For so long now we have been waiting for the “Game of the Century” between LSU and Alabama on Nov. 5 — so did it live up to the expectations?
Yes, it shattered the expectations.
A lot of people might not enjoy a 9-6 football game as others, but I happen to love low scoring, defensive games, especially when that game comes down to overtime.
No one expected to see a shootout this past Saturday, and if you did then you were watching the wrong game.
It went just how I figured it would — aside from LSU winning of course — it was a close defensive game that came down to the very end.
Both LSU and Alabama have top notch defenses that very seldom give up touchdowns, but I was shocked to see just how well those defenses played, not even giving up one touchdown throughout the entire game.
For the last several weeks people have been saying that Alabama should have been No. 1 because they have shown more this season.
Sure, Alabama may have had a better track record so far this season, but not by much.
Regardless of how much the Crimson Tide destroyed Arkansas and Florida, LSU still had a very impressive resume coming into the game as well.
And they went into Tuscaloosa and proved that they are indeed the number 1 team in the country and put themselves in the driver seat to win the national title.
Say what you want about how Alabama only lost because of their kicking game, oh well, that is a part of the game. Alabama’s kicker didn’t throw those weak passes that got intercepted now, did he?
Both of the defenses played extremely well, in fact, Alabama’s defense seemed to be the tougher defense throughout the night.
But the Tigers came up with the big plays when they had to; their depth really came into play in the game.
When LSU needed a big play, someone stepped up and made an impact.
In fact, the biggest play of the game came from LSU’s Eric Reid when he intercepted a jump ball at the one-yard line. If Reid did not snag that interception, then Alabama would have been set up at the goal line with a chance to finish up the game.
Because let’s face it, a touchdown from either team in that contest would have finished off the opposition. Again, when LSU needed a big play, someone stepped up — this time it was Reid.
I am not shocked that LSU won the game, but I did think that Alabama was going to pull it out. Even during the game, I felt Alabama was the better team. But props to LSU, they deserve their number 1 ranking.
They are — without question — the best team in the country. This was no fluke by Alabama, this was LSU proving that they could go into Tuscaloosa and pull out a tough win.
Now let’s just hope that the BCS doesn’t mess up and put a 1-loss Alabama in the national title game over an undefeated team, assuming there will be another undefeated team after LSU that is.
Tyler Rollason is a Winder-Barrow High School graduate and mass communications major at the University of West Georgia. You can e-mail comments about this column to trollason@yahoo.com.
