Can LSU's defense shut down Keelon Russell?

Let's go back to something that I think does actually matter a ton for this football game, and that is Keelan Russell and this Alabama offense, like you alluded to. It was dreadful against Tennessee. It was atrocious. I mean, this offense could not move the ball. You knew by the middle of the third quarter that, yeah, nothing is going to change here. It is everything. You know, it's the reason people are calling for Ryan Grubbs' head. It's just... Everything that could have went wrong went wrong for this Alabama team. The only touchdown came on a drive that started on the 14-yard line. And, to really illustrate how awful it was, Alabama had to move backwards with a pre-snap penalty before they could even score. 201 yards of total offense. I forget, how many games has LSU held opponents under 200 yards? Three, four, I saw that stat somewhere, but... I would need to go research it to be absolutely correct, but your number sounds about right. I mean, they've had a lot of games like that, yeah. Like, I just, to me, look and could absolutely see the world where Alabama is completely dysfunctional, where it's a repeat of Tennessee, where it is, you know, even Auburn, right? I know seven of those points for Auburn came, you know, when the game was already decided, right? What do you think the odds of LSU just legitimately shutting down Keelan Russell and this Alabama offense are? Yeah, again, that's the big question for me. Because, again, this defense has been really, really good all year. At the same time, there have been times, you know, first half, they were kind of slow at Kentucky, Ole Miss, the same thing, kind of slow up there. But, again, that was on the road. So, is that on the road or is that the strength of the offenses they were facing? Amazing. Yeah. And so, yeah, again, Alabama and Blaine Kiffin said it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. This is the most talented team they've played. I think he said particularly on the defensive side, but he meant offensively too in terms of the skill players and the quarterback and all that all year. And so I'm most interested in how well does Alabama run the ball because, again, the best friend of a quarterback is your run game. I think Alabama's had some struggles running the ball, right, I ended up without their center. And so if they get their center back, are they a better running team? I mean, that's kind of the question I have. Because, again, you still don't have Whit Weeks. And even if you have Whit Weeks, I don't think he's at full strength. And that's the thing I'm really curious about. What does that run game look like? How much support do they give Keelan Russell? If they don't and you allow LSU to kind of pin its ears back on third and eight all game, I think that's where LSU is at its best and Alabama might have some struggles in terms of stopping them all day long. So again, that run game is the biggest question that I have, I think. Yeah, and to tell you the truth, I don't really have an answer. I do not have an answer because, first of all, EJ is very questionable. He has been the kind of enigma in this room where when he's on the field, he has done some incredible things, and then it's just been a mix of health and struggles in pass pro that have kept him off the field, and now I don't even know if he'll be available. A.K. Dears, the guy I thought was going to be the lead back. And now nobody even wants to mention his name anymore. His season is effectively over. He, I believe, will be, you know, standing in the backfield next to Mario Taylor in a couple months at Mississippi State. Daniel Hill seems like he's a great number two back. It's been my take all year, but he can't really be anything more than that. And how much does any of this even matter? How much does Treshawn Brown and how good he can be even matter if Rayson Elgati isn't in this game and if Alabama can't protect. So it's just, it's been rough. And I think it's been even more rough for this Alabama fan base to witness because of how good it looked for a couple weeks. Because it was like, well, you're out, you're free. You know, averaging, I think it was 104 rushing yards a game a year ago. Just as bad as it could possibly get. And now the numbers have approached that kind of status. They're inflated by the early season, but as far as how it's performing right now, just dreadful. It's going to be really tough to see how much they overcome for at least Alabama's O-line. I'm really curious what you think, John, about maybe how many times the quarterback gets touched on either side. We've seen Keelan Russell really get sacked a few times and it hasn't been too pretty. You were talking about Levitt's ability to sit in the pocket and really read that. What do you think that might play out as? Um, I mean, if I had to choose one over the other, I mean, I would think I would put the odds on LSU getting pressure, uh, over, um, Alabama, just because again, the stats that Theo read off in terms of Alabama's rates, uh, getting after the quarterback. And I think Alabama's offensive line on the other side of the ball has given up a decent amount of pressures. And so, uh, Prince Willem-On-Me-Allen is one of the better edge rushers in the conference. And I think the thing that's scary. If you're an Alabama fan is how much Jordan Ross has taken steps forward as well on the other edge, the transfer from Tennessee, who was a five-star prospect coming out. I think he had very... I think he had like one and a half sacks in two years at Tennessee, I think five tackles for loss. And I think this year he's already eclipsed all that through however many games, you know, he's been a very productive guy too. And so if I, again, if I had to kind of my money in one place, I would say it's, it's LSU getting after the quarterback better than Alabama. But again, that's why we cover the games. You never know until you, until you get there. So it'll be interesting to see. Yes, and, you know, final real question on the actual game that I have for you is just a hypothetical to play here game. Which quarterback is more likely to turn the ball over more? Like, if you had to pick right now, do you think they both turned it over once? Someone have twice? This Alabama defense is as good as anybody in the nation at forcing just crazy plays, right? Dijon Lee could have the worst game of all time and then still come up with a pick six. Just playmakers everywhere. Does Alabama bait Leavitt into a pick? Does Keelan Russell get affected by the noise and throw on himself or get strip-sacked? Where do you stand? Yeah, I mean, that's probably maybe one of the biggest questions of the game because Lane Kiffin, again, he said this to us as well. Playing on the road, it's not about the plays you make. It's about the mistakes you make and how few do you make. And, you know, if you're a road team and you're able to get a pick six like that, or you're able to kind of shift momentum as far as forcing turnovers, that completely changes everything. I think so. Again, Levin's been much better with that in the last few games. It's not like the potential isn't there, though, for him to get rattled again, especially if you're able to get some pressure up the middle and get him kind of a little off his game. He's absolutely somebody who's capable of, and he almost did it at Auburn the last game out. He had one that he threw that absolutely should have been picked. It just kind of barely dropped through another into double coverage, I remember, too, that could have been picked. So it's not like he doesn't have the potential to do it. At the same time, he's been doing a better job there. So if I had to pick one, I'd probably pick Russell just because he's a younger quarterback. He's playing on the road. Again, the amount of pressure Ellis, you can get. But at the same time, I would not be surprised at all if I'm wrong. It's the flip the other way around. And Leavitt makes a couple plays that kind of come back to burn him. So it's not out of the question at all. But, yeah, if I had to pick one, I'd pick Russell just because, again, younger quarterback on the road.