Senior Jordan Jefferson made LSU football coach Les Miles’ quarterback decision easy when he was implicated in, and subsequently suspended for, the infamous Shady’s brawl, paving the way for fellow senior Jarrett Lee to start.
Alabama also faced uncertainty behind center prior to the season, with sophomore A.J. McCarron and freshman Phillip Sims vying for the starter slot with the departure of former quarterback Greg McElroy.
McCarron won the job, starting every game this season and throwing only one more interception than Sims in 172 more attempts. He will lead his Crimson Tide against Lee and LSU on Saturday in Tuscaloosa.
CBS announcer Gary Danielson said in a teleconference Tuesday that the quarterbacks will decide the finish and the trials McCarron experienced competing with Sims for the spotlight may have prepared him for a seminal moment in Saturday’s contest.
“It comes down to the quarterbacks in these games [in the Southeastern Conference for the past four or five years] being the tiebreaker,” Danielson said. “At Alabama, to win the job, as the pressure is ratcheted up between A.J. [McCarron] and Phillip Sims during spring ball, offseason programs. … All of that was in preparation for maybe one four-minute drive in this