| NEWS LSU knows it's their time to beat Alabama; Justin Jefferson: 'It's time for Part II' - The Advocate

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Everyone on the LSU football team knew the question was coming.

It's a question that has been honed and crafted, belabored and overused, answered and stockpiled over nearly a decade:

Why will it be different this year against Alabama?

No one needed reminder why it was being asked so soon after LSU's 23-20 win over No. 9 Auburn Saturday night in Tiger Stadium.

Certainly now that LSU is ranked No. 1 in the AP poll for the first time since 2011, LSU will be answering different variations of that question for the two weeks leading up to its heavyweight showdown in Tuscaloosa on Nov. 9.

Only this time, perhaps it's the most LSU's answers will be believed throughout its eight-game losing streak to the Crimson Tide.

The players can sense that belief.

No one knows the deeper meanings of this matchup than wide receiver Justin Jefferson, the youngest brother of the quarterback who helped beat Alabama 9-6 in 2011 — the No. 1 vs. No. 2 epic dubbed "The Game of the Century."

"The last time we beat them was Jordan," Jefferson said. "That was at Alabama. It's time for Part II."

Yes, all those previous remakes never lived up to their billing. They were all knock-offs that crumbled at the box office, especially the 2012 BCS national championship game and it doesn't take crossing the 50-yard line to understand why.

Even in 2015 — the last time LSU and Alabama met as undefeated teams — the Tigers' fatal flaw was exposed when the Crimson Tide showed what happened when a defense could bottle up star running back Leonard Fournette.

Is there a fatal flaw in this record-breaking LSU offense?

If so, no one has yet exposed it.

Not even Auburn (a defense that entered the weekend allowing just 17 points a game) could shut down an LSU offense that shifted from pass to run, flexing its diversity with Clyde Edwards-Helaire rushing for 136 yards and a touchdown.

Joe Burrow, breaker of 10 school records this season, still passed for 321 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

The re-tooled spread system of coordinator Steve Ensminger and passing game coordinator Joe Brady is averaging 46.8 points through eight games — more than a touchdown higher than the school record set in 2007 (38.6), the last time LSU won the national championship.

This year's Tigers average 7.55 yards per play, which Burrow said is "a lot more explosive" than the 5.5 yards LSU averaged in last season's limited offense.

The remarkable offensive rebuild is at the center of the team's belief that it can beat Alabama this time around.

That's always been the primary issue.

LSU has averaged 7.9 points per game in its eight-game losing streak to the Tide, and the Tigers have been shut out twice in the past three years.

There will be no shutout this time, Jefferson said, "that's a no-go."

"We've always said in order to get Bama on their heels, we've got to spread the ball around," said Jefferson, who ranks 10th nationally with 819 yards receiving and has nine touchdown catches. "That's what we've been doing this year, and that's what we're going to continue to do."

The LSU offensive line trusts it will no longer be pulverized.

Starting center Lloyd Cushenberry still remembers Ed Orgeron's criticisms following last season's 29-0 loss, when LSU was outgained 576-196 on total offense and the head coach said "I've got to recruit better offensive linemen."

Now, a much-improved front five has withstood the aggressive defenses of Florida and Auburn, and has surrendered 15 sacks and 41 tackles for loss in eight games — a substantial improvement from the same span in 2018 (18 sacks, 47 tackles for loss).

"We're taking it personal this year," Cushenberry said, "and we're just going to keep it going. ... (We're) just moving the downs. Securing them. Moving those big guys up front and giving the backs one-on-one matchups with the linebackers, and I'll take that matchup any day."

Countless matchups will decide this particular "Game of the Century." Ahead of them all is the quarterback duel between Burrow and Tua Tagovailoa that might just decide who wins the Heisman Trophy.

It's already advantage Burrow because of the high ankle sprain Tagovailoa suffered last week against Tennessee. Even if Alabama's star quarterback recovers from his tightrope surgery procedure in time, Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban has said whether he'll be 100% remains to be seen.

Backup Mac Jones was efficient in Alabama's 48-7 dismantling of lowly Arkansas on Saturday night, when the sophomore quarterback was 18 of 22 passing for 235 yards and three touchdowns.

But it's too early to talk about those specific matchups, Orgeron said. He hasn't yet dove into the film room to break down the game that will likely define his LSU career to this point.

Most of what Orgeron knows now are his team's flaws: the season-high 12 penalties for 118 yards against Auburn; the muffed punt by Derek Stingley that turned into an Auburn touchdown; the interception Burrow threw at the goal line.

"There's some things we have to get better at," Orgeron said. "We can't make mistakes a great team like that. ... We'll have to play our best."

It's different rhetoric than once used in the past.

No "We're coming, and we ain't backing down," as he famously said after LSU's 24-10 to Alabama in 2017.

Just a calm security in the corrections. They know it's their time.

"We believe in ourselves, man," safety JaCoby Stevens said. "We're talented. There's just something that's an aura around here, man. I just believe in this team. We can go as far as we want to."
 
Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like taking this game so personally isn't a good thing for those kids. I imagine you play with a lot of passion and anger and bravado, but that doesn't last long. And when things don't go your way, all that fire goes out quickly. Seems to me it's like boxing. Nothing personal, I know your strengths and weaknesses and you know mine. So it's a cerebral game of chess, not a street brawl.
 
Trying hard to convince themselves in my opinion. These streaks can really mess with the psyche of a team on the bad end of the streak. They get beat when they see that name on the schedule, game week, pulling up to the stadium, stepping on the field, first points allowed or first penalty that goes against them. My son’s HS has been the same way against 1 school for 5 straight years!! Instead of just playing the game, letting it come to them, they press and press and make mistake on top of mistake. The Cookie Monster doesn’t do them any favors either, when he talks the game up so much, circles it on the schedule, and beats it into their brains about how important this game is.
 
Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like taking this game so personally isn't a good thing for those kids. I imagine you play with a lot of passion and anger and bravado, but that doesn't last long. And when things don't go your way, all that fire goes out quickly. Seems to me it's like boxing. Nothing personal, I know your strengths and weaknesses and you know mine. So it's a cerebral game of chess, not a street brawl.
When I've mentioned they have been doing this since 2009 it was no exaggeration. As example, from a piece I wrote back in '09 for AL.com:
Why? It comes down to what they think about this ball game.
"We've got to play Alabama like it's our championship game," quarterback Jordan Jefferson said. When a comment like that is compared to the results this Tiger team has had in games of this magnitude one thing is sure--they'll be prepared.
Patrick Peterson, LSU defensive back, claims he can't get the picture of Alabama's Julio Jones reception last season out of his head. "It's still playing in my head to this day," Peterson said Tuesday. "I just can't let it happen this time." It's an easy assumption Peterson is going to be mentally prepared.
And here's one kicker in this conversation. This week we see Bama player talk about taking it as the next game up. That season, how were they looking at the LSU game?

Kareem Jackson, Bama cornerback, summed it up best. "It's another game on the schedule, it's important because it's the next game. But it's LSU, the coach came from there, so going in there's always that extra, whatever you want to say, cherry on top, to kind of get us going. They're going to come out ready to play, so we're going to have to match their intensity."
One thing I didn't mention back then but I have many a time over the last few years...it's the emotional aspect that ends up being their Achilles heel at some point in the game(s). We will see an upsportsmanlike conduct penalty, or a play that is a direct result of the lack of discipline, when these two teams meet.

This is our season vs this is the next game.
 
Now, a much-improved front five has withstood the aggressive defenses of Florida and Auburn, and has surrendered 15 sacks and 41 tackles for loss in eight games — a substantial improvement from the same span in 2018 (18 sacks, 47 tackles for loss).
3 sacks and 6 TFL less doesn’t seem “substantial” to me, it seems vulnerable
 
That guy is funny.....hope he remembers.....in the movie IT....in the end... Pennywise meets his demise
Referencing It by the movie ...

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