It's a hard game to get a good feel about, really. Odd, this far into a season. The rain forecast makes it odd. The potential for derpy special teams play on both sides is odd. The fact that outside of Florida they haven't faced a really solid opponent and Florida lost its starting quarterback the week before the game, but wait, Mississippi State may be pretty good. Our o-line has been so inconsistent and now has a key injury, maybe, or maybe not. We suddenly have a ball hawking secondary but their qb hasn't thrown a pick all year, though he doesn't exactly have a zillion attempts. This type of game should be won in the trenches, but each defensive line holds a decent edge over the other team's offensive line. Their receiving corps as a whole is probably better than ours but our dbs are better than theirs, and a couple of unexpected guys caught the ball very well in our last game, but for the first time -- was that a blip or the start of a trend? Their running back should win the Heisman, but ours is nothing to sneeze at, especially the way he does things like pass protect. They practice against an outstanding runner, but are they even allowed to tackle him? Their defensive coordinator is not as good as their old one, at least not yet, but our offensive coordinator has gone through some questionable stretches of play-calling this year. It's at home, but we've actually seemed to play a lot better outside of Tuscaloosa. Alabama is a home favorite trying to get into the SEC championship and cannot afford another loss so they should be feeling a lot of pressure. But LSU is undefeated, more highly ranked, and bucking for its own shot at the championship, so it's not like they aren't feeling some stress, too. When you get down to nit picky stuff like our tight end is a great mismatch against their LBs, I think you are reaching at straws.
Of course, it's early in the week. Fournette could end up with a hot appendix on Friday night and watch the game from a hospital bed at DCH. Coker could get arrested trying to run away from a DUI checkpoint. Either team could get a flu bug going through the locker room....
The only outcome that would really surprise me is a blow out either way.
28 - 21. 28 wins. I'm going to say it's Alabama because.... I'll let you know on Sunday.
