Saturday’s heavyweight bout featuring defending champions No. 1 Alabama and contender No. 5 LSU is friendlier than one might think.
That’s not to say the rivalry isn’t fierce. The all-consuming hate started with the defection of Nick Saban, whose veneration by Baton Rouge inhabitants instantly evaporated when he took the post in Tuscaloosa, Ala., after an NFL hiatus.
With Les Miles taking over Saban’s former project, the teams’ rivalry gained steam along with their reputations.
The two teams inevitably attract the best high school athletes in a region oozing talent by virtue of those statures in the Southeastern Conference, across the country and with pro scouts.
The competition is so strong that it threatens to tear families apart, evidenced by the supremely awkward scene of top local 2012 safety prospect Landon Collins’ mother immediately bemoaning his selection of Alabama on live national television.
Junior defensive tackle Bennie Logan said Alabama tried to persuade him to watch a game in Bryant-Denny Stadium rather than attend his scheduled visit to Tiger Stadium during his recruiting process.
Most coveted athletes get a taste of both schools, but when they make their final selections, their allegiance lies in one place and one place only. If they don’t get to sample both, it’s even more heated.
“If LSU doesn’t want you, you go to Alabama and you hate LSU,” said junior defensive end Sam Montgomery. “Nick Saban doesn’t want you, you go to LSU and you hate Alabama.”
But just because the players hold disdain for their rival doesn’t mean they dislike the parts that make the sum. In fact, with these two programs so deeply intertwined, many Tigers will have friends and former teammates across the line of scrimmage, something junior safety Eric Reid said he’s looking forward to.
Collins was a rising junior at Dutchtown when Reid left to play fewer than 20 miles away in Tiger Stadium. Announcing in January he’d move two states over after a dramatized recruiting process, he decided to follow current starting Tide running back Eddie Lacy, who departed the Geismar prep school a year before Reid.
Reid said he enjoys talking trash with Lacy on the collegiate field, which is something he doesn’t do otherwise.
Considering Lacy’s average of 5.5 yards per carry — third-best in the SEC for runners with more than 100 carries — and Reid’s penchant for stepping up from the secondary to stop ball carriers, it’s likely the two will have to back up any boasting. Reid must be looking forward to putting a hat on his former teammate then.
“Oh yeah, it’ll be nice to finally see him on the field again. It’s rare that you get to see a guy that you went to high school with on the field, so I’m sure we’re both going to enjoy it.”
Working out together this summer at their shared alma mater, Reid was forced to watch Lacy flaunt the BCS ring he wanted so badly.
“He didn’t rub it in like I thought he would, but he knew what he was doing,” Reid said.
Unlike the two Dutchtown adversaries, there’s no situation when senior kicker Drew Alleman would be on the field with his friend-turned-foe, junior Alabama punter Cody Mandell.
Booting the ball together at Acadiana in Lafayette, La., the specialists exchanged pleasantries during LSU’s bye week — Mandell expressed his eager anticipation of their reunion and Alleman replied with well-wishes against Mississippi State.
Although the prospect of playing against his home state’s school ought to motivate junior guard Josh Williford to finally bounce back from his concussion, LSU’s general policy of disallowing injured players to talk to the media makes his status uncertain.
It would also be interesting to watch the game with sophomore fullback Connor Neighbors’ family to see which team they root for; he’s the only Tiger in a family with three former Alabama players.
Montgomery’s observation of these teams’ seething hatred was one of an outsider, as he hails from South Carolina, but he was in all of these players’ shoes when the Gamecocks came to town three weeks ago.
Respect is key when playing your buddies, Montgomery said, and they should play accordingly.
“If I’m playing someone that I actually know,” Montgomery said. “I’m going to go out all out a whole lot more than I would a random person.”
‘If LSU doesn’t want you, you go to Alabama and you hate LSU. Nick Saban doesn’t want you, you go to LSU and you hate Alabama.’
