No. 9 Alabama Pulls Away From No. 15 LSU 31-13 in Death Valley

No. 9 Alabama beat No. 15 LSU 31-13 Saturday afternoon in front of 102,321 fans at Tiger Stadium, improving to 7-2 overall and 5-2 in the SEC, while LSU fell to 6-3 and 3-3.

Alabama got the ball first and went nine plays and 50 yards on its opening drive before stalling, and Conor Talty kicked a 43-yard field goal at the 10:40 mark to give the Tide a 3-0 lead. LSU answered with a 14-play, 70-yard drive that took 5:52 off the clock. Sam Leavitt completed passes to Jackson Harris and Trey’Dez Green to get the Tigers to the Alabama 5, but his third-down throw fell incomplete and Scott Starzyk kicked a 23-yard field goal with 4:48 left in the first quarter, tying it 3-3.

Starzyk missed a 56-yard attempt on the first play of the second quarter, and Alabama took over with good field position. The Tide went 11 plays and 62 yards over 6:32, and Ryan Coleman-Williams scored on a 1-yard run with 8:23 left in the half to give Alabama a 10-3 lead. LSU drove back down the field and reached the Alabama 9, but the Tide’s defense stopped the Tigers on 4th-and-4 at the 3:36 mark. LSU got one more possession before halftime and moved to the Alabama 27, but Yhonzae Pierre sacked Leavitt for a 9-yard loss, and on the next snap Luke Metz intercepted Leavitt with 38 seconds left, keeping Alabama ahead 10-3 at the half.

LSU started the third quarter with an 11-play, 53-yard drive, and Starzyk made a 41-yard field goal with 11:43 left in the quarter to cut the lead to 10-6. The Tigers’ defense forced a stop, and the offense put together its best drive of the day, 11 plays and 90 yards over 5:36. Leavitt connected with Harris for gains of 16 and 32 yards, Winston Watkins Jr. picked up a third down with a 7-yard catch, and Dilin Jones ran in from 5 yards out with 2:44 left in the quarter to give LSU its first lead, 13-10. Alabama answered right away. Keelon Russell hit Rico Scott on a 57-yard catch-and-run, and four plays later Russell found Josh Ford for a 7-yard touchdown with 36 seconds left in the third, capping a five-play, 75-yard drive that took only 2:08 and putting Alabama back in front 17-13.

LSU drove into Alabama territory to open the fourth quarter, but Leavitt’s 4th-and-3 pass from the Alabama 36 fell incomplete with 13:24 left. A few possessions later, Coleman-Williams returned a punt 32 yards to the LSU 25, and Russell hit Cederian Morgan for a 25-yard touchdown on the very next play to make it 24-13 with 9:44 left. On LSU’s next drive, Devan Thompkins sacked Leavitt on first down, and the Alabama defense finished the series with another sack on 4th-and-10, giving the Tide the ball at the LSU 18. It took Alabama three plays to score, with Russell finding Kaleb Edwards for a 4-yard touchdown with 6:23 left to make it 31-13. LSU’s final drive reached the Alabama 7, but Leavitt’s 4th-and-2 completion to Green came up short, and Alabama ran out the clock on a 31-13 win.

Russell finished 17 of 24 for 206 yards and three touchdowns without an interception, and he added 25 rushing yards. Scott had three catches for 67 yards, Edwards had three for 50 and a score, and Metz led the Alabama defense with 11 tackles and the interception. LSU outgained Alabama 457-285 but went 0-for-4 on fourth down and scored one touchdown in four red zone trips. Leavitt completed 35 of 47 passes for 380 yards with an interception and was sacked four times, Harris had 11 catches for 166 yards, Green had 10 for 85, and Jones ran for 56 yards and a touchdown and caught seven passes.