Stephen A. Smith delivers harsh Kalen DeBoer verdict as Alabama heads to LSU

Alabama heads to Tiger Stadium for a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff on Saturday ranked No. 5 in the College Football Playoff selection committee’s first rankings, nine spots above an LSU team with the same 6-2 record. Stephen A. Smith previewed the trip on Friday’s edition of ESPN’s First Take, and he started with how the Crimson Tide have handled games like this one under Kalen DeBoer.

“We always sit up there and crown Alabama… When they have lofty expectations in the Kalen DeBoer era, they disappoint us. Okay, they got boat raced by Indiana. The playoffs, they waved the white flag. They got their asses kicked in the SEC Championship Game against Georgia… thriller against Georgia, but they lose that on their home turf… Tennessee boat raced them, ran all over them… A third loss should put them in a position where they miss the playoffs. Their playoff hopes, as far as I’m concerned, are on the line. I think Lane Kiffin is going to have these boys ready at LSU, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if they won this game,” Smith said.

“When they have lofty expectations in the Kalen DeBoer era, they disappoint us.”

@stephenasmith shares his thoughts on what to expect from Alabama against LSU

https://t.co/RXNdPH5w9y

— First Take (@FirstTake) November 6, 2026

Georgia beat Alabama 28-7 in the SEC Championship Game last December, and Indiana closed the Crimson Tide’s season with a 38-3 win in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, the program’s first loss by 30 or more points since the 1998 Music City Bowl. This fall brought a 20-17 home loss to Georgia on Oct. 10, then a 26-10 loss at Tennessee on Oct. 17 in which DeSean Bishop ran for 159 yards while Alabama finished with 54 rushing yards and four turnovers.

Smith left out the one big win of that stretch, a 34-24 victory at Oklahoma in the first round of last year’s playoff. Counting it, Alabama is 1-4 against Georgia, Indiana, Tennessee and Oklahoma since December, outscored 136-71, and three of the four losses came by 16 points or more. His harshest lines turn out to be the best-supported part of his case.

Lane Kiffin is 0-5 against Alabama as a head coach, with every loss coming against his former boss Nick Saban, one at Tennessee in 2009 and four at Ole Miss. Saturday is his first look at a DeBoer team, and his LSU side comes in at No. 14 with a chance to hand Alabama the third loss Smith is pointing to.

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