LSU vs. Alabama: Why Tigers' Performance Will Prevent Any Share of the Title

The LSU Tigers came in as the top-ranked team in the country and were flat-out embarrassed by Alabama in a 21-0 national championship beatdown.

Do they still deserve a split national championship? 

NO!

Only the Ohio State Buckeyes of 2007 had fewer yards in BCS National Championship history (82), but the Crimson Tide also shut out LSU, which is something Florida did not do.

LSU was averaging 215 yards per game rushing (15th) and continued to get beat down at the line of scrimmage, where it was limited to 39 yards rushing on 27 attempts (1.4 YPC!).

The Tigers were expected to find ways to move the ball and perhaps get a defensive or special teams touchdown, but instead they were obliterated by the Crimson Tide defense (92 total yards).

It was the Alabama defense that single-handedly decided this game. The Tide could have scored more than just one touchdown, and LSU was lucky it was not completely blown out.

Sure, a 21-0 game is a solid beatdown but it easily could have been worse had Alabama not had its offense stall several times (missed two kicks, extra point too).

During the entire month of December, many people were complaining that Oklahoma State was more worthy than Alabama was. Well, those people look almost as foolish as the Bayou Bengals.

LSU was technically an underdog by a point by the "experts" but everybody and their grandma had this game coming down to the wire. The LSU offense was beyond inept; it couldn't get a first down if you threw it at its face. 

Jordan Jefferson struggled against Georgia, but LSU didn't need him to have a virtuoso performance with the running game being unstoppable, along with defensive and special teams touchdowns.

Looking at the record books, LSU ranks the fewest in total points (zero), fewest in first downs (five), second-fewest in passing yards (53) and second-fewest in total yards for BCS National Championship history (92, 86 for Ohio State in ’07 vs. UF).

The game felt like it was total domination at halftime because LSU had just one first down and 43 total yards. LSU couldn’t get past the 50-yard line until the final eight minutes of regulation!

Nothing went right for the Bayou Bengals because of how fast, physical, smart and dominating the Crimson Tide were up front. This is not rocket science; we all know great teams are built from the inside-out.

LSU’s fans talked all season about how amazing it was up front on both sides of the ball because it was more dominating than any team on the planet.

However, when LSU beat Alabama 9-6, many of us were still questioning how much better the Tigers were compared to the Crimson Tide (if they were even better).

We found out tonight that Alabama was not just better than LSU, but a lot better.

Sure, LSU was beyond terrible, but Alabama could have scored even more tonight.

Alabama missed two field goals, which kind of gave us hope that LSU could bounce back in this game (coming from a fan that wanted a great game), but in reality it only gave the Tide more momentum to tee off on Jordan Jefferson and the LSU offensive line.

It was a good ole' fashion butt whooping, and Nick Saban proved why he really is the best coach in America. Love or hate him (most dislike the guy), Saban is an all-time winner. He has won three national championships and now has two with his Crimson Tide.

Oklahoma State could be brought up since it perhaps could have scored a few points on Alabama, though I doubt the Cowboys would have allowed anything under 35 points.

The best two teams on the planet were playing, and it just happened to be Alabama’s night, as the Tide played like men possessed.

Alabama’s entire front seven is wanted by the NFL in the near future, and the LSU questionable linebackers and offensive linemen were exposed. There is no other way to put it than that.

It wasn’t so much that A.J. McCarron torched LSU since he only threw for 234 yards, but the pressure on Jefferson was relentless.

Four sacks may not seem like a lot, but there was pressure on every single drive and Jefferson’s head was on a swivel the entire night.

He didn’t know where to look because nothing was open, and he had no room to run at any point during the game (save the fourth quarter where LSU finally crossed the 50).

Nick Saban deserves a ton of props, but his kids deserve just as much. They put together one of the more dominating performances, which completely put to bed the “Does LSU deserve a split title?” proposition.

One should not complain about the BCS National Championship, because we really were given the best two teams in the country. We just happened to see the best team in America prove it was a lot better (on one night) than whomever you want to put at second in the final polls.