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David Pollack and Jesse Palmer discuss how LSU can stop Trent Richardson.

LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson talks with ESPN's Erin Andrews about overcoming his legal issues to help the Tigers earn a spot in the BCS National Championship Game.

NEW ORLEANS -- It wasn't a game face, but a game scowl. Trent Richardson looked like he wanted to play LSU right now. Even his dreadlocks looked angry.

"Most definitely," said the Alabama All-American running back. "I'm waiting for it."

It was Thursday when Richardson said this. Just think what kind of mood he'll be in by Monday evening, when No. 1 LSU plays No. 2 Alabama in the Allstate BCS National Championship Game.

The Nov. 5 meeting between these teams was called "The Game of the Century." It wasn't. It had drama. It had overtime. But mostly it had a lot of punts and missed field goals. C-SPAN was more fun to watch.

Bama lost in overtime, 9-6, and afterward there was the usual finger-pointing by some Crimson Tide followers. Some of the fingers were aimed in the direction of Richardson, who did everything but pour the Gatorade into cups that day at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Richardson accounted for 169 yards of Bama's 295 total offensive yards. He rushed for 89 yards and added another 80 yards in receptions.

"I played my heart out," Richardson said. "I did what I can do and what I can give you."

To read the rest of this Gene Wojciechowski piece, click here.

Mo Claiborne does his best Les Miles impersonation and talks about LSU's defense and preparing for Alabama.

NEW ORLEANS -- When you’re the quarterback at the University of Alabama, it’s hard to go unnoticed.

Adults know you. Kids know you. And you’re more than likely going to have a random baby named after you.

But somehow, AJ McCarron managed to stay relatively low key during his first season as the Crimson Tide’s starter.

Until his media appearance Thursday inside the New Orleans Marriott at the Convention Center, McCarron had done a pretty good job of distancing himself from journalists with help from coach Nick Saban.

Shockingly, the player who usually is more recognizable than the governor of Alabama went through most of 2011 away from the public eye.

“When you don’t get to talk to the media all year long, it’s not that [hard to avoid the limelight],” McCarron said.

But as he faced a throng of media members for his mini news conference, he certainly acted like the man in charge of Alabama’s offense. He spoke with confidence and sure looked like the Tide’s quarterback.

While McCarron hasn’t had to feel a ton of media scrutiny this season, his play has been criticized here and there. He will enter Monday’s Allstate BCS National Championship Game against No. 1 LSU with 2,400 passing yards, 16 touchdowns and five interceptions. He’ll also enter it with a lot of questions.

Is he ready for another big game on the big stage?

Can he fix the mistakes he made the last time?

Can he live up to the high school hype that followed him to Tuscaloosa?

McCarron thinks he can ... and he thinks he will.

You see, McCarron is a perfectionist. Mistakes really eat at him. Not immediately, but with time to sit and fester in his brain, errors can drive McCarron crazy. Dinner with him after a game can be almost unbearable because of his thirst for immediate improvement.

For most of his football life, McCarron has flourished each time he’s taken the field. As a three-year starter in high school, McCarron threw for 6,066 yards, 66 touchdowns and just nine interceptions.

With those numbers, it comes as no surprise that the little mistakes that have arisen this season frustrate him so much.

“When little things like that happen, I try to do my best to make sure they don’t happen again,” McCarron said.

That’s why the LSU game still haunts him. There were a handful of throws -- his interception in particular -- he wishes he had back. His poise was off, his throws were wild and his confidence wasn’t as high.

In the losing effort back on Nov. 5, McCarron threw for 199 yards and an interception on 16-of-28 passing. It has some wondering whether he can stand another game against LSU’s talented secondary.

“I don’t really pay attention to that,” he said. “I go out and play my game. I’m basically letting my play do the talking.”

To his teammates, his play has said a lot.

Senior center William Vlachos has marveled at McCarron's ability to show composure in environments at Florida, Penn State and Auburn. He also has been impressed with McCarron’s leadership skills, which emerged instantly after Greg McElroy left and before he was named starter.

“He’s very poised and he’s never wavered,” Vlachos said. “I’ve really been impressed with that. I kind of expected him to get a little bit rattled, being the quarterback at Alabama in those situations for the first times, but he really hasn’t had a problem with that.”

He also hasn’t had much of a problem expressing himself with some emotion on the field. If you watched carefully during the first part of the season, McCarron spent time showing just how much he thought of big plays with some trash talk, goofy celebrations and chest bumps.

“He’s kind of fearless,” junior offensive lineman Barrett Jones said. “He just doesn’t back down from big situations. For a young, first-year quarterback, that’s something that you are really impressed with as an offensive lineman. You can see that in his eyes.”

But after the QB taunted a Florida defensive lineman in early October, Saban told McCarron to tone down his emotions -- a move that proved costly a month later.

On Nov. 5, McCarron had no emotional edge. He wasn’t himself, and he didn’t play like it.

Almost immediately after, Saban told him to rev up that emotion, and here the two are -- days away from competing for a national championship.

McCarron said his antics -- which sometimes can be just random arm flailing, as Jones pointed out -- aren’t just for him. McCarron believes they energize his teammates, and Alabama will need plenty of that against LSU on Monday.

“I gotta play with emotion,” he said.

“That’s how I’ve always played the game. I try to get the best out of every guy around me. I feel like when you do that, when you play the game with emotion, it just gets guys’ energy level to the highest.”

NEW ORLEANS -- The buzz coming out of the portion of Alabama's practice that was open to the media Thursday centered around cornerbacks DeQuan Menzie and Dee Milliner wearing wraps on their upper thighs.

The Crimson Tide were already banged up in the secondary to end the season. Starting safety Mark Barron injured his ribs against Auburn, although Barron said Wednesday that his ribs were fine and no longer an issue for him. Reserve safety Will Lowery suffered a season-ending knee injury against Georgia Southern.

Menzie is one of Alabama's starting corners and also plays the "star" position when the Tide go to five defensive backs. He was said to be limping some Thursday in practice with his right leg injury. Milliner comes in at cornerback when Menzie shifts to the nickel position.

NEW ORLEANS -- Alabama senior center William Vlachos figures the Crimson Tide’s offense is probably boring to most people.

“They probably say we have exceptional players and that most people don’t and we can just kind of pound the ball on offense,” Vlachos said.

But when you examine a little closer, one of the best-kept secrets in the SEC this season was that Alabama was the only team in the league to average more than 200 rushing yards and more than 200 passing yards per game.

“I’m glad somebody took note,” joked outgoing Alabama offensive coordinator Jim McElwain, who will leave for the Colorado State head coaching job following the Allstate BCS National Championship Game.

“I’m proud of what we’ve done, and I know as an offensive coordinator that having a great defense is the best offense you can have. The way coach (Nick) Saban approaches it, from all three phases fitting together and not being selfish, that’s the one thing I enjoy the most that he does. Let’s figure out how to win the game.”

In that first contest between LSU and Alabama back on Nov. 5, the Crimson Tide just missed 200 passing yards (199). But they were held to 96 yards on the ground.

“We did some things well, but there were a lot of things we left out there on the field, just little things, where if you finish your block for a split-second, they’re not able to come off and get a hand on the running back,” Vlachos explained. “That’s something LSU does extremely well. They shed blockers late and get to the football.

"It’s up to us to execute and finish and hold that block for that extra second.”

McElwain said LSU was especially good at pressuring in that high red zone and knocking players out of position.

“We’ve got to score,” McElwain said. “That’s the bottom line, and yet, these guys don’t give up many scores. It’s a great challenge. We’re roll it out there and see what happens.”

McElwain, who clearly hasn't lost his sense of humor from being kept out of the end zone in the first game, said he's grateful that his dog, Clara Bell, was around when he got home later that night.

“She didn’t really know that we didn’t score. She was excited to see me when I got home and that did lift my spirits a little bit,” McElwain joked.

Asked what kind of dog Clara Bell was, McElwain referred to her as a 4 ½-pound hunting dog.

“She’s unbelievable and can go get you,” McElwain said. “She’s one of those that we saved from the pound that has a bunch of stuff in it. That’s probably like me, just a normal guy who happens to be at Alabama.”

McElwain grew emotional when he told his players last month that he was leaving for Colorado State. But he said wearing the two hats the past couple of weeks hasn’t been a hassle.

“I love our guys and put everything I can into those guys and realize I’m not coaching for anybody but those guys," McElwain said. "Obviously, this has been an unbelievable run, being at a place like the University of Alabama. Shoot, I grew up in Montana. This is amazing and something I’ll carry with me forever, these players."

NEW ORLEANS -- John Chavis isn’t afraid to admit that his exit from Tennessee was a low point in his life.

After spending 14 seasons as the Vols’ defensive coordinator, Chavis was let go when head coach Phil Fulmer was fired in 2008.

“I’d never been let go from a job before,” Chavis said Thursday. “That’s not fun for anybody.”

What hurt the most was that Chavis was saying goodbye to people who had basically become family to him. As he briefly remembered those moments Thursday in front of the media huddled around him inside one of the ballrooms at the New Orleans Marriott at the Convention Center, Chavis got choked up when talking about how much he cared for the players he worked with in Knoxville, Tenn.

“I love them, I really do,” Chavis said before pausing 13 seconds to regain his voice and wipe a few tears from his eyes. “That’s what keeps me going every day is the opportunity to coach great talent and great kids. When I quit feeling that way, then it’s time for somebody else to do it.”

For Chavis, coaching isn’t just about teaching players the proper form in the three technique. It’s about helping to instill life lessons that should carry over into life away from the football field.

Chavis, who has a reputation for being pretty hard on his players at times, showed a very vulnerable side, but also showed just how important leading in all phases of his players’ lives is to him.

“I want to be that example for them,” he said.

“I want to have a relationship with our players off the field as well as on the field.”

Honey Badger wearing 24

In a classic switch-a-roo, LSU cornerbacks Tyrann Mathieu and Tharold Simon switched jerseys in practice Thursday, leaving photographers eager to catch the REAL Honey Badger in action disappointed.

But while the switch was only temporarily, the number does hold some significance to Mathieu, who has truly honored the No. 7 jersey Patrick Peterson left.

The number 24 belongs to New York Jets corner Darrelle Revis, who is just as feared by quarterbacks in the NFL as Mathieu is in college football.

“He can take the best receiver out of the game,” Mathieu said of Revis.

So will “Revis Island” have to share time with “Honey Badger Island?"

“I wouldn’t go as far as saying that,” Mathieu said with a chuckle.

SEC quarterbacks would probably beg to differ.

Claiborne happy with his switch

Jim Thorpe Award winner Morris Claiborne wasn’t always destined for defensive greatness.

He actually began his LSU career as a wide receiver, after accounting for more than 2,000 all-purpose yards on offense and had 30 touchdowns as a senior at Shreveport, La./Fair Park.

But after some coaxing from Peterson, Claiborne began switching between receiver and defensive back before settling in the secondary a week into fall camp.

“One day when I went over, I loved it,” Claiborne said. “I felt like I was making plays over there and I decided to stay and the coaches were cool with it.”

They’re probably a little more than “cool with it” now.

Vlachos not fond of Big Easy memories

Alabama coach Nick Saban left his team with some sobering words about the Crimson Tide’s last trip to New Orleans when he said players wouldn’t remember what they did individually but how the game ended.

That game was a 31-17 loss to Utah in the Allstate Sugar Bowl after the 2008 season. It was a game in which Alabama really failed to show up and it’s something that still eats at players.

Senior center William Vlachos said things have certainly improved for the Tide since then, but there’s still some disgust that creeps up when he thinks about his last trip to the Crescent City.

“That was a long time ago. We’ve won a national championship since then, but it was certainly a disappointing experience,” he said. “As far as the city of New Orleans, for me, I don’t really have a positive outlook on New Orleans because of that.”

Chris Low and Edward Aschoff discuss the Tigers' staunch defensive unit.

NEW ORLEANS -- The SEC’s critics point to the first game between Alabama and LSU this season and scoff that nobody wants to see a game of field goals, or more precisely, missed field goals.

The two teams do it all over again on Monday in the Superdome for the BCS national championship after LSU won 9-6 back on Nov. 5 in Tuscaloosa.

And while somebody may finally score a touchdown in the rematch, in the words of Alabama running back Trent Richardson on Thursday, “it’s not going to be a track meet. We don’t play a whole lot of track meets in the SEC.”

Track meets have been the norm in many of the other bowl games this season, and some of the outrageous scores have left the SEC defensive players shaking their heads.

LSU defensive tackle Michael Brockers didn’t hold back Thursday when asked what went through his mind when he sees scores like West Virginia’s 70-33 annihilation of Clemson, Baylor’s 67-56 shootout win over Washington or even Oklahoma State’s 41-38 victory over Stanford.

“Where’s the defense?” Brockers said. “Some adjustments have to be made.”

Could he ever see a day where the SEC routinely featured such high scores?

“I don’t think the first team would be on the field,” Brockers said.

Chris Low interviews Alabama center William Vlachos about the BCS title game's battle in the trenches.

Jesse Palmer and Desmond Howard go over the distractions facing each team in the days leading up to their BCS National Championship showdown

Ivan Maisel and Gene Wojciechowski discuss the teams' anticipation for the Allstate BCS National Championship Game.

LSU safety Eric Reid talks about the rematch with Alabama in the Allstate BCS National Championship Game.

There are many rules to live by in the game of football. But none might be more important than keeping the ball in the hands of your own players.

That rule becomes magnified come bowl season and it is absolutely critical in the national championship game.

SEC teams have held a 14-7 advantage in turnovers during their current five-game win streak in BCS title games. It only makes sense that with two SEC teams battling for national supremacy, winning that turnover battle will mean even more during Monday’s Allstate BCS National Championship Game between No. 1 LSU (13-0, 8-0) and No. 2 Alabama (11-1, 7-1).

“This is the biggest game that we’re all going to play in our lives, so we have to do everything to come out mistake-free,” LSU wide receiver Rueben Randle said.

Both teams were superb when it came to turnovers during the regular season. The Tigers dominated the turnover battle, leading the SEC with a turnover margin of plus-22, while Alabama was second only to LSU with 12 turnovers.

The Tigers have handed the ball over just eight times this season, with four coming on the road or at neutral sites. Alabama has just two turnovers away from home.

But two of Alabama’s 12 turnovers came against the Bayou Bengals during its heartbreaking 9-6 overtime loss back in November. Both were interceptions, and both had major impacts on the outcome.

“We’re looking to keep the ball in our own hands (this time),” Alabama offensive lineman Barrett Jones said.

Costly turnovers like the ones Alabama suffered against LSU are more devastating this time of year.

Alabama should already know that. Against Texas in the 2009 title game, the Longhorns turned the ball over five times in Alabama’s 37-21 win. Four of those were Garrett Gilbert interceptions and one was a Gilbert fumble. Gilbert’s first pick came in the second quarter, with the Longhorns driving deep in Alabama territory, while the second one was taken for a touchdown by Alabama’s Marcell Dareus to make it 24-6 late in the second quarter.

Gilbert’s third was the killer, as he was picked by Javier Arenas on Texas’ last chance to get back in the game.

A year earlier, Oklahoma threw away its chances at a national championship win over Florida with two Sam Bradford interceptions. One came inside the Gators’ 10-yard line right before the half, while the second totally changed the game when Florida safety Ahmad Black snatched Bradford’s throw away from a receiver at Florida’s 24-yard line with the Sooners driving in the fourth quarter.

Florida scored on the ensuing drive to put the game away with a 10-point lead.

With the defenses Alabama and LSU have, keeping the ball out of their hands will be a top priority for both offenses.

But it certainly won’t be easy for Alabama. LSU is a takeaway machine. The Tigers have recorded 30 thus far. It’s as if LSU’s defense feeds off turnovers in order to survive.

We saw how three turnovers crushed Georgia’s spirit in the SEC championship and how the game really got away from Arkansas with its three turnovers in Baton Rouge, La.

“We set out to operate in beating an opponent in the turnover margin. Period,” LSU coach Les Miles said. “We snap it offensively, we want to return it to the huddle, we want to bring it back. Defensively, we work hard. We’re looking at strips, we’re looking at picks and the opportunity to get the ball back for our team.”

Monday will be about forcing the other team to make more mistakes. It can come with more pressure put on Alabama’s young quarterback in A.J. McCarron. It can come with Alabama forcing LSU’s up-and-down passer in Jordan Jefferson to make silly plays.

And it can always come when players try to do too much.

The bottom line is that turnovers usually determine any football game, and chances are they absolutely will determine who walks out of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome Monday with that coveted crystal trophy in hand.

“It can be huge because they’re a great team,” Alabama center William Vlachos said.

“This defense is one of the most exceptional defenses that I’ve ever played against. We can’t turn the ball over if we want to win.”