LSU-Alabama: Ugly Game or College Football Masterpiece?

It should, before everything else, be said that LSU is the best team in the country, and its defense is the single best unit in the country.

With that out of the way, let’s please end any and all conversations about how Saturday’s night game was a classic example of “big boy football” and that the two should play again in January. You see, big boy football means, no matter how big, fast and strong the defense, a big boy offense should be able to couple developed talent, a flexible game plan and in-game adjustments to the point where one of those big boys finds himself in an end zone or four.

Saturday night, Alabama and LSU were half big boy and half whatever it is we thought Jarrett Lee and AJ McCarron had a good shot of being in August, which is tremendously talented and possibly in over their heads trying to get the ball to superior talent against—well, big boy defenses.

Further, that supposedly classic clash of the titans begs a couple of other reasonable questions:

1. If it’s perfectly acceptable to forgive the offense and lack thereof because of otherworldly defenses, isn’t it also fair to question if defensive dominance can at least be partially chalked up to hapless offensive efforts?

Seems fair to ask. Under offensive coordinator Jim McElwain, Alabama runs—considering the abilities and potential of their personnel—an immensely conservative offense.

It’s hard to argue with results, but it’s also hard to keep from saying “what if?” when the offense stagnates against decent enough defensive fronts. Sometimes counting on basic screens to running backs and a multitude of crossing patterns underneath just aren’t enough.

2. How down and lopsided must the SEC be if these two teams have been able to run roughshod and uncontested through the conference until meeting each other?

We all probably overestimated how efficient these offenses were—especially Alabama’s, whose last three opponents (Tennessee, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt) are a combined 1-16 in SEC play. Whoops.

This is just one game, but there are a couple of bigger college football issues at hand that have been debated needlessly before, during and after one of the uglier games of the century in recent years.

First—is there any right definition of an ugly game?

Yes, there is.

And it’s generally when the combined score of a game adds up to less than the voting age. It doesn’t mean the teams playing aren’t well (though it may). It just means that the game, as isolated in time, does not stand on its own merits.

If you were a fan either team—or really any team—going into the game, you always hope your offense moves the ball, extends drives on third down and gets into the end zone often enough for you to be optimistic it’ll happen again next week.

LSU and Alabama fans were treated to disappointing offensive drive after disappointing offensive drive, and I’m supposed to believe you accepted punt after punt (or missed field goal after missed field goal) because of that great, big boy defense on the other side of the ball?

Not happening.

Second—you really want to see this game again? You want to be inundated with five weeks of December and early January hype to see Jarrett Lee immediately decide to throw it into double coverage AGAIN or Alabama call a game so conservatively that, realistically, their offensive meeting rooms should be occupied with weird hippies holding bullhorns and hastily painted signs? Really?

We’ve seen LSU-Alabama. The Tide got their shot. At home. Fair and square. They lost.

Alabama may very well be the second-best team in the country, but if LSU wins out, their loss Saturday should mean they don’t get the opportunity for a do-over. Sorry.

Really, though, this is what we get with the BCS—a debate in November over the validity of a rematch in early January almost entirely based on conference reputation.

It’s not competition that the BCS has bred—it’s debate over secretive, nonsensical computer algorithms and inconsistent, under-informed coaches and media members deciding if two teams, who’ve already gone head to head (one of whom won’t play for a conference championship) would make for a one-off game.

Actually, now that I think about it, talking about how good those defenses were doesn’t sound so bad.

Dan Rubenstein co-hosts The Solid Verbal college football podcast and can be  followed on Twitter here.