It is unusual to have a LSU/Bama week as quiet as this one and that is because of all the headlines dominated by not only LSU’s coaching search, but also an entire change of leadership. Just two weeks ago, LSU had Scott Woodward as their athletic director and Brian Kelly as their head football coach.
Now, fast forward to this week, LSU is now led by Verge Ausberry as its athletic director and at least for the interim, Frank Wilson as their head football coach. For LSU, this has not been their first rodeo in making a head coaching change midseason. In fact, when LSU made the decision to fire Les Miles and make Ed Orgeron the interim after a September loss to Auburn, Orgeron righted the ship and finished with a 6-2 record. In the end, Orgeron also got promoted to be the full-time head coach where he would later lead the Tigers to a national championship in 2019 and a 51-20 record in five years.
Now, Wilson has the opportunity to do the same thing and that is put himself in the running for the next head coach at LSU. The former running backs coach has a four and potentially a five game sample size to show the powers to be that he should also be considered to be the head coach.
After a disappointing 5-3 start with the three losses coming over the last four games, LSU has part ways with Brian Kelly as their coach and now, Wilson is focused on righting the ship and bringing pride back to the program.
“I am extremely humbled and I honored to be given this opportunity. It’s something that you dream of and something that you will never know that will come true. This moment is so much bigger than me. I just happen to be the caretaker at this moment for this wonderful institution that we so love. It’s our flagship university. We have tremendous pride in it. I will do my very best and die trying to represent us as a university, as a state, as a community to the best of my ability with dignity, with honor, and pride the way LSU has always been and always will be.”
LSU Interim HC Frank Wilson
So far, Coach Wilson has pressed all the right buttons starting off with keeping the current recruiting class intact while also bringing a rejuvenated energy to the practice field. During the bye week, Wilson brought in former LSU players to speak to the team. He also made some other changes as well in promoting Alex Atkins as the offensive coordinator, making Tim Rattay as the quarterbacks coach, and the team has practiced more game like situations much to the request of defensive coordinator Blake Baker.
“I think they’ll respond well. I’ll share something we did today. I was watching quite some time ago when we got bombed at Pearl Harbor, and the sirens went off, and that sound effect, and there was an alert. It was an all-call. It was a rally call for us to come together. We emulated that today for our football team, and as those sirens went off for the rally call, our team merged together at the 50-yard line. We held up all four of our fingers in both hands.”
“We chanted fourth quarter. We chanted finish, because we’re all in. We’re all in to finish what we’ve started, and some of that celebration, some of that noise, if you will, was simply our football team answering to the rally call, being there for one another in a tough situation when, if you will use an analogy, we’ve been invaded.”
LSU Interim HC Frank Wilson
All that is good, but the real opportunities come on the field and it starts with as big of a first challenge as it gets for the former UTSA and McNeese State head coach, which is going on the road against Top 5 Alabama.
“Preparation has been steady. A tremendous opportunity before us against a very quality opponent in Alabama. Tall task, but I think our team will be up for it. The presentation and preparation indicates that we’re eager to go play, to better ourselves from our last outing. One day at a time. Growing our football team up to go to Tuscaloosa in a hostile environment to play to the best of our ability is our charge.”
LSU Interim HC Frank Wilson
As the number four team in college football, the Alabama Crimson Tide have been on a tear ever since their season opening loss to Florida State by winning seven in a row including four ranked games in a row. While the Crimson Tide have been phenomenal against ranked teams under Kalen DeBoer, it has actually been against unranked teams that Alabama has been vulnerable against including the opening season loss to Florida State and a detrimental loss to Oklahoma last year that kept Alabama out of the College Football Playoff.
“This is going to be a physical game. It was last year. I think it always has been, that’s the tradition. You see what their team is made up of, it’s physical players. I think they got elite skill, both offensively and defensively, whether it’s coverage or being able to win on the perimeter and the running backs as well. This rivalry goes way back. Doing the introduction with our team, it was 1895 if I remember right, doing the research and that’s a lot of games that have happened between these two schools. So we’re looking at this as one of those rivalry games that I know was I was told much about when I first got here. So it’s going to be, again, a great environment, a lot of pride both for our program and theirs as well.”
Alabama HC Kalen DeBoer
Ty Simpson is playing like a Heisman frontrunner this season for the Crimson Tide completing 67.8% of his passes for 2,184 yards and 20 touchdowns to just one interception. Simpson has a talented trio of wide receivers to throw to as well led by Germie Bernard, who leads the team in receiving with 38 catches for 526 yards and six touchdowns alongside Ryan Williams and Isaiah Horton.
“(Simpson) orchestrates it. I think he can make every throw. He’s accurate at every level. I think he does an outstanding job of reading the defense, throws into windows with great anticipation, but also can throw receivers open. You lose sight of the athlete that he is because he can tuck it when need be to gain yardage for his football team.”
LSU Interim HC Frank Wilson
It is going to be strength on strength with Alabama’s passing offense going against LSU’s pass defense as the Tigers have only given up 191 passing yards per game led by a great defensive backfield which includes Mansoor Delane, DJ Pickett, PJ Woodland, AJ Haulcy, and Tamarcus Cooley.
Meanwhile, both teams come into the game struggling to run the football, which is a surprise considering the tradition of both LSU and Alabama. LSU has only averaged 106 yards per game while Alabama has averaged 118 yards on the ground. Whoever can achieve more success on the ground can come a long way of who wins on Saturday night.
Despite the struggles offensively, LSU still has the potential to be dangerous on offense with skill weapons like Trey’Dez Green, Harlem Berry, Aaron Anderson, Zavion Thomas, and Barion Brown. The question mark with a new regime is how the quarterback position will be treated with Garrett Nussmeier underachieving this season with 12 touchdown passes and five interceptions.
Wilson made it clear that Nussmeier is the team’s starting quarterback, but he also stated that there is also a chance that Michael Van Buren may get some snaps as well because of his ability as a runner.
“We do think that Michael brings some special things to the table that makes the defense have to defend him as well. We’ll look at the opportunities and when they present themselves, we’ll take advantage.”
LSU Interim HC Frank Wilson
Playing with a chip on their shoulders and with really nothing to lose at this point, Frank Wilson could very well get the best of this LSU team that has underachieved to this point but also has the ability to turn it on at any given moment.
Score Prediction: Alabama 30, LSU 23
I think you will see an inspired effort from LSU tomorrow and I believe that Frank Wilson will get these guys ready to play. This situation reminds me a lot of the 2021 LSU/Alabama game in which LSU already made the decision to fire Ed Orgeron and that the Tigers had nothing to lose while Alabama was playing for a College Football Playoff berth. Alabama did win the game 20-14, but LSU certainly made it tough on the Crimson Tide. Alabama has won a lot of close games this year and Ty Simpson has really been the reason for that. I believe that the Crimson Tide will get enough plays from Simpson for them to prevail over the Tigers despite a motivated effort.
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