No. 1 Alabama wins top-3 matchup

By+Hannah+Saad

By Hannah Saad

Cody Estremera and James Ogletree

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana — No. 1 Alabama steamrolled No. 3 LSU 29-0 for its ninth win of the season. It was the highest margin of victory on either side since the Crimson Tide defeated the Tigers 31-0 in 2002.

Play of the game: With five minutes left in the third quarter, Tua Tagovailoa dropped back, saw no one open, and took off. He sprinted past the LSU defensive line, linebackers, and eventually the Tiger secondary, too, peeking over his shoulder to see if he would be caught. He outran everyone en route to a 44-yard touchdown. It was the longest rush of his career.

Offensive Player of the Game:

Cody Estremera: Tua Tagovailoa

James Ogletree: Tua Tagovailoa

Defensive Player of the Game:

Cody Estremera: Quinnen Williams

James Ogletree: Quinnen Williams

Fan Players of the Game:

Offense: Tua Tagovailoa

Defense: Quinnen Williams

Notes:

  • For the first time this year, Alabama did not score a touchdown on its first drive of the game. The Crimson Tide drove down to the LSU 14-yard line before a loss of eight yards and back-to-back false starts.
  • Alabama returned to the end zone on its second drive, though, with Tua Tagovailoa finding Henry Ruggs III for a 15-yard score, Ruggs’ eighth score this year. That moved the sophomore receiver into tied for sixth place all-time in receiving touchdowns in a single season.
  • Joseph Bulovas made a 23-yard field goal midway through the second quarter to make the score 9-0.
  • Late in the second quarter Tagovailoa launched a pass 40 yards downfield. It was caught by LSU safety Todd Harris Jr. for Tagovailoa’s first interception of the season.
  • With 1:15 left before halftime, tight end Irv Smith Jr. caught his sixth receiving touchdown of the year, a Tagovailoa pass dropped perfectly into the bucket. Ruggs was shaken up on the previous play and limped slowly off the field.
  • The interception broke Tagovailoa’s streak of 26 touchdown passes to start a season without an interception, the second-most in the FBS since 2012. It also broke his streak of 194 straight passes without a pick, the second-longest in school history, trailing only A.J. McCarron’s 291 from 2011-2012.
  • Tagovailoa scored a 44-yard rushing touchdown with five minutes remaining in the third quarter. It was his third rushing score of the year and the longest of his career by 21 yards.
  • Tagovailoa played in the fourth quarter for the first time this season. His first pass was a 24-yard gain to Jerry Jeudy.
  • Mack Wilson intercepted Burrow in the end zone with 3:35 remaining in the game to retain the shutout. It was Wilson’s second interception of the season after leading the team with four last year.
  • LSU hasn’t finished a game with fewer than 30 rushing yards since 2001, when the Tigers were coached by Nick Saban. They had negative one in the first half and finished with 12.