The LSU versus Alabama football rivalry is one of the biggest conference rivalries in the SEC, but it’s also why championships run deep in both programs.
A couple of the largest games in the rivalry are the matchups in 2011 and 2019, and the hype surrounding these games has only fueled the players’ determination to win even more.
“We’re going to come for their heads,” former receiver Justin Jefferson said before the 2019 matchup. “I mean, we’re going to do what we need to do.”
Each matchup had huge stakes. The game in 2011 was considered the turn of the century, and it set up the 2012 title game. In 2019, the Tigers were boasting an undefeated record entering the game, and on top of that pressure, they had to play the Tide in Tuscaloosa.
The pressure the players felt was huge, but it means a lot to the players and their careers. Former Alabama running back Trent Richardson said that the 2011 game meant more to him than most others. In the previous season, he was injured and couldn’t play versus LSU, and he said he was excited to show everyone what the rivalry was made of.
”This game means a lot to me because I didn’t get to play in it last year except for about one quarter,” Richardson said. ”So I really can’t wait to showcase what a healthy Trent can do in this game.”
Other than Richardson playing in a dream game for the first time since his injury, the 2011 season boasted big wins for both teams.
The Tigers topped the Tide 9-6 in overtime, but in the national championship game that same season, the Tide rolled over LSU 21-0. The loss earlier in the season was upsetting for the Tide, and the rivalry only fueled the pressure entering the title game.
There was so much pressure on the team that then-Alabama head coach Nick Saban had to have a one-on-one conversation with his quarterback before the game to bring him back to the moment.
Saban said he could tell his quarterback was getting nervous because of the criticism and pressure from the regular season loss.
“I thought he was concerned because he got a little criticism for the way he played in the first game,” Saban said. “I told him, ‘Don’t put that s— on yourself; just do what you do and make good choices and decisions.”
The conversation did some good, because Alabama took the game in a big way, bringing this rivalry to a national championship.
But it wasn’t just the games from the 2011 football season that pushed the rivalry as far as it could go. The hype around the 2019 matchup was one of the hottest games of the season, and it led to a lot of pressure and a huge win for the Bayou Bandits.
Not only was the pressure on to uphold an undefeated season entering Tuscaloosa, but it was also the game that quarterback Joe Burrow had his eyes set on from the beginning of the season. Burrow said that this game was what he transferred to LSU for. It was the pinnacle of college football, and he had to prove himself on this stage.
“[The rivalry] is why I decided to transfer,” Burrow said postgame. “I wanted to play, and I knew I could play on this stage, and, you know, I got great people around me, great coaching staff, great program all-around.”
The Tigers topped the Tide in a pressing 46-41 victory, and would eventually take the national championship back home to the bayou at the end of the season.
Prior to the national championship game, then-LSU head coach Ed Orgeron said that the team was getting antsy, and he had to remind them it was just another game.
“We have trusted the process,” Orgeron said before the game. “Today is Focus Friday. The guys are getting excited. They are getting antsy. I can feel it. I’m getting antsy, too, but I think we have to continue to work up through game time. They are going to make plays. We’re going to make plays. We have to work for 60 minutes and focus on winning the game and not worry about all the other stuff, block out all the noise just like we did all year.”
They say pressure can turn coal into diamonds or dust, and for this rivalry, it has proven to turn teams into diamonds. The more pressure and hype surrounding the rivalry’s matchup, the higher the postseason stakes become, and the championships run deep in both programs.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Ogeron said before the Alabama game in 2019. “We felt it all week that we were the better football team. I said to our team on Monday, ‘We’re the better football team, but we have to play to prove it.’ We played.”
