Saturday NCAA: LSU Tigers at Alabama Crimson Tide
Some things just can’t be explained in life, and one of them has to be why Alabama struggles so much with LSU at home: The Tide are 3-10 in their past 13 home games against the Tigers and have lost four straight in Tuscaloosa in this rivalry.
Oddsmakers at WagerWeb.com don’t much care, as Bama is a 7.5-point betting favorite.
The Tide were scuffling a bit in their past few games but got a needed week off last week. LSU enters off a pasting of Tulane, and that Tiger defense is hitting its stride, having allowed just 36 points in the past four games. A victory for LSU puts the Tigers in the driver’s seat in the West Division, while Alabama clinches the West with a win.
The score at halftime should tell you who will win this game, as Bama has led at the half in each of the past seven games and is 25-1 when leading at intermission under Nick Saban.
It will be tough for LSU’s running game to do much Saturday. Led by Terrence Cody, that Alabama defense has allowed only three rushing touchdowns this season and not any at home. Opponents are average just 1.9 yards per carry at Alabama this year.
The Tigers are ranked seventh in the nation in scoring defense (12.1 points per game), but Alabama ranks fifth (11.4). The Tigers are ranked 15th in the nation in total defense (293 yards per game), but the Tide are ranked fourth (240.6). So, yeah, you might want to take the under of 40 on WagerWeb.com.
With Tide QB Greg McElroy struggling, look for Alabama to give the ball to Heisman candidate Mark Ingram early and often. He has rushed for 1,004 yards on 153 carries to rank fifth in the nation in yards per game (125.5). Among backs with more than 150 carries, only Fresno State’s Ryan Matthews has averaged more yards a carry (7.35) than Ingram (6.56). . In three games against ranked teams this year, Ingram has averaged 189.3 rushing yards and nearly 7.3 yards a carry. The LSU rush defense allows an average of 114.4 yards per game to rank 35th in the nation.
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