Alabama center believes Crimson Tide are in better position to handle LSU’s atmosphere – Touchdown Alabama

Gary Cosby Jr. -USA Today Sports

His first hostile road trip as a first-year head coach for Alabama was at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Kalen DeBoer experienced the passionate atmosphere of a Southeastern Conference fan base. Tennessee and its fans wanted that game so badly that it was impossible to hear the Crimson Tide on the field. Alabama committed 15 penalties for a loss of 115 yards and turned the ball over twice in the 17-24 loss to the Volunteers. A very disappointed DeBoer spoke to the media after the game.

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Tennessee has been crazy, but Alabama is about to head into perhaps the most chaotic environment in college football. Tiger Stadium, better known as ‘Death Valley’, is no joke. The fans shake the other team’s bus, Mike the Tiger will literally scare you in his cage, and playing there at night is just different. Alabama is in a must-win situation in the College Football Playoff bracket, but the team wants to show everyone that DeBoer was the right signing. Parker Brailsford, a transfer from Washington, is one of the new additions to the Tide roster at center. He’s been told how crazy LSU is, but he thinks Alabama is better prepared.

“We had a plan, but we didn’t execute it as well as we could have,” Brailsford said of the Alabama-Tennessee game.

“We are now making sure that everyone knows what is going on. We make sure everyone is locked into the cadence.

Alabama has been working on silent counts, the ability to communicate over crowd noise and other small details to ensure the atmosphere doesn’t upset the team. The Tennessee crowd noise resulted in several pre-snap penalties for the Tide.

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Brailsford and Alabama believe the Neyland Stadium experience is poised to be better for Tiger Stadium.

Alabama faces LSU next week in a must-win game for the College Football Playoff.

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Stephen M. Smith is the senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can ‘like’ him Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.

Stephen Smith graduated from the University of Alabama in 2015. He is a senior writer and reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. He covered Alabama football for 15 years and his knowledge and coverage of the Crimson Tide program has made him one of the most respected journalists in his field. Smith has been featured as an analyst on ESPN and several other major outlets.