re: The difference between a blowout and a close game...

Seriously, I get what you’re saying and you are not wrong. But I honestly think the key won’t be LSU’s run game. Certainly, if they can’t run the ball effectively it is game over. But I think they’ll be able to move the ball some on the ground against this defense. I think the key will be Burrow being able to connect on some third downs. If he can keep Bama honest and keep us from loading the box, they will be able to move the ball and make it a game. It will also open their run game some. But the strength of our defense this year is the pass coverage/pass rush, especially when teams are facing third down in obvious passing situations.
If Burrow can connect early in the game even on some first or second downs in an intermediate passing game and keep it to less than third and five, they have a good chance of holding on to the ball and keeping Tua off the field.
I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see O and E come out early with a short passing game on first and second downs just to demonstrate that we better respect the passing game.
If they can keep us in nickel defense in earlier downs, they are in much better shape.
Going back to the past few years with Les, we knew they were going to have to run and we dared them to pass. Don’t think we can do that if Burrow can prove to be more of a threat through the air than they were able to establish in the past.
I think LSU keeps it close for a while and shows life on offense. But they won’t be able to keep pace with our offense and when they are forced to try, it will get out of hand as the game progresses in the second half.

I disagree. You want to force us to run now.