Alabama heads into Death Valley with the kind of trench problem that can wreck a game plan before it ever gets rolling.
Keelon Russell has spent October getting hit too often, and the numbers tell the story: he was sacked 14 times over Alabama’s last four games. After the bye week, offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb is trying to make sure that doesn’t carry over into Saturday’s trip to LSU.
The challenge is steep. LSU has piled up 34 sacks and 49 tackles for loss through eight games, a total that trails only Tennessee’s 35 sacks for the national lead through nine weeks.
And it’s not just the pressure itself. Under defensive coordinator Blake Baker, the Tigers have made a habit of disguising coverages and showing different looks before the snap, forcing offenses to sort out protection and communication on the fly.
Grubb said Monday that those details will matter from the first snap to the last.
"In and out of calls, communication, I think, is a big part. Disguises on third down, they're good at showing different coverages and presenting different looks at the snap of the football, and obviously they pressure the quarterback really well," Grubb told reporters Monday at the Crimson Tide's weekly press conference.
"They're top five in the country - I don't know exactly where they're at in sacks or yards per rush, all that stuff, but they're physically talented. They play hard.
They execute really well, so it's everything you'd expect from an elite defense, and that's what we'll be facing."
Alabama has already allowed 23 sacks this season, so the hope is that some help is coming up front. Kalen DeBoer said Monday that starting center Racin Delgatty has made significant progress on the practice field, a potentially important development for a line that has been under real strain.
That matters because LSU’s edge pressure is coming from a pair of disruptive forces in Princewell Umanmielen and Jordan Ross. Together, they’ve combined for 13.5 sacks and 21 tackles for loss this season, and Umanmielen has been the headline act.
At 6-foot-4 and 256 pounds, Umanmielen brings size, range and a nasty edge to LSU’s front. Grubb made it clear Alabama can’t treat him like a one-dimensional pass rusher.
"He's an excellent football player," Grubb said. "Sometimes you see guys that are maybe a little more singular-faceted - like maybe he's more effective against the run or the pass, but I think he's a really well-rounded player.
You hear about the sacks, but he certainly can be disruptive in the run game as well. He's got great block disruption on the edge, and he plays hard, plays physical, so I think he's a guy we're certainly going to have to keep track of the whole day."
Still, this isn’t only about pass protection. Alabama has to avoid falling into obvious passing downs and has to use the run game to keep LSU honest. Grubb can’t let the offense drift back into the one-dimensional stretches it showed against Georgia and Tennessee, especially against a front that thrives when it can pin its ears back and attack.
The stakes make the matchup even sharper. Alabama goes in as an underdog, and both teams need the win to help their playoff case. The loser’s path gets a lot murkier.
If the Tide can clean up the protection issues and get enough help in the trenches, they’ll give themselves a real chance to leave with a win. If they can’t, and Russell keeps getting forced into bad decisions without enough time to react, Alabama could end up paying for the same mistakes that haunted its undefeated start in October.
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