Every true LSU fan knows it’s been a while since the Tigers managed to beat Nick Saban’s Alabama program and while optimism is never in short supply once a new season begins, this year feels much different in Baton Rouge.

Whether it’s Joe Burrow breaking the all-time LSU single-game passing touchdown mark in the team’s first half of play or the Tigers registering their first ever game with three 100-yard receivers and a 100-yard rusher in the second game of the season, on the road against a top 10 team no less, this LSU offense is clearly legit.

The passing game has been nearly perfect after two games but we all know the true tests will begin once the Tigers get into SEC play in the coming weeks with the ultimate measuring stick coming Nov. 9 in Tuscaloosa. During LSU’s eight-game losing streak to Alabama, the Tigers have never scored more than 17 points and have been shut out in three of those matchups.

Two games into the season, Burrow has completed over 80 percent of his passes, he has completed 54 of 66 attempts, for 749 yards with nine touchdowns and only one interception. Meanwhile, his receivers are on their way to career marks in this offense.

Justin Jefferson has 14 catches with 250 yards and four touchdowns, Ja’Marr Chase has 10 catches for 168 yards and a score while Terrace Marshall Jr. has 10 catches for 154 yards and four touchdowns.

You can count ESPN college football analysts Joey Galloway and Jesse Palmer as those buying into the changes that have taken place in Baton Rouge.

“Joe Burrow is changing what we think of LSU,” Galloway said during his weekend appearance on ESPN’s College GameDay Final. “Coming into this season, we knew they would be a talented football team but we didn’t know what they would get from the quarterback position, so we didn’t really have them in the conversation to win the SEC. Now they look like a team that can beat Alabama because Joe Burrow is no longer just a game manager, he can carry this football team.”

Those are some bold comments but Palmer took it a step further.

“We know the passing game is real. It’s one thing to do it against Georgia Southern, then to go on the road at Texas and throw for 471 yards — that’s a big deal,” Palmer said. “I think everybody in the offense, QBs and receivers, they are just in sync, on the same page. They look like they’ve been in Joe Brady’s passing attack and this scheme for years.”

The college football analyst then offered up a comment LSU fans are dying to hear — he believes the Tigers can not only finally compete with the Crimson Tide on the field, Ed Orgeron’s team can come away with a win against Saban’s team.

“This passing attack finally gives LSU a chance to beat Alabama,” Palmer added. “They’ve lost eight in a row because they always try to play them in a phone booth, running downhill. It didn’t work when they had Leonard Fournette or Derrius Guice, but with this passing attack, it’s going to give them an opportunity.”