Mississippi State did it. West Virginia ran it. Florida operated it. Auburn perfected it.
The one thing these teams have in common, like many NCAA football teams, is a heavy reliance on the spread offense.
After defending against the spread for a large chunk of its first eight games, the LSU football team finally gets a break Saturday when Alabama rolls into town.
Alabama, unlike many offenses, runs a traditional pro-style offense that involves basic I-formation and single-back sets, which is music to LSU coach Les Miles’ ears.
“We are looking forward to I-back runs and guys that line up in a position that we are comfortable defending,” Miles said.
Miles isn’t the only one looking forward to Alabama’s traditional attack, as nearly every defensive player at Monday’s player interview session agreed it will be a relief to face a familiar offense.
Granted, the LSU defense just got torched by Auburn junior quarterback Cam Newton and his accomplices for a hefty 440 rushing yards.
“It will be a whole lot easier because we won’t have to worry about a guy who can run it and pass it at the same time,” said LSU junior safety Brandon Taylor. “It will be less stressful on the defense.”
The majority of the defensive players agreed they are best suited for the downhill rushing attack that Alabama uses. During games against the likes of Mississippi State, Auburn and Florida, LSU’s defensive linemen — more specifically the ends — worried more about containment than anything else to prevent the quarterback from escaping the pocket.
Now it’s all about stopping the run, and getting penetration from the linemen is key to pave the way for the rest of the defense to corral the ball carrier.
“We’re focused more on the running backs and keeping them in and let our backers make a play,” said redshirt freshman defensive end Barkevious Mingo.
Without having to worry about defending a spread offense, LSU can turn its attention to Alabama’s two-headed monster — junior running back and reigning Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram as well as sophomore Trent Richardson.
Ingram missed the first two games of the season following minor knee surgery in August but has since accumulated 544 yards and eight touchdowns. His counterpart Richardson has accounted for 606 yards and five touchdowns to spearhead one of the nation’s most potent rushing attacks.
“Alabama, it’s no secret they are going to line up in the I-back and single back and run the ball down your throat, and if you don’t control the line of scrimmage up front and make tackles, they will do it all night long,” said senior linebacker Kelvin Sheppard.
Running the ball down opponents’ throats is exactly what Alabama does. In eight games, the Crimson Tide are averaging 35 rushing attempts per contest.
But they aren’t exactly one-dimensional. Alabama also ranks No. 4 in the Southeastern Conference in passing with 253.9 yards per game, meaning if LSU keys too much on the rushing attack, senior quarterback Greg McElroy will burn the LSU defense through the air.
Even so, Tigers junior cornerback Patrick Peterson knows LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis needs to construct a game plan to defend Alabama’s smash mouth running style.
“It’s going to be fun going against this traditional offense,” Peterson said. “We just got to go as a defense and as a front seven and stop the run first and hopefully make McElroy beat us with his arm.”
Whether LSU thinks it’s easier to defend against Alabama’s offense is irrelevant if it can’t tackle. The defense struggled to bring down the 6-foot-6-inch Newton the entire game, and the Heisman Trophy candidate even broke five tackles on his way to a 49-yard touchdown run.
The defense was scolded during the bye week for those missed tackles, taking part in tackling circuits, an eight-station drill usually done in fall camp.
“We really don’t like doing that, so I really think we’re going to get it right this week,” Taylor said.
 
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Contact Sean Isabella at [email protected]