LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels is at the helm of an offense that has been rolling up huge numbers this season, even in defeat. The points and yards haven’t come so easily for Alabama counterpart Jalen Milroe and the Crimson Tide, but the wins have been coming just the same.
Both quarterbacks and their teams will have something to say about the Southeastern Conference championship race.
Daniels will lead the nation’s top offense into Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday night, when the Tide (7-1, 5-0 SEC), who are No. 8 in both the AP Top 25 poll and this year’s first College Football Playoff rankings, host the Tigers (6-2, 4-1), who are 13th and 14th.
Both teams have been on hot streaks after shaky starts, which has ensured some things remain the same in a rivalry where the winner has emerged as the SEC West Division champion 10 of the past 12 years.
“It’s physical. They’ve got huge guys. We’ve got huge guys,” LSU tight end Mason Taylor said. “And it’s just competitive and it’s just, like, different than any other game.”
Daniels is a Heisman Trophy candidate, and LSU scored 49 points even in a loss to No. 11 Ole Miss (7-1, 4-1, No. 10 CFP) in late September. The Tigers have averaged 53 points during their three-game winning streak since then.
Daniels has weapons galore, including Malik Nabers, who leads the nation with 981 receiving yards, and Brian Thomas, whose 11 touchdown catches are second to none.
“They are the best team in the country on offense,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said.
The Tide’s offense isn’t on that level now that quarterback Bryce Young, the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner and a top-six finisher in voting for the award last fall, has moved on to the NFL as the No. 1 overall pick of this year’s draft by the Carolina Panthers.
However, Alabama does have a top-20 defense and is the only SEC West team without a league loss.
Since falling to the Big 12’s Texas Longhorns in Tuscaloosa in the second game of the season, Alabama has won six straight games to reemerge as a playoff contender behind one of the SEC’s best defenses. Milroe and the offense have found their footing since he rode the bench in an anemic 17-3 nonconference win at South Florida the week after the home loss.
Whatever their paths, Alabama and LSU always seem to be on a collision course in the SEC West. It’s the 18th time since 2002 they have met as ranked teams. LSU bumped Alabama from national contention with a 32-31 overtime win last season.
“I grew up watching the LSU-Alabama game my whole life, and actually being able to play in it is going to be really fun,” said LSU running back Logan Diggs, a Notre Dame transfer.
AP phot by Gerald Herbert / LSU receiver Malik Nabers celebrates his touchdown catch with quarterback Garrett Nussmeier during a 62-0 win against Army on Oct. 21 in Baton Rouge, La.Daniels has been the league’s best passer, but he also has run for 521 yards and five touchdowns this season. He has 2,694 rushing yards and 29 touchdowns in his five seasons at Arizona State and LSU.
Meanwhile, Milroe knows his reputation coming into this season as a running quarterback, but he hasn’t done much of it lately. After rushing for 69 yards and two touchdowns against Mississippi State on Sept. 30, his rushing totals per game look like this: minus-31 (versus Texas A&M), minus-19 (Arkansas) and 3 (Tennessee).
“It’s funny, everyone always mentions my running ability and everything like that, but in the offseason, all I do is throw,” Milroe said. “I do zero training when it comes to running. My intent when I’m on the field is to throw the ball, because the ball can get there faster than my legs can on any drive.”
LSU coach Brian Kelly — like Daniels, he’s in his second season with the Tigers — complimented Milroe’s passing and the offensive improvement since the Tide’s struggles earlier this season.
“I think a lot of people were questioning his ability to throw it, but he’s been effective, efficient, (makes) big plays,” Kelly said.
The two winningest active coaches in college football will be on opposing sidelines. Kelly leads the way in all-division wins with a 300-103-2 record, though only 182 wins came in FBS competition. Saban is next up at 292-70-1, though he’s the FBS leader. Kelly won 118 games at Michigan’s Grand Valley State, an NCAA Division II program, including national titles in 2002 and 2003.
Kelly is also set to face Alabama’s first-year offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, his former starting quarterback and coordinator at Notre Dame. Rees played for Kelly from 2010-13, starting 31 games and finishing in the program’s top three in both touchdown passes and passing yards. He was Kelly’s quarterbacks coach from 2017-22 and also his offensive coordinator their final three seasons together.
“He’s somebody that I’ve got a lot of respect for and what he’s done at Notre Dame and in a very short time taking an offense and transforming it quickly during the season,” Kelly said.
Kelly’s decision to go for two points in overtime against Alabama last year resulted in the biggest win of his debut season in Baton Rouge. He chuckled when asked if he’d make a similar gamble again in “the exact same situation.”
“I felt like the game itself was such that our guys were executing at such a high level, that’s kind of what prompted that decision,” Kelly said. “From my perspective, it’s really about a gut feeling at the time more so than what’s a perfect scenario.”