TIDE-LSU: Defense holds in win over insipired LSU
Led by the defense, the Alabama Crimson Tide defeated LSU on Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium. (UA Media Relations)
By TIM GAYLE
LSU entered Saturday’s game with second-ranked Alabama as a 28.5-point underdog. They left Bryant-Denny Stadium one completed pass shy of pulling off one of the most stunning upsets in series history.
The Crimson Tide offense struggled throughout the night with a blitzing, unpredictable Tiger defense, held to just three touchdowns and a historic low in rushing yards. It wasn’t until Max Johnson’s Hail Mary for Brian Thomas on the final play of the game was batted away by Alabama defensive back Brian Branch that Alabama could breathe a sigh of relief after escaping with a 20-14 win.
“I know that sometimes we have an expectation that we’re going to win easy, but sometimes it’s not so easy,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “I think it’s difficult to win in this conference, I think it’s difficult to win week in and week out. I think you’ve got to play your best. We probably didn’t play our best in some areas of the team.
“Anyway, it’s always good to beat LSU. I knew this was going to be a tough game. I knew they would play their best game of the year against us and they deserve a lot of credit. They had a good plan, they changed some things up and their guys really competed well and played hard in the game. But I can’t tell you how proud I am of the way our guys competed in the game to be able to win.”
The Tigers snapped Alabama’s streak of 30-plus points at 34 consecutive games, the longest streak in college football history. They held the Tide to 6 rushing yards on 26 attempts, tying the 6-yard output against Penn State in a 9-0 loss in 1990 for the lowest rushing output ever in a regular-season game.
“We didn’t block them effectively up front,” Saban said. “Whether it’s the strategic plan or the execution of the plan -- and most of the time it is the execution -- but we’re responsible for that, too. So we need to do a better job of being able to block up front.”
LSU coach Ed Orgeron, coaching his last game against the Crimson Tide, used last week’s open date effectively in designing a plan of attack that kept Alabama off balance for the entire game.
“I want to compliment our team for how hard they played,” he said. “I truly thought we were the better team tonight, we just came up a couple of plays short. I just wish we could’ve put our guys in a better position to win.”
The Tigers showed enough balance on offense as Max Johnson threw for 160 yards and a pair of touchdowns and Tyrion Davis-Price rushed for 104 yards, the most at Bryant-Denny by an opposing back since Clyde Edwards-Helaire had 103 in the 2019 win over the Tide.
There was good and bad from LSU as a pass from punter Avery Atkins to Jack Mashburn led to Johnson’s first touchdown pass and a 7-0 lead, but turnovers on either side of halftime led to Bryce Young touchdown passes for a 20-7 lead.
There was good and bad on Alabama’s side as well and most of it was bad. Two bad snaps led to a missed field goal and a missed extra point, which loomed large at the end of the game. Sacks and fumbles and missed opportunities plagued the offense all night.
“It was nothing about them, it was all about us,” Orgeron said of the defensive changes during the open date. “We were too predictable on first down. We felt that we had to do some different things. I’d say we put in maybe eight different defenses. You’ve got to give credit to our defensive staff. For us to get that sack-fumble at the end that put us in a position to win, that was an all-out blitz. That was ‘zero blitz,’ we’ve never done that all year.”
Davis-Price’s 37-yard gain on a fourth-and-one play almost gave LSU the victory. Four plays later, facing fourth and goal at the Alabama 7, Orgeron shrugged off a field goal that would have trimmed the deficit to three points and Johnson’s pass in the middle of the end zone was incomplete.
“When we walked in the stadium, we were going for it,” he said. “There’s no question. We’re going for the win, the whole time.”
There’s something about the LSU-Alabama game that brings that attitude out in players and coaches on both sides. After Young was stripped of the ball on a sack, the Tigers would have one last chance. Johnson’s heave to the middle of the end zone for Thomas was batted away.
“Man, there was no way that we were going to let them score at the end,” Saban said. “I think the defensive players really stepped up and that was great competitive character.”
Alabama remains home to play New Mexico State next week, while LSU returns home to host Arkansas.