Alabama Coaches Feel Quick Start Will Be Key at LSU

The Crimson Tide hasn't scored on its opening possession in any road game so far this season.

Oct 19, 2024; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Jalen Milroe (4) hands the ball off to running back Jam Miller (26) against the Tennessee Volunteers during the second quarter at Neyland Stadium. / Randy Sartin-Imagn Images

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Alabama passed its first road test of the season back in September at Wisconsin with flying colors. But the Crimson Tide's next two road games, both in SEC play, resulted in losses at Vanderbilt and Tennessee.

Now, No. 11 Alabama faces a must-win game at No. 14 LSU on Saturday if the Crimson Tide wants to keep its College Football Playoff hopes alive. Traditionally, Tiger Stadium at night is one of the most difficult places to play in college football, but Alabama has a 29-10-3 record in Baton Rouge and has won six of the last eight games at LSU.

Alabama's best half of the season offensively came in the first half against Georgia when the Crimson Tide was coming out of its first bye week and jumped to a 30-7 lead at halftime over the Bulldogs. The Crimson Tide scored touchdowns on its first four offensive possessions of the game, and that's the only time it has done so this season through eight games. In fact, the Georgia and South Carolina games are the only two times this season that Alabama has scored at all on its opening offensive drive of the game.

Crimson Tide offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan feels like getting off to a fast start will be a key for Alabama this weekend in a hostile road environment at LSU if the Crimson Tide wants to have more success on the road.

"Particularly when you’re on the road and you’re dealing with the crowd and those types of things, to be able to get off to a good start, I think is always beneficial, but certainly when you’re on the road," Sheridan said Monday.

In the Vanderbilt loss, Alabama fell behind 13-0 after the Commodores opened the game on a back-breaking 10-play, 75-yard drive immediately followed by a deflected ball that Vanderbilt returned 29 yards for a touchdown. Alabama settled into a rhythm on offense, but the opening deficit proved too large to overcome.

Against Tennessee, Alabama choose to take the ball first after winning the opening coin toss, hoping to avoid what happened at Vanderbilt. Instead, the offense just went backwards on the opening possession with two negative plays and a penalty, resulting in a three-and-out. The Crimson Tide did lead 7-0 at halftime, but missed out on multiple opportunities in the first half to build a bigger lead and ultimately didn't open the game with bang to help silence the opposing crowd.

"You just can’t dig yourself in a hole, especially giving the opponent the momentum in an environment like we're going to see at LSU," Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer said Monday. "So it’s critical. We preach it every day. We try to even set up our practice to where we do start fast, whether it's offense or defense. And we didn't get that done the last two road games, as you mentioned. So always an emphasis on that. But really, it comes back to, the guys are trying. It’s just a matter of doing things that you do well and coming out there and executing.”

Alabama had four pre-snap penalties on offense in the first half alone against Tennessee that were constantly putting the Crimson Tide in unfavorable position behind the chains. Sheridan said that the offense has learned from dealing with the crowd noise at Neyland Stadium as it prepares for another loud game in Death Valley this weekend.

"When you look at those opportunities that we’ve had on the road, we need to play better and I think that comes down to simple execution," Sheridan said. "I think, making sure as a staff, we’re putting them in a position to play fast and play confident because you are dealing with other factors in the game, crowd noises, etc., so making sure that we keep it simple enough so our guys can execute and do their job, I think that’ll be important."

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