No. 1 Alabama pulls away from No. 14 LSU in defensive battle
BATON ROUGE — Breaking down No. 1 Alabama’s 10-0 victory over No. 14 LSU at Tiger Stadium.
THE BIG PICTURE: In a defensive masterpiece harkening back to the best years of this rivalry, Alabama faced its biggest test to date and showed the kind of ruthless dynamism it now possesses with the speed of freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts. There wasn’t much of an opening all night against LSU’s defense, but Hurts finally found it early in the fourth quarter of a 0-0 game. And when he did, scrambling for a 21-yard touchdown on third-and-long for all the points Alabama would need, it showed once again why Nick Saban’s team is such a big favorite to win yet another national title.
Alabama probably won’t face another defense this fast and physical in an environment this difficult. But even pushed to the limit here, the Crimson Tide had more dimensions and will move into the final stretch of its season with intensifying talk about whether this is the best defense Saban has coached. LSU, which now falls out of the SEC West race at 5-3 overall, will regret missed opportunities in a sixth straight loss to Alabama dating back to a legendary 6-3 overtime win in 2011. But it probably did little to hurt interim coach Ed Orgeron’s hopes of landing the job full time, as LSU to Alabama’s level but simply lacked the skill at one position. It just happens to be the most important one.
WHAT WE’LL BE TALKING ABOUT: For the second straight year, Alabama’s defense completely shut off the water on star running back Leonard Fournette. Last season, Fournette came in as the runaway Heisman Trophy favorite but gained only 31 yards on 19 carries, all but sinking his campaign. This year, Fournette (who missed three games to injury) was trying to ignite Heisman talk after his most recent performance, a 284-yard outburst against Ole Miss.
But once again, he found no room to operate as Alabama stacked up its defensive front and limited him to 35 yards on 17 carries. Because LSU quarterback Danny Etling couldn’t throw the ball either (11-for-24, 92 yards), Alabama never had back off its commitment to stopping the run.
KEY PLAY: LSU’s inability to seize on two key moments doomed the Tigers. After creating an interception on Alabama’s first offensive series, sending Tiger Stadium into a frenzy and giving its offense the ball inside the 35-yard line, LSU came out with no points when Colby Delahoussaye’s 49-yard field goal was blocked. Then once again with 5:43 remaining in the third quarter, LSU sacked Hurts and caused him to fumble, giving the offense a second chance on the plus side of the field.
But LSU’s ensuing drive went nowhere in the face of Alabama’s relentless pressure. Going 0-for-2 on such golden opportunities was basically a death knell for LSU, which struggled the rest of the game to get good field position.
College football's Week 10 winners and losers
KEY STAT: Alabama’s streak of 126 consecutive games with first half points ended Saturday. The last time a Crimson Tide team was shut out in the first half was Sept. 29, 2007 — Nick Saban’s first season — against Florida State, a game Alabama lost 21-14.
KEY STAT, PART II: This was the first FBS game of the entire season that started the fourth quarter with a 0-0 score.
KEY STAT, PART III: LSU had just six first downs and 125 offensive yards.
ALL THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL ACTION IN WEEK 10
