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Something’s gotta give: LSU and Alabama can’t both keep these incredible stats up
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The narratives leading up to this weekend’s massive contest between fierce rivals No. 1 Alabama and No. 15 LSU are plentiful.
Nick Saban is hoping to defeat his former team for the sixth-straight year. As for LSU, interim head coach Ed Orgeron is looking for a signature win — which could ultimately propel him into becoming the full-time head coach.
Statistically speaking, there are two categories which demonstrate an immense strength for each program: Running the football and stopping the run.
Runs of 20+ yards in 2016:
AUB-22
ALA-22
LSU-22
A&M-21
UK-18
MSU-15
Mizz-14
ARK-11
UT-11
VU-10
OM-9
UF-8
SC-8
UGA-5— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) November 2, 2016
The bread-and-butter for both teams offensively comes via running the football.
LSU possesses arguably the most talented one-two punch in the country with Leonard Fournette and Derrius Guice. Fournette is by many people’s estimation the best rusher in the county.
The Tigers have the No. 20 rushing offense in the country — chalking up nearly 240 yards per game with a 6.74 yards-per-rush average.
As for Alabama, the Crimson Tide has a four-headed attack led by rising star Damien Harris and quarterback Jalen Hurts.
Alabama is diverse when it comes to running the football. It’s more than comfortable slamming the ball down the opponents’ throats between the tackles. It’s also equally fine with exploiting gaps on the edges.
Then, it will come at you with Hurts on quarterback-designed runs. Not only does Hurts have a supreme feel for finding creases and holes, but he’s elusive and fast enough to make people miss in space.
On the year, Alabama has the nation’s 11th-best rushing attack — accruing 264.8 yards per contest.
Runs of 20+ yards allowed in 2016:
LSU-2
ALA-4
UGA-5
UK-6
AUB-8
FLA-8
SC-9
MSU-10
UT-13
VU-13
A&M-13
OM-17
MIZZ-22
ARK-25— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) November 2, 2016
Defensively, both teams are incredibly stout up front when defending versus the run.
LSU leads the conference in terms of holding opponents with runs less than 20 yards. There have been only two rushes of more than 20 yards in seven games against the Tigers’ stingy front seven.
Alabama isn’t too shabby in this category either — as only four runs have gone beyond 20 yards on the year.
Both teams rank in the top-10 nationally in rush defense. Alabama is No. 1 in this category — allowing a paltry 70.1 yards per contest — and an anemic 2.18 yards-per-carry average.
LSU registers at No. 8 from a national standpoint, allowing just over 100 yards (104.1) a game.
Remember last year, Alabama bottled up Fournette exceptionally well — holding him to 31 yards on 19 carries. It was by far his lowest statistical output of the 2015 season, and it effectively snuffed out LSU’s explosive ground-attack. The Crimson Tide will hope to have a similar blueprint in this year’s installment.
The ‘battle in the trenches’ is significant in any contest. In particular, it may hold extra importance in regards to these two teams.
