LSU won't need big passing attack to upset Alabama

• Zach Mettenberger is a disappointing 12th in the SEC in passing efficiency
• LSU may just need stout defense and avoiding turnovers to upset top-ranked Alabama
• The Tigers passed for just 91 yards in their regular-season win over the Crimson Tide last year

BATON ROUGE -- ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit said it Saturday night. The local reporters said it and asked about it all last week.

Apparently, quarterback Zach Mettenberger must complete a lot of passes or else No. 5 LSU (7-1, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) will have no chance to beat No. 1 Alabama (8-0, 5-0 SEC) Saturday in Tiger Stadium in a 7 p.m. CBS kickoff.

Never mind that LSU quarterbacks Jordan Jefferson and Jarrett Lee were only a combined 9-of-17 passing for 91 yards and no touchdowns in a 9-6 overtime victory at Alabama last Nov. 5. Jefferson, who was credited for beating Alabama last season, led LSU to exactly one scoring drive in that game, and that was for a field goal.

LSU's other field goal in regulation was set up by cornerback Morris Claiborne's interception and 33-yard return to the Alabama 15-yard line. Its game-winning overtime field goal was set up by a run by tailback Michael Ford. Jefferson "won" that game for what he did not do. He did not turn it over.

Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron, meanwhile, completed 16 of 28 passes for 199 yards and lost.

Alabama's defense remains the best in the nation as it was last season, but the Crimson Tide has not played a schedule to this point as difficult as it had played last season entering the LSU game. Alabama is also without seven starters from its 2011 defense that shut out LSU in a 21-0 victory in the BCS national championship game. Five of those went in the first two rounds of April's NFL draft.

The Tigers may be able to beat Alabama Saturday as it did last season -- with great defense, a decent running game and the avoidance of turnovers. LSU's defense is right there with Alabama in the national rankings. The Tigers' running game is third in the SEC to Alabama's first. The Tide's rush defense also did not look insurmountable in its 38-7 win over Mississippi State on Saturday night.

LSU will be able to run the ball enough against Alabama. Alabama will move the ball against LSU, but it will not score a lot of points. LSU is right there with Alabama in turnover margin at plus-9 to plus-17. Neither team will turn it over much.

Yes, the game could end up playing out much like last season's regular season game with neither quarterback or offense doing very much.

Yet, many in the media have made this game out to be Mettenberger's moment of truth. Not true.

Asked if Mettenberger was ready for a game of such magnitude as this next LSU-Alabama Game of the Century, Tigers coach Les Miles shrugged. "Well, the South Carolina game was a game of this magnitude, and certainly Texas A&M on the road was a game of this magnitude."

Mettenberger played well enough in both of those games. He completed 12 of 25 passes for 148 yards with an interception in the 23-21 South Carolina victory. He threw the ball very poorly at A&M, completing just 11 of 29 for 97 yards. But he did not turn it over, and when it was a critical time, Mettenberger was money. He threw a perfect deep strike to wide receiver Kadron Boone for a 29-yard touchdown and 14-12 lead with 11 seconds to play in the second quarter. LSU never trailed again.

Just one or two such passes against Alabama with everything else clicking -- as it usually has for LSU since 2010 -- and LSU could win.

LSU has gone 31-4 with a 17-3 SEC mark over the last three seasons without much of a passing game. It does not suddenly need to become the New Orleans Saints' offense to beat Alabama.

Miles is clearly not putting the game in Mettenberger's hands as so many are.

"And now there's the next game of this magnitude," said Miles, who is obviously not as tight about playing Alabama as his pass-craving fan base and some beat reporters may be. "So I really kind of hope he (Mettenberger) translates it as another West division opponent. And he just needs to do the things we ask him to do and not to make too much of it."

It would be much more fun if LSU did have a great passing game. Mettenberger is a very disappointing 12th in the SEC in passing efficiency and just ninth in the league in passing yards a game with 177. But LSU is still 7-1 and 20-2 over the last two seasons with an average to below-average passing game.

The thirst for a passing game at LSU is understandable. It has not had a real one since 2007. But do not confuse entertainment with success. LSU remains very successful regardless of how inept its passing game is and how viewer unfriendly it can so often be.

But LSU can beat Alabama without much of a passing game, because Alabama will not have much of one Saturday either.

Still, it would be nice if Mettenberger could just hit a deep one or two, particularly early in the game, and it would be just as nice if one of the receivers actually held on to the football.

"We're applying some coaching grease to that," Miles said. "We feel like we're practicing it enough. We feel like we should be getting better at it."

Miles is as tired as anyone of his lack of a real passing game because he is much more Big 12 than his Big Ten reputation indicates. Miles loves to throw it. He just has not had someone to throw it since 2007. He's throwing it this season more than he has in years because Mettenberger can throw it. It's just not working yet.

"It's at a point where we really need to execute the sucker better," he said.

But even if they don't, the fact that LSU is throwing deep often still helps the running game.

"Yes, they recognize that that's your intent," Miles said. "They don't necessarily want to give up seven."

In other words, if LSU's receivers get a step on Alabama cornerbacks a couple of times Saturday and Mettenberger overthrows them, Nick Saban will still take some defenders off the line. This will help LSU's running game, which has a tendency to dominate in the fourth quarter.

"Well, we have to," Miles said when he was asked if he was going to try to throw deep against Alabama from a questioner who obviously thought he would be crazy to do so. "Those defenses that hang the line of scrimmage (like Alabama's), you have to have the ability to challenge them vertically. And we're going to continue to call those plays, and frankly if a couple of them are open we'd like to hit those."

It may only take one.

Guilbeau writes for Gannett Louisiana