At every turn — and there have been plenty in the month-plus since Alabama played a down of football — Nick Saban has talked about how proud and excited his players are to have another opportunity to play a great LSU team on Monday. His opening comments in the Superdome this week were no exception.
“We certainly appreciate the opportunity we have here in the Sugar Bowl playing against a very good LSU team,” Saban told the assembled media once again. “This is a great competitive venue, and we certainly appreciate the opportunity that we have to participate in it.”
Some appreciate the opportunity more than others, none more so than Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron.
Criticism has followed McCarron like a three-legged stray since his less-than-world-class performance in the first LSU-Alabama outing. His numbers weren’t bad — 16-for-28 passing for 199 yards — but of the five interceptions McCarron threw all year, none was bigger than the pick to Morris Claiborne that stopped the potential winning drive. And none of the 11 sacks McCarron has taken this year created more angst than the one LSU had in overtime that took Alabama out of field-goal range.
The frustration Alabama fans have with the offense this year is the same as it was last year with Greg McElroy at the helm: the quarterback play is safe and dull. Neither McElroy in his two years as a starter nor McCarron in his debut has wowed anyone with big plays. McElroy had the good fortune of handing the ball to Mark Ingram or tossing it up somewhere in the vicinity of Julio Jones.
McCarron has Trent Richardson and Eddie Lacy, who are unquestionable superstars, but there has never been a time when Tide fans walked out of church on Sunday and said, “Did you see what McCarron did yesterday?”
No touchdown bombs, no back-shoulder bullets on third and long, no scrambling ad-libs for critical first downs: McCarron has been remarkable this year for his blandness. He doesn’t screw up, but he doesn’t make things happen, either.
No one wants that to change this week more than McCarron himself.
“It wasn't that great of an experience coming out with a loss,” McCarron told the media of the first LSU game. “But as a team we felt like we kind of let it slip through our fingers and get away from us in the end. And hopefully this time we won't let that happen.”
His plan for not letting that happen is to be himself, which means playing with emotion and intensity.
“I felt like I did a good job of taking care of the ball and trying to get it to the guys,” McCarron told reporters. “But I didn't really play the game with a whole lot of emotion like I usually do.
“During the Florida game, when I was getting the crowd going, Coach (Saban) told me to calm down. After the LSU game, he told me to play with emotion again, that he missed that. So I’ve definitely got to come out and play with emotion in this game like I always do.”
Unbridled emotion won’t get the job done, but McCarron feels confident that he has developed the right balance of passion and precision as the year has progressed.
“Growing as a quarterback all year long, I felt like I've done a pretty good job so far,” he added to reporters. “Coming in your first year, you're not going to know a whole lot. As of now I feel like I've been here forever.
“This season's taken a long time. And I think I've seen everything, especially going against our defense every day. They throw everything in the book at you.”
LSU coach Les Miles will throw everything in the book at McCarron, as well. But this time, he feels a lot more prepared.
“I felt like I missed some reads that I usually make,” McCarron told the media in describing the teams' first meeting. “But this team has grown since that game. We don't want to let anything like that ever happen again. And I feel like we've done a great job of proving that we belong here and that we should get a second chance at it.”
