LSU's 24-21 win against Bama one for the ages

When Jordan Jefferson and Jarrett Lee aren't confused, they're pretty good.
Case in point, Jefferson's 75-yard slant to receiver Rueben Randle.
Another case in point: Lee's 47-yard lob to Randle on a 3rd down play late in the game.
Maybe the Tigers should call a timeout before every play, then they'd have confident quarterbacks under center.
Whatever you call it, LSU's 24-21 win against the defending national champs Alabama Crimson Tide was a major statement and huge win.
It meant that the Nebuchadnezzar-like (grass-eating) Les Miles doesn't have to take a back seat to any coach in the SEC.
It meant that Nick Saban can be outcoached.
It meant that LSU should be a top 5 team, schedule-wise.
But all that is for another day.
Now, LSU sits just a game behind undefeated Auburn Tigers, who need to lose to Georgia next week then Alabama for LSU to get a shot.

Alabama 24 - LSU 15 (sigh)

LSU got beat up by Alabama on Saturday, plain and simple. There were no theatrics, no strange plays. Don't blame the officiating, don't even blame the coaching.
The better team won. Period.
Nick Saban has Alabama looking every bit as good as the 2003 national championship Tigers. If you remember, they would knock quarterbacks out of the game, and would totally shut you down for long periods of the game.
In the 4th quarter, LSU had 9 yards.
Super sophomore eJordan Jefferson was knocked out of the gam; so was senior running back Charles Scott, rwho's season is ove.
It was just alot of hard, hard hitting, and most of it was by boys in Maroon jerseys.
Don't get me wrong. LSU's defense accounted for itself. It just couldn't stop Mark Ingram when it needed too; and Julio Jones, quiet for most of the night, caught LSU with a second-string safety guarding him. Toast.
LSU is still a good team, but like a purple and gold-encrusted blueberry pie in the oven for a mere 30 minutes, it just aint ready yet.

Is Alabama Beatable?

Nick Satan, er, Saban has honed the 2009 edition of the Crimson Tide into a sleek, powerful gridiron machine. Led by running backs Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson, they run well; led by quarterback Greg McElroy they pass well. And let's not even talk about the defense, who limits oppenents to around 15 points a game, with arguably the fastest front four in the SEC.
Is Bama, who has yet to even trail this season, even beatable?
The Tide has shown signs of waywardness but not weakness.
Ingram, the featured back season after Glen Coffee bolted to the League, is the cog that makes the offensive engine go: He churned out 150 yards against a stout Virginia Tech defense in the season opener and has been one tackle from glory several times.
Junior quarterback McElroy has thrown only one pick this season and is in the game-manager mode rather than gunslinger. But when he has to go deep he has, arguably, the best receiver in the SEC at his disposal, Julio Jones.
Jones, who has been slowed by injury this season -- he has just one touchdown and 9 receptions -- has drew a constant doubleteam from opposing defenses after lofty expectations from 2008.
If the Tide has a weakness it will probably be their inability to get the ball to Jones. The flip side of that issue is that they seldom have needed to, especially with the emergence of tight end Colin Peek.
Bama still faces the teeth of their schedule with this week's showdown with Ole Miss, but they look better than No. 2 Texas and No. 1 Florida (who still hasn't played anybody [sorry Vols)]. Also awaiting are the Auburn Tigers and LSU Tigers.
Will the Tide trip up along the way? Time will tell.
But, make no mistake about it, LSU will not doubleteam Jones (Look how they played Georgia's A.J. Green). If they can play Jones straight up, then McElroy will have to beat the Tigers with his arm.
If Ingram doesn't with his feet.