Published October 31, 2012 - 12:45pm
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…if you had one shot, or one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted, in one moment…Would you capture it? Or just let it slip…..
-Marshall Mathers III
I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle- victorious.
-Vince Lombardi
The time has come. This Saturday, all eyes will be on Baton Rouge as #1 Alabama ventures in to Death Valley to take on #5 LSU. In what now seems like an annual occurrence, the road to the BCS championship is passing through either Baton Rouge or Tuscaloosa in early November.
Last year, this was billed as the “Game of the Century.” This season, the excitement is more subdued as LSU enters the fray with a single blemish on the record. Yet, there is still just as much on the line. The Tigers still control their own BCS destiny and could create some chaos in the BCS with a win. A loss by Alabama would almost knock them out of contention.*
This Saturday, LSU will be the epicenter for college football. The game will be getting the royal treatment from Verne, Gary and the CBS gang. The Gameday crew will be on hand as well. Not to mention several hundred more reporters based upon the credentials issued up to this point. In addition to the media, the campus will also be besieged by record amount of tailgaters. There will be just as many watching the game outside of the stadium as there are in the seats – if not more. In regards to the stage being set, this is as big as it gets in the SEC and possibly anywhere else in college football.
It will also be a night game in Death Valley, where LSU has a 22 game win streak. Les Miles owns a 57-5 record after dusk in Death Valley. It will be at night when almost 93,000 fans will have had all day to “prepare.” It will be at night when the Tigers have had all day to reflect about last January and the Tigers will have all day to ponder this thought: In August, LSU was considered to be the better team and ranked higher than the Tide. Now, in November, LSU is a ten-point home “DOG.”
As for the game, forget what you know this season. This is the best of the best in the SEC going at it. These are two old foes lining up across from each other, getting ready to punch the other in the mouth. Unlike most, each is more than capable of getting up and swinging right back. No, this won’t be Alabama cruising to a 19-point win and it won’t be LSU grinding it gears. If you weren’t a fan of last year’s 9-6 slugfest, then don’t tune in on Saturday night, because this will be Nick Saban and Les Miles going after each other with sledgehammers. Again.
LSU has already been in a few of those types of brawls against ranked opponents this year. Alabama has face just one ranked foe. The question is…Will that experience pay off?
Alabama is marching towards Miami like Sherman did to Atlanta. If there is chance for the Tide to stumble, then it will be in Baton Rouge. When that happens, then the BCS will see a one loss SEC team shoot up the standings and who better to lead the charge of chaos than Les Miles.
*And speaking of chaos, say Alabama loses 14-13 on the road to the number 5 team in the country. How far do they fall? Given their resume, probably not out of the top five. Then what happens when LSU and Alabama both win out and Kansas State, Notre Dame and Oregon all lose a game? No, a loss would probably not knock Bama out of the title game.
Photo Credit: Thomas Campbell
