BATON ROUGE, La. — No. 5 Alabama defeated No. 14 LSU on Saturday night, answering critics who questioned the College Football Playoff committee's latest rankings. The Crimson Tide used a dominant road performance at Tiger Stadium to counter widespread fan and analyst skepticism regarding their position in the rankings.
The Crimson Tide entered a season-on-the-line matchup with their backs against the wall and the weight of the world. Before the SEC showdown, LSU was the heavy favorite, as Lane Kiffin and the Tigers had looked the part for much of the season; the Tide had to escape an electric Death Valley atmosphere, and most of the world had no hope.
However, the Crimson Tide's two-week preparation must've been unlike anything before, because they controlled the game from kickoff. Alabama took an early 3-0 lead with a solid opening drive, which set Connor Talty up for a 43-yard field goal, while the defense managed to limit the Tigers on their opening drive, halting them at the 5-yard line to force a short field goal to tie it.
The score remained tied 3-3 going into the second quarter, but Alabama shifted momentum later in the second when veteran wide receiver Ryan Coleman-Williams floated into the end zone untouched to push the Tide to a 10-3 lead.
After LSU turned the ball over on downs, the score remained 10-3 going into halftime. Sam Leavitt attempted to throw toward the middle of the field in an attempt to tie the game, but Luke Metz intercepted the pass and returned the ball to the LSU 48 with under 30 seconds to go. Alabama's offense wasn't able to capitalize on the turnover before halftime, but whatever possessed Alabama in the second half was too strong for the Tigers to fend off.
In the second half, Alabama limited LSU to just a field goal and a touchdown, while quarterback Keelon Russell distributed the ball well, throwing three touchdowns despite briefly leaving the game with an ankle injury.
“Through the grace of God, it wasn’t a big injury,” said Russell in a postgame interview. "I knew if I had got out of this game I was going to feel really bad about myself because I didn’t think I had gave it my all ... I wasn’t going to let an injury stop me from being who I am.”
Russell, whose touchdown passes went for 7 yards to tight end Josh Ford, 25 yards to freshman phenom receiver Cederian Morgan, and 4 yards to tight end Kaleb Edwards, proved that the Crimson Tide still has that competitive spirit the college world witnessed early in the season, not only a competitive spirit, but a strong arsenal of weapons that are more than capable of making plays.
Russell finished the day 17-for-24 passing for 231 total yards, 3 touchdowns and no interceptions to secure a statement road win and give his team a much-needed boost in the latter part of the season.
Alabama not only secured a dominant 31-13 win, but continued to add to the history of the rivalry between Alabama and LSU, which has favored Alabama throughout the series.
Coach Kalen DeBoer is now 3-0 against LSU since being appointed as Alabama's head coach; Alabama has won 14 of the last 16 games against LSU, and DeBoer improves to a 9-0 record off a bye week.
DeBoer and company carry a great deal of momentum for the remaining three games of the season, but in order to remain successful, they must enjoy the wins but quickly flip to the next opponent and finish out strong to secure a spot in the SEC championship game and the College Football Playoff.
“We’re as great of a football team as anybody can say,” Russell said postgame. "We just got to keep going. We can’t stop here and get complacent.”