ESPN's Stanford Steve reveals key to victory in Alabama-LSU College Football Playoff eliminator
One of the most highly anticipated and high-stakes games of the college football season kicks off this weekend at Tiger Stadium. No. 11 ranked Alabama visits No. 15 LSU in a matchup between two-loss SEC powers looking to keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive.
Matchups between the Tigers and Crimson Tide date back to 1895 and rarely disappoint. And for this year’s edition, ESPN college football analyst “Stanford” Steve Coughlin revealed what he believes the key to Saturday’s game will be on Friday afternoon SportsCenter with Randy Scott.
“I think it’s whatever quarterback takes better care of the football,” Coughlin said. “When you look at what Jalen Milroe has done in the two road losses, combined for four turnovers. At Tennessee, there was crowd noise issues with the snap count. Were they going to use the clap? Were they going to use the silent count?”
Alabama’s only two losses of the season both coming on the road raises the importance of communication and ball security. Especially heading into arguably the loudest and most hostile environment across college football on Saturday against a team that’s recently had turnover struggles of their own.
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“And on the other side, it’s (Garrett) Nussmeier. Last time out three picks, huge momentum swings with those interceptions, which fueled Texas A&M to winning that game,” Coughlin added. “So knowing what the stakes are and Randy, just looking at some of the stuff with this game, it’s why it’s my favorite game of the year.”
Nussmeier’s career-high three interceptions last weekend in College Station definitely had a significant impact in LSU’s first SEC loss of the season. It’s those sort of mistakes he’ll look to avoid this weekend in on one of college football’s biggest stages.
“First of all, it’s here in the best venue in the sport. But also this series, since overtime was implemented in 1996, the series with the most overtime games is this one. Five times these teams have gone to overtime and we know how many times they’ve been top five teams,” Coughlin explained.
“This one is just as important with the playoff rankings ahead.”