re: LSU and Alabama Q&A

I will give this a go from one Alabama fan's perspective, though what I'm about to say is already known by many of you.

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1. LSU has struggled mightily this season containing mobile quarterbacks on the ground. Do you expect Alabama to skew the game plan more that way for Blake Sims? And just how effective of a designed runner is Sims?

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I expect more designed runs than we've seen so far, but not a gameplan that centers around designed runs.

He is a very effective runner. Sims has homerun speed and his acceleration is better than Yeldon or Henry, and he's got some wiggle to him. He was third string tailback behind Lacy and Yeldon at one point.

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2. The high-ankle sprain to freshman left tackle Cam Robinson has been a big topic of late. What's the latest on Robinson's status and in the event Robinson can't play, what's the likely back-up plan?

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His official status is "day-to-day"

Expect him to play, he has been practicing with the 1st unit. In the event he can't go or gets nicked up during the game, expect the starting RT to shift over to LT and Grant Hill to come in off the bench and play RT

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3. Reggie Ragland and Xzavier Dickson have combined for 15.5 TFL and eight sacks. How exactly does Alabama use these two versatile linebackers?

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Ragland is a jack of all trades type LB, best comparison to him recently is Dont'a Hightower. His biggest stregnth is run stuffing but he's an adequate pass rusher. Dickson is a hand in the dirt rush linebacker that's good against the run but pretty useless in pass coverage. I don't expect to see him quite as much this week because we'll probably be in base a lot.

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4. Given the fact that LSU leans so heavily on the run, which Tide defensive backs are most likely to come down into the box to assist when the Tigers go with heavy offensive sets?

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Landon Collins and Jarrick Williams

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5. Special teams have often times played a big role in these recent LSU-Alabama games. How has the Tide performed in the field position battle this season and what's the trust level (in general and in terms of distance) with field goal kicker Adam Griffith?

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Our punter has a howitzer attached to his hip and has been rock solid all year. We trust our kicker as far as we can throw him. He technically has the leg to hit one out to 52-53 yards. We do not trust our returners, we do not trust our kick coverage.


By "we" in the last part I mean the fanbase. I think if we face a 4th and 8 and are looking at a 45 yard field goal early in the game then Saban will trot out the kicker. What happens on his first kick is going to determine how Saban plays it going forward