College Football: The X's and O'S of Bama-LSU, What Are the Teams' Weaknesses?

By now, you’ve read and seen plenty of previews and hype concerning the upcoming LSU-Alabama game.

To me, the game “jumped the shark” when I turned on ESPN and saw Erin Andrews taking a tour of the LSU coaches’ facility with Les Miles. This led her into Defensive Coordinator John Chavis’ office, where Andrews asked something along the lines of: “Do you like this type of hype?” and he replied: “no, I like doing my job and not being bothered,” which all led to around five seconds of awkward silence.

It was basically the same exact situation as when Michael would bother the warehouse workers in early episodes of The Office, only this was somehow funnier.

So I want to bring the game back to reality. Much of the talk this week has been about how good both teams are and what they do well. We’ve heard ad nauseum about Trent Richardson, Alabama’s O-Line, Tyrann Mathieu, LSU’s D-line, etc. (don't get me wrong, it's all with good reason).

But, with the mindset that all the talk has been positive, I sought out to analyze where the teams’ weaknesses were. What could be exploited on Saturday?

This may sound pessimistic, bleak or appear as if I’m trying to poke holes in two great teams, but it shouldn’t be. Realize that Coach Miles and Coach Saban are doing the same exact thing right now: studying the tape and trying to find a weakness in the other that they can adapt their game to exploit.

Here are a few things I noticed when studying the tape of these teams.

Attack the Middle of the Field Against Alabama

Alabama is an extremely sound, fundamental defense. Rarely are they ever out of position.

They run a base 3-4 defense, which means three down linemen and four linebackers.  They will bring linebackers on a rush to get pressure, which leaves voids in the middle of the field.

Reading and recognizing a blitz is not easy, nor is ultimately getting the ball to the void, but here is how Arkansas was able to attack Alabama. 

Spread LSU Out

Spreading LSU out gives you a chance to identify where they are blitzing from (if at all).

Additionally, as we'll see, LSU will most often run a 4-2-5 alignment when spread out. From this alignment, we will see open pockets develop in their defense which can be exploited (more on this later).

Run Inside Against Alabama

A couple of days ago, I saw Nick Saban on ESPN getting interviewed by Tom Rinaldi (who else?). 

Saban said that they'll look at what LSU has done the past few games of the 2011 season, but they'll also go back and look at what they did the last few years when they played with each other.

Inspired, I went to check out last year's game between the two. I found that due to Alabama's aforementioned discipline on defense, LSU found it very difficult to run the ball to the perimeter. That said, they did have success running the ball up the middle.

LSU has made a more concerted effort to run the ball between the tackles this season. For one, Lee is at QB instead of Jefferson, Lee of course being less mobile.

Secondly, they don't use Russell Shepard in the same way they did last year (as you'll see).  It is just a more physical, grind-it-out, between the tackles type of attack this year for LSU.

This video shows the runs to the outside and inside against Alabama from 2010. Then, it shows the success LSU has had running the ball between the tackles with Ford and Ware.

It sounds dumb, considering that Alabama has the nation's No. 1 rush defense, but the best bet for LSU may be to run it right at them. 

Sorry last year's highlights are so small.  They're small, but they're 1080p, so you're welcome.

Use Quick Passes Against LSU

This is almost a corollary to the previous slide of spreading LSU out.

If you are going to spread out LSU, you have to use quick passes.  Why? 

If they rush four, you're giving yourself at best a 5-on-7 in the passing game.  If they blitz, then you definitely need to get rid of the ball.

Here are some quick clips of how Oregon and West Virginia were able to move the ball against LSU.

To be fair, I also included how passing quickly didn't exactly work for the offense.

With each clip is an indicator of how many men LSU sent after the QB.

Summary

As you can guess, finding weaknesses in either team was not an easy task. If it were, they wouldn't be a combined 16-0.  Even when a potential weakness arises, the teams' superior athelticism takes over (Kirkpatrick, Mathieu plays).

Still, these are the areas I would expect each team to try and attack on Saturday night.

For Bama, I look for them to spread out LSU and make quick, short throws to get McCarron in a rhythm. Spreading LSU out with also get LSU into a situation where they'll put five defensive backs on the field, which could help Alabama's running game (we didn't really go over this, but I'm sure that you know Trent Richardson is a great back, and the more smaller bodies on the field, the easier it is to run).

For LSU, I look for them to attack the middle of the field. I want to see them run between-the-tackles, and take advantage of screens and drag routes.

To say it will be a game won in the trenches sounds like such a cop-out, but it is true. If LSU can't get pressure from their defensive line alone, they will be in for a long day. If LSU can run the ball between-the-tackles, then Bama will be in for a long day.

Enjoy.