LSU Football: Adjustments Tigers Must Make on Bye Week to Prep for Alabama

LSU head coach Les Miles was at his best Saturday night against Ole Miss. 

Miles watched his team battle through adversity to defeat the Rebels 10-7. He stuck with the game plan late, which was to ground-and-pound the opposition until it wore out. Because of Miles' leadership and his team's resolve, the Tigers are now in the midst of a three-game winning streak. 

LSU's next opponent is Alabama in two weeks. The Crimson Tide are on a three-game winning streak of their own behind a stout run defense and a high-powered passing attack. Meanwhile, head coach Nick Saban is currently on a three-game winning streak against the Tigers.  

Both teams will be coming off a bye week when they meet November 8. Here are some areas the Tigers must improve if they want to defeat the Crimson Tide. 

Limit Turnovers

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BATON ROUGE, LA - OCTOBER 25: Cody Prewitt #25 of the Mississippi Rebels recovers a fumble in the end zone against the LSU Tigers at Tiger Stadium on October 25, 2014 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

LSU defied the odds against Ole Miss. 

The Tigers were victorious despite the Rebels being plus-three in turnover margin. That is almost assuredly a loss, according to ESPNU:

"

Great stat on @ESPNU about the importance of turnover margin pic.twitter.com/pVJwU9uVbZ

— Carter Bryant (@CarterthePower) October 24, 2014"

LSU will likely not have the same fortune against Alabama. The Crimson Tide have as talented of a defense as Ole Miss, led by safety Landon Collins.  

Two of LSU's four turnovers against Ole Miss came on fumbles from running backs Leonard Fournette and Terrence Magee. Fournette's came on the Rebels 1-yard line, which took points off the board early. The Tigers fumbled on Alabama's 1-yard line last season, and it proved to be costly. 

Quarterback Anthony Jennings entered Saturday having never thrown an interception against SEC opposition. Jennings tossed two against the Rebels. He must become a more polished and less predictable passer if the Tigers are to be triumphant over Alabama.  

Develop Passing Attack

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LSU quarterback Anthony Jennings

Jennings' struggles as a passer were evident against Ole Miss, as he was 8-of-16 for 142 yards and two interceptions. His lone touchdown pass to tight end Logan Stokes could have been thrown by any average signal-caller. 

The No. 1 objective for Jennings is to eliminate turnovers. But with that aside, he must also become a more complete quarterback for the Tigers to continue their success. The Tigers do not need Jennings to be Peyton Manning to achieve victory, but he must produce better numbers if his offense is to get better. 

Alabama is allowing less than 100 yards per game on the ground against conference opposition. Saban, with two weeks to prepare, will have his unit ready to slow down LSU's running game. He will force Jennings to beat him. 

Jennings connected with leading receiver Travin Dural only once for 11 yards against Ole Miss, both of which were season lows for the duo. The Rebels blanketed Dural, which forced Jennings to find other receivers. Expect Saban to do the same. 

Jennings must develop a stronger chemistry with Trey Quinn, John Diarse and Malachi Dupre. Stokes said after the game that he expects the tight ends to have a bigger role in the offense as well.  

Improve Pass Rush

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The Tigers made life difficult for Ole Miss quarterback Bo Wallace with their relentless pressure. That should not only continue against Alabama, but get even better. 

Defensive end Jermauria Rasco said the raucous Tiger Stadium crowd played a huge factor in disrupting the rhythm of Ole Miss' offense. Crowd noise gives defensive ends an edge against offensive tackles.

Defensive lineman are looking at the football when the ball is snapped, while most offensive tackles rely on hearing the quarterback's snap count or using their peripheral to react to the movement of their fellow linemen. In a loud environment, that makes pass protection more difficult on the road. 

Rasco also said LSU pounced on the Rebels when they had to shuffle linemen around after tackle Laremy Tunsil left the game injured.

Alabama has had issues on its front as well, most recently when left tackle Cam Robinson left the third quarter against Tennessee with a high ankle sprain, per Andrew Gribble of AL.com. 

Alabama moved right guard Leon Brown to replace Robinson and inserted Bradley Bozeman for Brown. If Robinson cannot go against LSU, Brown would likely make his starting debut in Death Valley. That would not be ideal in Saban's mind.

LSU collapsed the pocket against Ole Miss admirably, though the Tigers accumulated only two sacks and two quarterback hurries. That number should improve against Alabama's high-powered passing attack.   

Make Simple Plays

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LSU cornerback Jalen Collins dropped this potential interception against Ole Miss.

The biggest gaffe the Tigers made against Ole Miss was Fournette's fumble at the 1-yard line. But that was not the only mistake LSU made.

Kicker Colby Delahoussaye missed a chip-shot field goal that would have given the Tigers an early lead. Delahoussaye entered Saturday a perfect 7-of-7. Delahoussaye would later nail a 21-yard field goal to end the first half. Nevertheless, the Tigers need all the points they can get to beat Alabama. 

The Tigers had multiple dropped interceptions against Ole Miss. The worst was by cornerback Jalen Collins on a poorly executed trick play by the Rebels. Wallace threw a touchdown on the next play to Cody Core. Instead of getting the football back, LSU gave up seven unnecessary points due to butterfingers. 

Alabama has been a poor road team prior to its victory over Tennessee in Knoxville on Saturday. Arkansas outplayed the Crimson Tide in Fayetteville in mid-October, but the Razorbacks fumbled at the 1-yard line, missed an extra point and dropped an interception that would eventually lead to a Tide touchdown. 

Sound familiar?

LSU outplayed Ole Miss, but it almost lost because of errors made on simple plays. The Tigers would have only had themselves to blame had they come up short against the Rebels. Luckily, they did just enough in the fourth quarter to pull off the upset. 

Miles will emphasize to his team the importance of playing efficient football in the two weeks leading up to the Alabama matchup. 

Stats, rankings and additional information provided by CFBStats.com and LSU Sports Information. Recruiting information provided by 247Sports.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow me on Twitter @CarterthePower.