LSU May Not Beat Bama, But Frank Wilson And Players Promise “A Fight” And More Physical Play

GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama – New LSU interim football coach Frank Wilson has been talking physical, violent football for the last two weeks.

And after an open date full of coaching and athletic department staff changes, it is finally almost time for a game as the Tigers (5-3, 2-3 Southeastern Conference) will play at No. 4 and 10-point favorite Alabama (7-1, 5-1 SEC) on Saturday (6:30 p.m., ABC) in Bryant-Denny Stadium.

YouTube TV subscribers will not be able to get the game on ABC, however, as YouTube TV and Disney are still several football fields apart in negotiations on how much should be paid to ESPN/ABC for cable services.

“So much stuff has been going on the last week and a half, I think the drum makes this (players meeting room) our safe spot.”
-LSU Linebacker West Weekshttps://t.co/iJ8nKF9xgJ

— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) November 7, 2025

“We’re going to pick a fight,” Wilson told former LSU national champion players Jacob Hester and Matt Flynn on 104.5 FM’s “Off The Bench” talk show this week. “We’re going to fight this team. We’re going to set the tone from the onset of the game. That’s our Tigers’ style of play.”

Wilson was there as an assistant coach when No. 1 LSU and coach Les Miles beat No. 2 Alabama and coach Nick Saban, 9-6, in overtime at Bryant-Denny on Nov. 5, 2011, in a Game of the Century that was an Old School pugilistic masterpiece. Not much offense, but clean brutality.

“I don’t know what the outcome will be,” Wilson said. “Here’s what I can tell you, though. We’re going to pick a fight. We’re going to talk with our helmets and our shoulder pads in the right way, the way that Tigers play.”

LSU had gotten away from overly physical play in practice and in games in recent weeks under former coach Brian Kelly as the Tigers lost at No. 17 Vanderbilt, 31-24, on Oct. 18 and 49-25 to No. 3 Texas A&M in their last game on Oct. 25 after losing the third quarter, 21-0, and the second half, 35-7. Kelly was fired the day after that game and replaced by Wilson, who had been LSU’s associate head coach and running backs coach under Kelly since 2022.

At Wilson’s first practice as coach the following Tuesday, one could hear the enthusiasm and the contact. That dialed up this week along with Wilson’s emphasis on the running game, which LSU struggled in for most of Kelly’s time at LSU. The Tigers are currently 122nd in the nation with 106 yards a game. And Alabama is not the greatest against the run – allowing 149 yards a game for 72nd in the nation.

“Absolutely,” LSU junior center Braelin Moore said. “Our run game has been showing up in practice.”

Wilson has instituted more drills of nine defenders against seven offensive players – five linemen and two tight ends.

“The nine-on-seven drills have been very physical,” Moore said. “And we’ve been getting four yards here and there, which is a victory in that drill. You can hear the pads popping.”

The players have noticed more physical play even when they are not involved.

“I hear people thumping on the other fields,” senior cornerback Mansoor Delane said of the team’s separate drills. “I was like, ‘Where’s that coming from?’ That’s coach Wilson. He brings a lot of energy and juice. I definitely think it’s going to make a difference.”

Senior linebacker West Weeks said the physical play is exactly what the defense needs after giving up 426 yards to Texas A&M, including 224 on the ground.

“That’s been our problem the last two games,” he said. “We’ve got to stand our ground and play more physical. We’ve been jumping the gaps and trying to do too much really. I would describe coach Wilson as doing exactly that – bringing the juice.”

And no team has a tendency to bring out that type of play from LSU than Alabama. The Tigers have lost two straight to the Tide without much defense from their end – 42-13 last season and 42-28 in 2023. Since the win in 2011, LSU has beaten Alabama only in 2019, 46-41, in the Tigers’ national championship season and 32-31 in overtime in Kelly’s first season in 2022.

“Every time you play those dudes,” Weeks said. “How can you not have motivation for them?”