When playing Alabama, just getting into the red zone is a feat. Getting out with a touchdown is a miracle.
In eight games, the Tide has allowed its opponents into the red zone just 15 times. That’s fewer than two red zone appearances per game for a list of opponents that includes a Michigan team averaging 28 points per game and a previously undefeated Mississippi State team averaging 33 points per game.
That could be bad news for an LSU team that has struggled to get to the red zone this season and has looked anemic at times once it got there.
LSU has a meager 79 percent success rate in the red zone in 2012, and the Tigers have come away with a touchdown just 47 percent of the time.
The Tigers have entered the red zone and left without putting any points on the board seven times this season — already surpassing the four times that happened through the entire 2011 season.
“Any time you get in the red zone and don’t get seven, it’s frustrating,” said senior center P.J. Lonergan. “Especially if you’re on a 60-plus-yard drive where it took you eight to 10 plays to get down there.”
Junior quarterback Zach Mettenberger said the main reason for LSU’s problems in the red zone is a lack of execution.
“It’s not like we don’t want to score,” Mettenberger said. “We’ll just get down there and screw up somewhere.”
Senior offensive lineman Josh Dworaczyk said he saw an emphasis put on perfecting execution from Mettenberger that will translate to the field Saturday.
Dworaczyk said the Tigers’ offense repeated plays several times in practice until they ran them to perfection, and then many times, Mettenberger asked to run it one more time to make sure he had the play exactly right.
“Throughout Coach Saban’s career, he’s always had a solid defense,” Mettenberger said. “We’re going to try to go out there and execute to the best of our abilities, and hopefully they can make some mistakes to help us out.”
Last season, the Tigers were one of the most efficient red zone scoring offenses in the nation, scoring on 93 percent of their red zone drives.
But as good as LSU was in 2011, the Alabama offense has been even more efficient in 2012.
Alabama entered the red zone and failed to score only one time this season, and 74 percent of its red zone possessions have ended in touchdowns.
“They know how to do the right thing at the right time,” said sophomore defensive tackle Anthony Johnson. “As a football team, we’ve just got to say, ‘It’s time to man up, and don’t let them in.’”
