LSU senior defensive lineman Tyson Jackson knows what Alabama’s game plan will be this weekend.Jackson knows Alabama will try to control the line of scrimmage with their big and physical offensive line and keep the ball out of the LSU offense’s hands by running the football.The challenge is trying to stop that game plan.”There [are] no secrets. They line up, and they try to hit you in the mouth with the running game,” Jackson said. “We know it’s coming. We just have to stop it. It sounds easy, but not many people have been able to do it this year.”Alabama averages more than 205 yards rushing and more than five yards per carry.The catalyst of the Crimson Tide’s rushing attack is Glen Coffee, who has 894 yards and seven touchdowns this season.Coffee is known to most as a physical back who doesn’t shy away from contact between the tackles. But the Fort Walton Beach, Fla., native is also a big-play threat for Alabama and averages more than six yards per carry this season.LSU senior defensive lineman Marlon Favorite said containing Coffee at the line of scrimmage is a key to upsetting No.1 Alabama.”He’s easier to tackle when he is just getting the ball than he is when he is running downhill,” he said. “And that’s up to us. We’re the first barrier in his way.”One person benefiting from Coffee’s success is senior quarterback John Parker Wilson.Wilson said being able to be in third-and-short situations helps take the pressure off him to win the game.”Having Glen Coffee as a threat at running back definitely makes my job easier,” he said. “He has so much talent, and he is a constant threat for us in the backfield.”Favorite said keeping Wilson out of those third-and-short’s is key for the Tigers’ defense this weekend.”That’s an advantage to us,” he said. “Running is their strength, so if we can take it away and make them go to the pass, it gives us an advantage.”Alabama also has other options in the backfield they can turn to if LSU succeeds in keeping Coffee out of rhythm.Junior halfback Roy Upchurch and freshman Mark Ingram each have more than 300 yards this season, and both average more than 5.7 yards per carry.One of the reasons for Alabama’s rushing success — regardless of the ball carrier — is the strength of their offensive line.Junior offensive tackle Andre Smith and senior center Antoine Caldwell anchor the big Alabama offensive line that averages 307 pounds a player among the five starters.Smith said Alabama coach Nick Saban told his players when he took over at Alabama that if players bought into his style, success would follow.Smith said buying into that system is what is allowing the Crimson Tide to control games the way they have through this season.”We just all believe that he is going to do the right things for us,” Smith said. “He’s going to make us do the right things to better prepare us.”But the Crimson Tide is facing an LSU defense that limited them to just 20 yards rushing on 33 carries in last season’s 41-34 Tigers’ victory.Wilson said he expects another dog fight in the trenches this year against an LSU defense — a defense he considers one of the best in the nation.”The LSU defense is the best defense we have faced all year,” he said. “Even without Glenn Dorsey, the front seven is still a formidable force.”
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