask Jordan Jefferson.

Miles is facing the man he replaced at LSU again, and this time it’s for the national championship. It doesn’t get any bigger than that, and for Miles, beating Nick Saban for a national championship will silence critics for good.

This is the biggest game of Miles' coaching career, and you better believe he’s going to be pulling out all the stops against Saban.

4. Tyrann Mathieu

There’s going to be one moment in this game where LSU needs a spark, and everyone’s going to look for the “Honey Badger” to make a game-changing play.

And why not?

Tyrann Mathieu did it in the past two games he played when he took a 92-yard punt return to the house against Arkansas and returned a 62-yard punt return for touchdown against Georgia.

After receiving the Chuck Bendarik Award and being named a Heisman finalist, Mathieu will want to prove that he’s worthy of all the hype.

3. Trent Richardson

He’s basically the Crimson Tide’s offense, so he has to come through with his best performance of his career.

He’s facing the best defense he’s ever faced again, and he’s going to have to carry the load for Alabama. Look for Alabama to pound it with Richardson over and over again and try and get him the football in the passing game as well.

Not only is Richardson playing for a national championship, but he also wants to prove that he’s the real Heisman.

Richardson rushed for 1,583 yards and 20 touchdowns in the SEC, but he still fell short of winning the Heisman. That’s the type of motivation that wills champions to victory.

2. Jordan Jefferson

With everything that has happened this season, Jordan Jefferson will be under a microscope tonight. But he has to be used to it by now, right?

Jefferson is thought to be the only weak link on this LSU football team, so he has to produce for this team to get in gear. Not only is he thought of to be the weak link, but some LSU fans still believe Jarrett Lee should still be the starter.

I’ll go on record right now and say that there has never been a more scrutinized or controversial player at LSU than Jefferson. He’s been loved and he’s been hated throughout his career at LSU, and he can leave Tiger fans with a sweet taste in their mouth about him.

Jefferson knows if he comes out and plays well tonight that the Tigers will most likely win the game, and that’s what Tiger fans will remember him for.

It’s almost as if this game is much bigger than just a national championship for Jefferson.

1. Nick Saban

He’s already lost to Les Miles once this season, and if he loses to him twice in one year, Nick Saban just might lose his sanity.

Saban is one of the best college coaches of the modern era, and he comes up with brilliant schemes to shut down his opponents and outwit them, but the man is on the verge of losing three straight to “The Hat.”

Football is life for Saban, and I don’t think his ego could take losing a national championship against the team he rose from the ashes in 2000. While Miles is one of the best coaches in the nation, Saban is the better coach and he knows it. His resume proves it.

He made LSU and Alabama powerhouses in the same decade, won two national championships and boasts a 54-12 win/loss record with Alabama since 2007.

Should LSU win this game, Miles will be known as the best coach in the SEC and perhaps the best in the nation. You think that idea might have crossed Saban’s mind once or twice?