Alabama football defeated LSU 42-28 at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday. The Crimson Tide moved to 8-1 on the season and remains undefeated at 6-0 in SEC play with the win.
Here are three takeaways from Saturday’s matchup with the Tigers.
the bullets
This is not going to be a defensive battle. The 9-6 2011 game is a remnant of the distant past for both Alabama and LSU.
On Saturday, both offenses were rolling. There were not many defensive stops, but each of them felt like a small miracle.
Alabama lost possession when Will Reichard missed his first two field goals of the season, a 47-yarder. The last time Reichardt missed, Alabama lost to Tennessee in 2022, so the short kick seemed like a bad omen, but the Tigers also missed kicks.
The Tide stalled when Malachi Moore made a play to break up a fourth-down pass. Alabama capitalized on that drive.
LSU didn’t punt until the second half. Later, Terion Arnold intercepted a tipped pass, which led to a Jace McClellan run that put the Tide up two scores in the fourth quarter.
Milro is moving
Alabama fumbled on its first offensive drive and went down 7-0 to start the game. After that, the Crimson Tide seemed to figure things out for the rest of the first quarter.
After LSU’s touchdown, the Tide took five plays to drive 76 yards and tie the game. Alabama came up on a play the score didn’t break for weeks, a designed quarterback run for Jalen Miller.
Milrow dropped to his left on that play, got the blocks he needed, and showed enough elusiveness to make a 23-yard play. He would do it again after the quarter.
Difficult to deal with
UA would take the lead at halftime. After Milro’s third touchdown, Alabama took a 21-14 lead into the locker room.
It wasn’t meant to be. LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels had other plans.
Alabama
The Crimson Tide knew Daniels was a threat. Nick Saban talked about him all week.
“I think overall they execute their offense perfectly, and it starts with him,” Saban said as he made the right reads versus the run and pass and zone option plays and pass down plays. He’s very good at reading coverage and makes really quick decisions.
