The revenge crusade is over.
After losing to both Tennessee and LSU last season, No. 8 Alabama defeated the Tigers 42-28, two weeks after filling the sky with cigar smoke.
With the win, Alabama remains undefeated in the SEC this season.
“It’s a grind,” quarterback Jalen Milroe said of the schedule. “We had to approach every game as an opportunity to get better and seize the moment. … We’re playing in a hard division.”
For a quarterback who wasn’t head coach Nick Saban’s QB1 until the fourth game of the season, Milroe had himself quite the night against the LSU Tigers.
Four of the six Crimson Tide touchdowns were run in by the redshirt sophomore — a school record for a quarterback.
Milroe went head-to-head with Heisman contender and LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels, who went into the matchup with the second-highest quarterback ranking in the country.
Both quarterbacks were the top rushers on their teams — Daniels led with 163 yards, and Milroe had 155.
After exchanging touchdowns, the teams went into the locker room at halftime tied up at 21 searching for an opportunity to swing the momentum in their favor.
LSU attempted to do just that by scoring a touchdown on its opening drive of the second half. The Crimson Tide responded with a touchdown of its own, which was a pivotal moment in Saban’s eyes.
“Our offense controlled the tempo in the game, especially in the second half, and I think that was the difference in the game,” Saban said.
With the game tied at 28, the Tigers punted for the first time of the night. The Crimson Tide seized the opportunity to take the lead with an 11-yard rushing touchdown from Milroe at the end of the third quarter.
Milroe said the halftime message for him was “do your job,” and he felt like it was reflected in the second half.
“That was key to being successful in this game, doing your job,” Milroe said. “Whatever that play was, whatever obstacle we had, it was all about doing our job and acknowledging that it’s a four-quarter game.”
With a one-score lead heading into the fourth quarter, LSU had a chance to keep the game in check. Instead, linebacker Dallas Turner tipped a pass and defensive back Terrion Arnold came down with the ball — Daniels’ fourth interception of the season.
Arnold said big defensive plays like that meant a lot in a game where the powerful offenses battled it out, but in the end, the defense just did what they came to do.
“We went into the game knowing they were the No. 1 offense in the country,” Arnold said. “Coach Saban really preached staying in the moment. We really went out there and had fun together. One play, I’m looking at Malachi, and we’re just smiling, we’re out here just having fun.”
Although the story of the night was the Alabama offense rising to meet Daniels and the LSU offense, the Crimson Tide defense did its fair share to keep the Tigers in line. Defensive back Caleb Downs led the charge with 13 tackles, including nine solo. Alabama also held the Tigers to just seven points in the second half.
Saban said he talked to the defense about being aggressive at halftime, and it showed.
“The last four times they had the ball we had stops on defense, which was huge when the score is 28-28,” Saban said. “The offense did a great job of controlling [the ball] so they didn’t get it back very much.”
The Crimson Tide’s final touchdown, this time from running back Jase McClellan, sealed the deal for the Crimson Tide.
Thirteen minutes still remained in the game, but Daniels suffered an injury after a roughing-the-passer penalty and came off the field, and that essentially put an end to the touchdown frenzy.
By game’s end, the Crimson Tide had amassed a season-high 507 total yards and outscored the top offense in the country.
Saban said a lot of that came down to the offensive line looking the best it has all year.
“It all came down to execution and I thought this was the best execution we’ve had, from an efficiency standpoint, in the run game all year,” Saban said.
The Crimson Tide looks to clinch the SEC West on the road against Kentucky on Saturday, Nov. 11, at 11 a.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.
