Alabama had flatlined.
The offense couldn’t get anything going.
LSU had taken a 13-10 lead with 50 seconds left after Alabama drained its three timeouts.
The Crimson Tide needed a miracle after its second half performance. What it got was as close to miraculous as Death Valley allows.
LSU’s Trent Domingue had two kickoffs out of bounds. The first was in a 63-7 blowout of New Mexico State in late September. The second was on Saturday with 50 seconds left on the clock.
The ball went out on the 11-yard line, but it hadn’t touched anyone. Alabama then got the ball on its own 35-yard line with 50 seconds on the clock.
LSU head coach Les Miles watched the kick bounce out of bounds with his hands on his knees and mouth agape.
Nine plays later, Alabama tied the game on a 27-yard field goal. In overtime, the Crimson Tide came out on top 20-13.
“You all can look and see the number of ways we could have won this football game,” Miles said on Saturday. “There are things that we can control, things that we have to improve on and things that are youthful mistakes that we will certainly fix and work on.”
After the win, the team began to feel the effects of the game with the Tigers.
“I felt good as a quarterback, I knew my team had my back, but that just shows other people why I think the way I think,” Blake Sims said on Monday. “They played their hearts out. When they got on the plane, on the way back to Tuscaloosa last night, everybody was knocked out from being so tired. When you’re in the air and you look back on the plane and everybody’s tired, you feel good, because you know everybody gave it their all.”
Tired wasn’t how offensive lineman Austin Shepherd described playing LSU.
“Like you were hit by a Mack truck,” Shepherd said on Monday. “Sore everywhere. I’ve been here doing treatment and getting my legs flushed, so I’m ready to go this week because it’s another war.”
That war is with No. 1 Mississippi State, fresh off a 45-16 win over FCS opponent University of Tennessee at Martin last Saturday. The Bulldogs are a perfect 9-0 on the season and first in the SEC West with a 5-0 start. Following Saturday’s win over LSU and Auburn’s loss to Texas A&M, Alabama sits in second, its only loss to a then-undefeated and now two-loss Ole Miss.
The team isn’t going to let fatigue get in the way of preparation for Mississippi State. Not even linebacker Reggie Ragland’s broken left hand will get in the way. He didn’t let it get in the way of racking up 13 tackles at Death Valley.
“Ain’t really feel it too much,” Ragland said Monday. “It was a real good football game. My hand’s fine. I’m anxious to get to this week and Mississippi State.”
The Bulldogs have the No. 16 rushing offense in the country, averaging 254.9 yards per game. They have the No. 22 rushing defense allowing 126.7 yards per game, due in part to a large front seven.
“Massive,” Shepherd said. “I still remember playing them last year and I walked out on the field and went, ‘Wow.’ They’re all 6-5, 6-6 big physical guys. We’ve just got to be ready to play.”
