Alabama's loss to LSU Saturday was a heartbreaker. It was a game in which virtually no one thought Alabama had a chance to win. With both teams coming off a bye week, I felt that one of two things would happen: LSU would play sloppy and Alabama would sneak out with a 3-point win, or Alabama would play sloppy and LSU would win big, and as expected in a #3 versus #17 battle. I was wrong in both cases.
Both teams played poorly, and Alabama capitalized on LSU's mistakes and overcame a 17-3 first quarter deficit to almost win the game. In the end, however, it was Alabama's biggest mistake of the game that drove the final nail into the coffin. A mistake that we have seen so many times in the past.
Moral victories are worthless, but if you are an Alabama fan, you still have get excited when you look into the future. Alabama had very few penalties, forced a passing game to work when the running game was not there, and played good defense from the second quarter to the last 3 minutes of the fourth. Alabama did not pressure the quarterback in the first quarter, nor in LSU's last full field drive which led to the touchdown pass that tied the game with about 3 minutes remaing.
After having success forcing turnovers in the second quarter by pressuring the quarterback, and keeping him under control throughout the third and fourth quarters, it is hard to understand why you only rush three in the end. You see alot of teams do it, but this is yet another case of "prevent defense" preventing a win.
Still, the future is where Alabama's success lies, although they are improving much quicker than I thought they would, I have to remember that the best is yet to come.
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