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As a fan of either Alabama or LSU, you’ve probably caught yourself holding your breath each time your team lines up for a punt or a kickoff. There’s good reason for that.
The first College Football Playoff Rankings were announced on Tuesday night, with LSU holding the No. 2 spot and Alabama checking in at No. 4. Clearly, special teams play was not a consideration for the selection committee.
Both teams have been bad – very bad – in that department. Bad enough to change a game between two teams that appear to be so evenly matched; mirror images of one another, if you will.
Bad enough that if both teams had spent their respective bye weeks on nothing but covering punts and kickoffs, nobody could have argued.
Oh, it’s bad. How bad is it?
Alabama ranks 65th in the FBS in punt coverage, allowing 128 yards and one touchdown on 15 punts.
But LSU is even worse. In fact, the Tigers are the worst in punt coverage, ranking 127th. That’s last, as in it doesn’t get any worse. The Tigers have given up 172 yards and one touchdown on opponents’ six punt returns.
Kick coverage is better, but only slightly. Alabama ranks 47th and has yielded 489 yards on 24 kickoffs this season. LSU ranks 99th as the Tigers have watched (almost literally) opponents return 33 kickoffs for 762 yards and one touchdown.
It’s a headache that’s driven Alabama head coach Nick Saban to swear; well, almost.
It reared its ugly head in the Texas A&M game, when Christian Kirk returned a second-quarter punt 68 yards for a touchdown that put the Aggies right back in it.
“The big thing that I think we need to focus on is not having the kind of big mistakes and breakdowns in the game that really create momentum in the game for the other team,” Saban said in the postgame press conference, according to al.com.
It’s an issue LSU coach Les Miles certainly addressed during the bye week.
“We focused more on special teams this week, tightened things up. I like our plan,” Miles said in his weekly press conference leading up to Saturday’s game.
While everyone is focused on the battle of running backs (Leonard Fournette vs. Derrick Henry), the quarterbacks (Brandon Harris vs. Jake Coker) and the two stellar defenses, Saturday’s titanic struggle could very well come down to which team has shored up its special teams problems.
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE
Best offensive player: RB Derrick Henry, Jr. — Having already surpassed the 1,000-yard mark in rushing (1,044 yards on 180 carries), Bama’s 6-foot-3, 242-pound bruising back has reached the end zone 14 times this season and 31 times total in his three-year career.
Signal caller: QB Jake Coker, Sr. — Blossoming into the role as starting quarterback, Coker has a passer rating of 134.7 this season. In completing 64 percent of his passes, Coker has thrown for 1,623 yards. All seven of his interceptions this season have been thrown in Bryant-Denny Stadium, where 10 of his 11 touchdown passes have also been tossed.
Best defensive player: LB Reggie Ragland, Sr. — A leader on the team in tackles (71), Ragland has recorded two sacks and forced two fumbles.
Glenn Sattell is an award-winning freelance writer for Saturday Down South.
