LSU RBs Terrence Magee and Kenny Hilliard Must Come Through vs. Alabama

The 2014 college football season feels like it started just yesterday. On Saturday, though, LSU will have its senior night against Alabama.

Yeah, things go by quickly. 

If LSU is going to shake up the SEC West standings and have so much as an outside shot at the divisional title, it needs to rely on a pair of senior running backs, Terrence Magee and Kenny Hilliard, to step up. 

Combined, the two are 449 pounds of downhill running destruction, just like the Tigers offense likes. LSU doesn't do a lot of complicated things on offense; to the contrary, the more LSU can run it down a defense's throat, the better. 

It's also partially because LSU's offense is, by and large, young, as Chris Low of ESPN.com notes: 

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Their starting quarterback, Anthony Jennings, is a true sophomore. His backup, Brandon Harris, is a true freshman. Their leading rusher, Leonard Fournette, is a true freshman. Their leading receiver, Travin Dural, is a redshirt sophomore, and the two guys behind him, Trey Quinn and Malachi Dupre, are true freshmen. In fact, true freshmen have accounted for 23 of LSU's 36 offensive touchdowns. The Tigers have played 17 true freshmen through the first nine weeks, the most of the Miles era. 

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Though neither senior leads the team in rushing yards—Fournette has 657 yards and seven touchdowns—Hilliard and Magee average at least five yards per carry. 

Those numbers will be tested against Alabama's stout rushing defense, which gives up fewer than three yards per carry and has allowed just two touchdowns on the ground. 

The Tide are nearly a full touchdown favorite, according to OddsShark.com, even though the game is being played at night in Death Valley, which usually counts for something. As B/R colleague Barrett Sallee correctly wrote earlier this week, LSU isn't going to be able to outlast Alabama and its defensive front seven if quarterback Anthony Jennings doesn't play well.

Butch Dill/Associated Press

And Jennings' numbers on the year—50 percent completions percentage, 1,190 passing yards, eight touchdowns and five interceptions—don't indicate there's going to be a sudden change overnight. 

However, Jennings doesn't have to be a hero; no one expects him to be one anyway. But the only way Jennings has the chance to be competent is if the Tigers ground game works. It's not going to surprise anyone—well, not unless head coach Les Miles pulls a signature trick play—but it has to work all the same. 

LSU has the depth at running back to keep fresh legs churning all game long. Provided the score isn't out of hand, the Tigers don't have to abandon that game plan, even if they're losing. Fournette can still be the leading rusher, but Magee and Hilliard need to have big roles as well.

If nothing else, these are two veteran players who have seen it all. These are the types of games in which those veterans take control. 

It's a tough matchup, to be sure, but a good ground game is LSU's best chance to control the line of scrimmage, win field position and wear down Alabama's defense. If past games are any indication, it'll be a close game until the end. Regular-season games between Miles and Alabama coach Nick Saban have been close, with the exception of last year's 38-17 win by the Tide. 

"You look back on these games and they have all been that style of game, a last drive or a last half of the game or last quarter the game's decided," Miles said, via Andrew Gribble of AL.com. "You plan on playing four quarters in this game, for sure."

LSU appears to have found its identity on offense, even if it's not by choice necessarily. Miles' team knows, though, that there's no way around Alabama's defense; it just has to go through it. The good thing for LSU is that that's what it does best.

Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All stats courtesy of CFBStats.com.