Kirk Herbstreit evaluates how Alabama evolved ahead of matchup with LSU

ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit revealed what he saw in Alabama’s evolution throughout the season ahead of the game against LSU.

The obvious choice is quarterback Jalen Milroe’s development over the course of the season. However, Herbstreit was a fan of the Crimson Tide’s defense.

But first, he had to give the quarterback and total offense credit.

“Everybody’s gonna talk about Jalen Milroe’s development and that’s that is key,” Herbstreit said on SportsCenter. “I mean, after the game he had against Texas, he ended up getting benched and he came back. But to me, is much of anything that I’ve seen is guys like Jermaine Burton and company developing in their passing game.

“The ability to make big plays, I think will be very important. Keep in mind Jayden Daniels on the other side of the ball, the potential of what he can do, how electrifying of a player that he can be.” 

But Daniels can let it fly and get loose. If he does so, it could be a long game for Alabama.

Alabama’s evolution on defense is key, per Kirk Herbstreit

That’s why Herbstreit pointed out the evolution and maturation of the Crimson Tide defense as the key to this game.

“So this is what I was gonna say is that, that’s what changed to me is this defense has grown up,” Herbstreit said. “I think these players are some young faces there that had to grow up from the Texas game, took that loss personally, and I think they’ve grown each week they’re communicating better. 

“There aren’t as many busts and I think upfront, they can really pressure the quarterback. The key in this game is going to be can they contain Jayden Daniels and his creativity? That’ll be the entire game. It’ll be up to that Bama defense to try to slow him down.”

The Crimson Tide will surely have to do their best to stop LSU’s high-powered offense this weekend, which has taken a major leap compared to last season averaging 13 more points per game as the SEC’s top offense this year.

“What LSU does man offensively, first of all the quarterback is phenomenal. He’s a great athlete, he can run, he’s a very good passer, he reads things, he’s got great anticipation on where he’s gonna go with the ball,” head coach Nick Saban said regarding Daniels.

“He’s got really good skill players outside, they’ve got a good back, they’ve got a good offensive line, they can run the ball downhill at you. But they’re really running triple option in a lot of the quarterback runs they have. Zone read, arc zone read, street, so they got a dive, a quarterback running, they got a guy running in the flat that can be the pitch man.”