Bama is definitely back to playing lights out defense (see Ole Miss game). Ole Miss scored 0. Ole Miss will not be held to 0 today. Alabama is averaging giving up only 4 points per game in it's last 4 contests. So their improvement arc is much steeper than what LSU is currently experiencing. The only poor outing is A&M, and that happens to everyone. So 26 points in 5 games outside of A&M tells me they are nearly as dominant as last year. LSU would have to hold Ole Miss to 10 points or less today (not counting garbage time points) to be compared to where Alabama's defense suddenly finds itself.
They dont have a great secondary and have played a pretty weak schedule. The decent teams they have played put up points.
Only A&M scored 42. Although to be fair, the game was 42-21 Bama heading into the 4th and Bama gave up 21 points with a huge lead. So even the defense over 3 quarters was pretty impressive against Manziel. 26 points over 5 games outside of that A&M game, with VaTech scoring 10 as the high. I think it says that if you have a great QB and overall offense, that defense can be had. But for those thinking we're putting up 38-45 points, that's not gonna happen. I think we're looking at a game in the 20s for both sides.
Well, we have to beat Ole Miss before we have a shot at Bama that is meaningful at all. Wounded sometimes means dangerous.
Oh the schedule is light no doubt, but 5 points a game is still 5 points a game and can't be overlooked. Shutting out Ole Miss is significant, showing what they are capable of doing at home. TCU, UAB, Kent State, Auburn, MSU and Florida don't really scream out offense at you either. And we've managed to give up 17.2 ppg against that competition (I didn't count the kick return from TCU in that average).