Nick Saban stood just outside the Alabama tunnel before the game, hand over his heart, as his No. 1 Crimson Tide team stood behind him jumping and pumping their fists. The crowd roared as 101,000 shakers shook in unison to AC/DC’s Thunderstruck.
It felt like Bryant-Denny Stadium would take off and soar into the night sky. It felt different.
The game was different, and everyone knew it.
The crowd stayed at that fever pitch until midway through the fourth quarter, when LSU quarterback Zach Mettenberger’s fourth down pass to Jarvis Landry sailed over his head and into the end zone. The fans finally exhaled for the first time all night and sang “Dixieland Delight” with such fervor that it shook the Bryant-Denny Stadium press box.
It took a couple of lucky bounces, some opportunistic plays from its defense and even a fake punt, but the Crimson Tide eventually overcame LSU and kept its hopes of a historic season alive, taking down the Tigers 38-17 in the most physical game Alabama may play all year.
“I could tell in some of the players’ eyes that it was about over for them,” senior linebacker C.J. Mosley said. “After that we just started making play after play after play. As a defensive player, that gets you fired up, knowing that if you execute Alabama football, great things can happen.”
All that stands in Alabama’s way now between a national championship appearance in Pasadena, Calif., is an Auburn team that looks better every week and an SEC East team in Atlanta, Ga.
The Crimson Tide put together a dominant performance in what quarterback AJ McCarron called the toughest test of the season and only solidified its place at the top of the polls.
“It was our next win,” McCarron said. “That’s the win we needed at the time. It was our toughest opponent yet probably. It was going to be a great test for us.”
With the game tied in the third quarter, Alabama had just been stuffed on a third and one run, uncharacteristic for the usually physical Crimson Tide.
Alabama had to call a timeout before it punted because safety Landon Collins wasn’t on the field. When Mosley came back on the field for the punt, he noticed the coverage was lined up where Alabama wanted it for a fake. He made the call, took the snap and handed it to Jarrick Williams who picked up the first down.
“I’m still mad that I didn’t break it,” Williams said.
The Crimson Tide had new life and capitalized. It scored on its next three possessions, which all featured a heavy dose of rushing, breaking the will of the LSU defense while keeping its offense – which put up 232 yards of offense in the first half – off the field.
“It was all about execution and not giving up, trying to find each other’s breaking point,” Mosley said. “We kept battling to the end until the point where it seemed like they gave up and we just had to finish the game.”
Alabama was lucky to be leading the game at halftime. The Tigers moved the ball almost at will in the first half, but shot themselves in the feet on multiple occasions.
On its first drive of the game, LSU drove straight down to the goal line, but fullback J.C. Copeland fumbled and Alabama recovered. On its next drive, quarterback Zach Mettenberger got hit in the torso with a snap he wasn’t expecting and Trey DePriest jumped on it.
“I would say that we changed the way we thought,” senior defensive end Jeoffrey Pagan said. “They came in here thinking that they were going to be more physical than us. I feel like we changed that.”
McCarron guarded against any talk that Alabama would have a letdown in November like it has the last two years. It’s unlikely that the Crimson Tide will falter on the road next week at Mississippi State or at home the following week against Chattanooga.
But a trip to Auburn in a game that will decide the SEC West champion looms.
With Florida State on a tear through the ACC and Ohio State doing the same in the Big Ten, it’s unlikely that a one-loss Alabama could make the championship game for the third year in a row.
“We’re hungry,” McCarron said. “We’ll be ready.”
McCarron walked off the field after taking three kneel downs, and as the Million Dollar Band began to play “Rammer Jammer,” Saban, in a rare show of emotion, lept into his quarterbacks arms and stayed suspended there for a second or two.
In a year of astronomical expectations, Alabama keeps coming through in the biggest moments and coming through in big ways. The relief, and even joy, was splashed across the players’ faces in the postgame media room.
“When we do what we have to do and we put our mind to the task,” Mosley said. “We can do great things.”
