LSU Football: 3 takeaways from monumental road win over Alabama
By Dante Pryor
3. This was not Alabama’s best game
This isn’t making excuses for the Alabama Crimson Tide, or slighting the incredible game that the LSU Tigers had. After all, the Crimson Tide never led in this game. However, the Alabama Crimson Tide did not play well.
The Tide came out of the blocks slowly in this game. They had two turnovers and seven penalties. Many of those penalties kept the Tide offense off schedule. That’s not good when it’s obvious starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa isn’t 100 percent. His ankle was obviously bothering him all game. In fact, there were times you knew he would take off and run, but his ankle made him stay in the pocket.
In games like these, the smallest of details matter. One important factor that cost the Crimson Tide the game was their tackling. The Crimson Tide missed too many tackles on LSU. There were too many shoulder dips and blocks instead of wrapping up and staying parallel. Clyde Edwards-Helaire ran through arm tackles all game long. Joe Burrow is not a small young man, but they didn’t wrap him up when he ran, either.
The critical small detail that cost Alabama was dropped passes. Jerry Jeudy specifically dropped two touchdown passes. When you play in a game like this one, you have to help your quarterback at times and they didn’t on Saturday afternoon.