Baton Rouge was unusually calm this past week, as LSU football’s bye left the city without its normal gameday buzz.

But now the tide is rolling in, and the storm has begun. 

The Tigers are gearing up to face Alabama on Saturday in Death Valley. This game means everything on the road to the SEC Championship and College Football Playoff. Neither team can afford to lose. 

“We’re up for the challenge,” head coach Brian Kelly said on Monday. “We’re excited about it. Playing at Tiger Stadium has been good medicine for us. Now we’ve got to go out and execute and play LSU football for four quarters”
To add to the game’s chaos, College Gameday will be at LSU, highlighting this matchup’s storied history and competitiveness. 

This year the rivalry looks a little different. It will be the first game since 2007 without Nick Saban as head coach at Alabama. Kalen DeBoer will get his first taste of Tiger Stadium. 

Here’s what else Kelly had to say about the matchup in his weekly press conference. 

Alabama’s well-rounded roster

Kelly was clear about the challenge Alabama presents, describing them as one of the most balanced and talented teams LSU will face this season.
In every position, there’s a guy who poses a threat to the Tigers. 

“When we look at teams, we look at potential weaknesses at a particular position,” Kelly said. “I don’t see any with this team … This is an extremely talented football team with no apparent weaknesses.”

Wide receivers Ryan Williams and Germie Bernard lead the offense in receiving yards. On the defense, Alabama is stacked with playmakers like Deontae Lawson and Jihaad Campbell who each have 66 tackles this season. 

While Alabama had a rough start to SEC play, losing to Vanderbilt and Tennessee, it made great strides to clean up past mistakes. The Tide recently shut out a top-25 ranked Missouri 34-0. 

Containing Jalen Milroe
In the Texas A&M game, Aggie coach Mike Elko benched quarterback Connor Weigman to bring in dual-threat quarterback Marcel Reed. He found an answer to overpowering the LSU defense, and the Tigers couldn’t stop the quarterback run. 
Kelly said the defense worked on cleaning up these mistakes in the bye week, which will be imperative against a quarterback like Jalen Milroe. 
When LSU faced Alabama last season, it didn’t know what to expect with Milroe, Kelly said. The Tide had gone through a few quarterback changes before settling on Milroe ahead of facing LSU. 
Now, the Tigers have seen Milroe at the starting position for multiple weeks and can plan an attack to stop him. 
Milroe is one of the top scorers in the SEC and creates opportunities at the goal line. LSU’s red zone defense will have to fire on all cylinders. 
Taking pressure off Nussmeier
Kelly highlighted LSU’s need to achieve better balance and efficiency on offense, particularly to support quarterback Garrett Nussmeier. He emphasized that everyone—receivers, tight ends, and linemen—needs to step up to create a stronger running game, so the pressure is lifted from Nussmeier’s shoulders.
“We’ve got to go do it … Garrett can’t be the guy that feels like he’s got to do everything,” Kelly said. “And part of it has to come from Garrett to understand that ‘I don’t have to make a play every time I’m out there.’”
Additionally, taking care of the football is crucial for Nussmeier in this game. LSU’s turnovers in the Texas A&M game proved costly, and similar mistakes against a team as strong as Alabama could be game-breaking.
LSU’s talented receiver corps will be key to open up opportunities for Nussmeier. 
“We’ve got to be more consistent across the board and creating a little bit more uncertainty in terms of what we are doing and making sure that we can get the ball to the playmakers,” Kelly said. 

LSU takes on Alabama at 6:30 this Saturday.