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CrimsonPirate
http://www.teamspeedkills.com/2009/7/31/970269/sec-2009-rebellious-answersWho worries you more in the SEC West: Alabama or LSU?
Alabama by a wide margin (or margarine if you don't understand the English language). LSU does not worry many of us at all. I have to admit that most of my worry comes from the fact that we beat LSU 31-13 last season while losing to Alabama. Unless John Chavis is just that good of a defensive coordinator, I wouldn't bet the farm on LSU. They were dominant over no in-conference foe last year, with their largest margin of victory over an SEC school coming in the form of a 34-24 victory over a horrible Mississippi State team. Their deceptively dominant Peach Bowl victory (Georgia Tech turned the ball over seven times while garnering only ten fewer offensive yards than the Bayou Bengals) is really all they are going on to build up their expectations. People are talking about Jordan Jefferson, but I'm not buying it yet. He was mediocre against us in a loss, lost to Arkansas (completing less than 50% of his passes against their porous secondary) and averaged 5.7 yards per attempt against Georgia Tech. In case you were wondering, that's worse than Tyson Lee AND Wesley Carroll did against GA Tech. Sure, LSU won that game is strong fashion, but it wasn't because of Jefferson. Charles "I only rushed for 10 yards on 10 carries against Ole Miss" Scott should continue to be an overrated back on an overrated team. Why isn't QB uncertainty as big a problem for Alabama as LSU? Because Alabama hits teams in the mouth with the running game, and they don't let up. They don't fall behind by enough that passing becomes essential, and when they do, they have Julio Jones. I'm not certain McElroy will be good, but I think it's safe to say he'll play better than Jefferson in 2009 since he won't be asked to do nearly as much. Alabama will have a stingy, almost air-tight defense. Scoring against Alabama will be like birthing a child: rare, painful, and messy. If the Rebels can get into the endzone early and force a turnover or two, then I like their chances against Alabama. Otherwise, Alabama's an "L."
Also, Alabama's coach is Nick Saban while LSU's is Les Miles. Miles is a buffoon. How do you win only 7 regular season games with the talent LSU had last season? Baffling.
