Alabama football found success in its first road game against Wisconsin in September, but the two road games following that produced SEC losses against Vanderbilt and Tennessee.
On Saturday, Alabama will be in a must-win spot if the Crimson Tide want to keep their College Football Playoffs hopes alive. The Tide will travel to LSU and try to win in Tiger Stadium, one of the most difficult places in the nation to play.
Traveling into this hostile environment hasn’t been an issue in the past, as Alabama holds a 29-10-3 record at LSU and has won six of the last eight.
In Alabama’s biggest game of the season against Georgia, the Crimson Tide got off to a quick start, jumping out to a 30-7 halftime lead after scoring on its first four possessions of the game. Starting off quick on the road is a key to the game, according to Alabama offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan.
"Particularly, when you’re on the road and you’re dealing with the crowd and those types of things, to be able to get off to a good start, I think is always beneficial, but certainly when you’re on the road," Sheridan said Monday.
The Crimson Tide got off to a slow start in the Vanderbilt game, falling behind 13-0. Alabama eventually found its stride on offense, but the hole dug early was too much.
“You just can’t dig yourself a hole, especially giving the opponent momentum in an environment like we’re gonna see at LSU,” Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer said Monday. “So, it’s critical. We preach it every day. We try to even set up our practice to where we do start fast, whether it’s offense or defense. And we didn't get that done the last two road games, as you mentioned. Always an emphasis on that, but really, it comes back to not really – the guys are trying. It’s just a matter of doing things that you do well, going out there and executing.”
Alabama struggled with the crowd noise in the loss at Tennessee. The Crimson Tide offense suffered four pre-snap penalties that put the offense in bad position. If Alabama is unable to overcome the crowd noise and avoid pre-snap penalties it could be looking at its third loss of the season.
No. 11 Alabama will travel to face No. 14 LSU on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on ABC.
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