Lane Kiffin knew his fanbase wouldn’t be pleased when LSU’s kickoff time with Alabama was set for 2:30 p.m. rather than a full-length, under-the-lights spectacle at Tiger Stadium.
But a week after expressing some displeasure about the game time, Kiffin seemed to have found the sunnier side of the situation Monday during his weekly news conference.
He’s since been informed that LSU has lost just one 2:30 p.m. home game, dating back to 2009. He also heard Tennessee broke a noise record in Neyland Stadium, reaching 130.3 decibels, during an Oct. 17 win over Alabama, which also kicked off at 2:30.
“Let’s break the record,” Kiffin said.
He is hoping LSU fans can torment the Tide, even if it might take some effort to mentally overcome an earlier-than-desired start for a primetime-worthy matchup.
“If you’re used to (waking up at) 6:30, four hours earlier, start your day earlier,” Kiffin said. “Have breakfast earlier. Start drinking earlier. Whatever it is. It’s your routine, just move it up. Go to bed earlier Friday night.”
If it’s troublesome to execute voluntarily, Kiffin joked that compliance could be enforced.
“We’ll have a city shutdown at, like, 10 p.m. Friday,” Kiffin said jokingly. “Everybody goes to sleep.”
The odds of a city curfew being followed in Baton Rouge are not high. But Kiffin desires as much of an advantage as possible as the No. 15 Tigers (6-2, 3-2 SEC) head into an enormously consequential game.
If LSU beats No. 9 Alabama, then Kiffin’s squad regains an inside track on the College Football Playoff despite stumbles at Ole Miss and Kentucky. The latter is the most bothersome because it came by one point, 35-34, in overtime.
“I’m glad that’s where we are right now,” Kiffin said of playing meaningful games in November. “We should be even in better position. And you guys know the game that haunts that … so it is what it is, and less margin for error than we would have (had).”
Beating the Crimson Tide could buy some leeway because, considering all of the chaos unfolding in the SEC, it’s not out of the question that LSU could lose to Texas or No. 16 Tennessee, on the road, and remain in the CFP discussion.
Alabama could see its CFP bubble burst with a loss, because the Tide (6-2, 4-2 SEC) won’t have another chance to claim a ranked win with only Vanderbilt, Chattanooga and Auburn remaining on its schedule.
The only ranked teams Alabama has played, Georgia and Tennessee, both went down as losses.
“They look like the old Alabama teams, as far as their size and length and explosiveness of the skilled positions on offense and the quarterback,” Kiffin said. “When you take all 22, not just the quarterback, this is the most talented team that we’ve played so far.”
Keelon Russell, a sophomore quarterback, has had ups and downs for the Tide. But the biggest down, a 26-10 loss at Tennessee, came with star receiver Ryan Coleman-Williams sidelined after getting arthroscopic knee surgery.
On Monday, Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer listed Coleman-Williams, who has 415 yards and four touchdowns in six games, among a half-dozen players who are working back on the field and “headed in a good direction.”
“They’re really good regardless,” Kiffin said. “I think Ryan, obviously, adds some explosion to them, but they played really well. I mean, they ran into two great defenses, you know, and didn’t have great numbers those days.”
LSU, by the numbers, has as good of a defense as anyone. The Tigers rank fourth nationally with 258 yards allowed per game. They are just one sack short of Tennessee for the national lead with 34.
There have been instances, though, where the LSU defense has started slow and allowed 30-plus points at Ole Miss and Kentucky.
But the Tigers, with 102,000 fans behind them, have been stifling, holding Power Four foes to just 5.3 points per game at Tiger Stadium this season.
“First, our pass rush needs to control their lanes and not let (Russell) take off and make plays,” Kiffin said. “I don’t think it’s any secret, you got to cover guys so guys can’t get in rhythm — and then let our pass rush, and our crowd, go to work.”
As far as the kickoff time, LSU fans should manage. The Tigers have won 16 of their last 17 home games played in the 2:30 p.m. time slot.
The only loss came in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, when there were about 21,000 fans to witness a 44-34 loss to Mississippi State. LSU won its other 2:30 p.m. kickoff that season, 53-48, over Ole Miss, which was Kiffin’s first year with the Rebels.
The Tigers are just 4-15 against the Tide since 2008. But one of those wins, 2010, stands as the last LSU-Alabama game in Baton Rouge to kick off at 2:30 p.m. LSU won 24-21.
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