Pittman, LSU’s line hold key to slowing running game

BATON ROUGE, La. | Of all the players who have been preparing to face Nick Saban’s University of Alabama football team Saturday, no know knows what to expect better than senior defensive end Kirston Pittman.

He was recruited by Saban, played for him at LSU during the 2003 national championship season, and last year started against his former coach at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Consequently, Pittman’s fully aware that the Crimson Tide offense, which prefers to run behind junior left tackle Andre Smith, will be coming at him — a lot.

“We just have to do our thing,” he said. “We have to go out and hit them in the mouth early and try and set the tone, set the pace for the game. I think we’ll be fine.”

Last year, when Bo Pelini was LSU’s defensive coordinator, Pittman and his comrades did just that, at least against the run. With starters Antoine Caldwell and Marlon Davis serving suspensions, Alabama’s makeshift front five struggled, with Alabama finishing the first half with minus 11 rushing yards.

Jonathan Lowe eventually led the Tide with 31 yards on 10 carries, and injured Terry Grant had 25 yards on 13 carries. As a team, Alabama tallied 20 rushing yards on 33 carries.

“Last year we didn’t pose much of a threat in the running game,” senior quarterback John Parker Wilson said.

Even though he frequently lined up against Smith, co-winner of the Jacobs Trophy (SEC’s best blocker), Pittman had six tackles including three for a loss and two sacks. Perhaps that’s why Smith called LSU, which also boasts end Tyson Jackson and tackle Ricky Jean-Francois, the best defensive line Alabama has seen so far this season.

However, undefeated Alabama leads the conference in rushing offense with 205.3 yards per game, well ahead of Florida (194.6), which accumulated 265 rushing yards against the Tigers on Oct. 11.

No. 15 LSU isn’t quite the same, either. It ranks fifth in rushing defense (105.8), although last week limited Tulane, which was without leading rusher Andre Anderson (shoulder) and leading receiver Jeremy Williams (hand), to 72 rushing yards on 30 carries.

“That’s a big focus of this week, playing the run,” said junior pass-rushing specialist Rahim Alem, who leads the SEC in sacks with six (“Must be a down year,” he quipped).

“They’ve said they have the best offensive line in the country and run the ball well, and they really do when you look at the film. But obviously if you want to beat Alabama you have to stop them from running the ball.”

Otherwise, LSU doesn’t appear to be losing sleep over Tide offense. Coach Les Miles described both Wilson and true freshman receiver Julio Jones as “talented,” but indicated that the defense probably won’t need to do any special coverage.

“I don’t know if we’ll just man up one guy,” he said. I like Chris Hawkins. I like (Patrick) Peterson and (Jai) Eugene at corner. I think we’ll play it straight.”

Meanwhile, Alem described Alabama’s tight ends as “decent.”

It is a little strange, though, that the key matchup could feature a player Saban helped develop. A sixth-year senior who was granted two medical redshirts because of foot and Achilles injuries, Pittman is the only active player in college football who has been part of two BCS national championships.

“I was told when I was recruited that I was going to play my freshman year,” Pittman said. “Coach Saban, he’s a real fiery guy. He does a really good job getting his guys ready to play. He has a complicated scheme, so he takes a lot of time out with his players to make sure everyone knows what they’re doing. He does a really good job of coaching.

“If you’re a young guy and he expects you to play he’s going to stay on you a lot. He was on me a lot, because he expected great things out of me. That enabled me to prepare well, and play well as a freshman and sophomore.”

Reach Christopher Walsh at christopher.walsh@tuscaloosanews.com or at 205-722-0196.