BATON ROUGE – From my home office in an undisclosed location somewhere in the Red Stick, here are this week’s top five it-would-be-funny-if-it-wasn’t true LSU open date observations.
No. 1: Zy Alexander, LSU’s best cover cornerback because he finally learned to turn his head and locate airborne passes, got hurt last Saturday vs. Army returning an interception of a Hail Mary pass so underthrown that Alexander should have called for a fair catch and taken a knee.
No. 2: The number of the current LSU scholarship cornerbacks who have started more than one or two college games can fit on a unicycle.
No. 3: LSU’s best slot receiver defender is linebacker Harold Perkins Jr.. . .a linebacker.
No. 4: Tigers’ head coach Brian Kelly made history this past weekend when he created the first-ever college football inactive list when he announced absent transfer cornerback Denver Harris was inactive.
No. 5: Kelly also had no update on the longitude and latitude of Syracuse transfer cornerback Duce Chestnut, who evaporated into thin air almost a month ago.
After eight straight weeks of games, No. 15 ranked Tigers (6-2 overall, 4-1 SEC West) return to the practice field Tuesday in preparation for their Nov. 4 date at No. 9 Alabama (7-1, 5-0 SEC West), set for a 6:45 p.m. primetime CBS telecast.
Kelly has about six or seven practices to find someone to plug into LSU’s dire cornerback situation, which has been on life-support since the season-opening 45-24 loss to Florida State. The Seminoles tossed the first 4 of 16 TD passes against the Tigers this season, the most allowed in the SEC, along with Missouri and Vanderbilt.
While the LSU defense has shored up since Perkins flipped momentum in the Oct. 7 win at Missouri with a second-quarter interception – LSU has allowed just 4 TDs and 2 field goals in its last 32 opposing offensive possessions – Kelly is just trying to find some qualified warm bodies to play corner.
LSU’s top remaining cornerback is true freshman Ashton Stamps, who supposedly is returning to action this week after missing the last three games with a groin injury.
As far as the status of Texas A&M transfer Harris (who has started three games this season) and Syracuse transfer Chestnut (who has played in four games), Kelly may or may not give an update after Tuesday’s practice in his only media opportunity this week.
At this point of the season last year, LSU had the identical record it has now.
Prior to last year, Nick Saban-coached Alabama had won 10 of the previous 11 games (including 8 straight) over the Tigers. LSU Heisman Trophy-winning QB Joe Burrow boosted the eventual 2019 national champions to a 46-41 win in Tuscaloosa despite the Tigers being a 6-point underdog.
Finally, LSU managed to overcome almost a decade of angst created each season on the open date week before Alabama. The bigger the game between the nationally ranked teams, the more the Tigers folded under pressure.
Last year in Kelly’s first season as LSU’s coach, he created a “what the hell, let’s just go play like we have nothing to lose” attitude” during the open date. He had an aggressive game plan on both sides of the ball. The final proof was the fact he gambled and successfully converted a two-point conversion for a 32-31 overtime victory over the Tide in Tiger Stadium.
The win as a 13-point underdog propelled the Tigers to the SEC West championship and a date in the league title game where they were completely overmatched in a 50-30 loss to eventual national champion Georgia.
The fact Alabama is a 4½-point favorite in the upcoming game can be viewed in two ways.
It’s a sign of respect for LSU since the Tigers have been double-digit underdogs in five of the last six games vs. Alabama.
Or it’s a sign of disrespect for an LSU team averaging 16.7 more points and 186 yards more total offense than Alabama. The Tigers have scored 22 more TDs than the Tide, who has allowed the most sacks in the SEC (35).
In his 17th season as Alabama’s head coach, seven-time national champ Saban (six at Alabama, one in 2003 as LSU’s coach) has rarely had a team so inconsistent and underwhelming as the 2023 Crimson Tide.
They have muddled through games against vast underdogs like South Florida and Arkansas and won with one-possession victory margins. They have gritted their teeth in comeback wins at Texas A&M (26-20) and at home last Saturday vs. Tennessee (34-20) in which they outscored the Aggies and the Vols 16-3 and 27-0 respectively in the second halves.
Yet, Alabama, as the West Division leader, is still unbeaten in league play.
“I enjoy coaching this team,” Saban said after his team’s second-half blitz of Tennessee. “That’s not to say they’re taking years off my life, but that’s OK with that. It’s fun because they’ve got a good spirit about them . . . the players legitimately care about each other. They respond well to their coaches. So, it’s really fun to coach them. I can’t say enough about their competitive spirit when they need to have it.”
Such stick-to-itiveness was a trademark of last year’s LSU team. For this season’s squad, it has slowly become an acquired taste, but the Tigers seem to be peaking heading into their final four regular season games.
Meanwhile, does anyone have a cornerback they can spare?
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com