Keelon Russell heads into Baton Rouge with plenty on the line, and LSU is already treating him like the kind of quarterback who can wreck a game in a hurry.
LSU head coach Lane Kiffin didn’t waste time Monday when asked about Alabama’s signal-caller. “Their quarterback has played awesome this year and is a problem,” Kiffin said.
He expanded on why Russell has become such a tough matchup. “He’s a problem because he can take off and run the ball, he can scramble and he’s an elite thrower. Our pass rush needs to control their lanes… not let him take off and make plays.”
That blend of burst and arm talent has made Russell one of the most dangerous players in the matchup. The sophomore has flashed the kind of upside that turns drives into quick strikes, and his best outing this season came against South Carolina, when he completed 21 of 27 passes for 365 yards, four passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown while posting a 98.4 quarterback rating.
For much of the first five weeks, Russell looked nearly untouchable. But Alabama’s losses to Georgia and Tennessee exposed some growing pains in the young quarterback’s game. His interception percentage climbed from 1.9% to 3.4% in those road defeats, and his sack rate rose as well, jumping from 7.4% to 13.2%.
Pressure also changed the way he operated in the pocket. When he was forced off his spot, his pards per dropback fell in those games from an average of 9.8 to 4.8.
“It’s learning from what you’ve been through,” DeBoer said.
“Its not just a road environment, it’s all the experiences you’ve been through up to this point and this season. There’s ebbs and flows but you just gotta stay steady.”
Russell now gets another chance to answer in a high-profile setting, with Alabama needing a response in Baton Rouge. The Tide is ranked No. 5 in the College Football Selection Committee’s first poll of the season, but another loss to a top 25 team could shut the door on its championship hopes.
In Other News...
LSUs Alabama Loss Exposed One Offensive Problem Fans Cant Ignore
LSUs loss to Alabama did more than sting in the standings. It also came with a harsh grading snapshot from Pro Football Focus, which handed the Tigers their lowest offensive and defensive marks since earlier defeats this season. For a team still trying to find consistency on that side of the ball, the numbers reinforced what the eye test suggested on a difficult night.
Among the individual evaluations, Jackson Harris came away with LSUs top offensive grade, while Braelin Moore drew one of the lowest marks for pass blocking. Those kinds of splits matter because they point to where the Tigers were getting solid work and where the protection issues kept showing up. For LSU, the bigger concern is not just the result itself, but how clearly the grading exposed the same offensive problem fans have been watching all season. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Playoff Hopes Took A Brutal Hit For One Frustrating Reason
LSUs playoff path took a major blow in Tuscaloosa, where the Tigers left with a 31-13 loss to Alabama despite moving the ball well for long stretches. The numbers on the stat sheet were not the problem so much as what happened when LSU got close to the goal line. The Tigers piled up more than 450 yards of offense and controlled possession, but drives kept dying in the red zone, and missed field goals plus turnovers turned promising possessions into empty ones.
Alabama made LSU pay for every mistake, with quarterback Keelon Russell delivering a sharp performance by completing 17 of 24 passes for 206 yards and three touchdowns. LSUs offense also had to deal with steady pressure and a rushing attack that never really took hold, which made the red-zone failures even more costly. For a team trying to stay in the College Football Playoff conversation, it was the kind of frustrating loss that lingers because the production was there, but the finishing touch was not. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Just Suffered Another Alabama Gut Punch At Home
LSU spent much of the night doing enough to stay in the game on paper, but not enough where it mattered most, and Alabama left Tiger Stadium with another familiar result in a place that has become increasingly unfriendly to the Tigers. The Crimson Tide won 31-13, extending a run that has seen them take seven of their last eight trips to Baton Rouge, even though LSU actually outgained Alabama in total yards.
The frustration for LSU came from missed chances that piled up as the game went on, including failed fourth-down tries and a missed field goal that kept points off the board when the Tigers needed them most. Afterward, Lane Kiffin said the loss has to be put behind them, but for LSU the bigger issue is harder to ignore: against Alabama, the margin keeps getting decided by execution, not effort. [Read more 🡒]