BATON ROUGE, LA – Costly mistakes and an inability to stop Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe, who rushed for four touchdowns, handed No. 15 LSU its third loss of the season to No. 11 Alabama, 42-13, on Saturday night in Tiger Stadium.
LSU will hit the road for its final away game of the season next Saturday, traveling to the Swamp to battle the Florida Gators. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. on ABC.
Death Valley was at its peak at kickoff, and on the first play from scrimmage, Alabama was flagged for a false start.
Two plays later, quarterback Jalen Milroe found Jamarion Miller for 19-yard gain to the Crimson Tide 40. LSU’s defense was able to make a few stops to force 3rd-and-9 from the Bama 41, but Milroe found Kendrick Law for a gain of 10 to move the chains to the LSU 49.
On 1st-and-10 from the LSU 39, Milroe then took a designed QB keeper 39 yards for a touchdown to give Alabama an early 7-0 lead with 10:49 to play.
Junior Zavion Thomas took the Alabama kickoff 50 yards to put LSU in prime field position. Freshman running back Caden Durham then took a run 45 yards down to the Alabama 5. However, on 3rd-and-goal from the 6, Nussmeier’s pass Lacy was incomplete, forcing a field goal attempt.
Ramos’ 23-yard attempt was good, cutting the Alabama lead to 7-3 with 9:00 left in the first quarter.
The Tide would respond with a methodical scoring drive of 15 plays spanning 75 yards, lasting just over seven minutes, culminating with a 1-yard rush for Justice Hayes to extend the Alabama lead to 14-3 with 2:06 remaining in the first quarter.
Milroe and the Alabama offense continued to move the ball with ease to open the second quarter. Starting the drive at the LSU 48, thanks to a 28-yard punt return from freshman Ryan Williams, Milroe found Miller for an 11-yard completion to the LSU 36 on 3rd-and-9. On 3rd-and-8 from the LSU 34, Milroe’s pass intended for Henderson was incomplete, forcing a field goal attempt. A delay of game penalty forced Alabama to bring on the punting unit.
On the first play from the LSU 10, Nuss found Mason Taylor for a pickup of 26 over the middle of the field, advancing the ball to the LSU 36. Nussmeier found Josh Williams on the screen pass for a 16-yard connection, bringing the ball down to the Alabama 36. A personal foul penalty for roughing the passer on the Tide advanced the ball to the Alabama 21. However, a holding penalty on the Tigers would prove to be a drive killer, as on 3rd-and-20 from the 31, Nussmeier’s pass to Williams would only go for five yards, forcing a field goal attempt.
Ramos’ 43-yard attempt was good, cutting the deficit to 14-6 with 8:26 to play in the first half.
On 4th-and-1 from the LSU 40, Whit Weeks and Sai’vion Jones made a big stop for a turnover on downs. However, on the first play from scrimmage on LSU’s next offensive possession, Nussmeier was sacked for a loss of eight and fumbled, which was recovered by Tim Smith for the Crimson Tide at the LSU 32.
Milroe would take advantage of the costly turnover by rushing for 22 yards to advance the ball down to the LSU 10, when Milroe would ultimately rush for a touchdown two plays later to extend the Tide lead to 21-6 2:35 to play in the half.
Alabama took the 21-6 advantage into half.
LSU opened the second half by moving the ball deep into Alabama territory to the 5, but Nussmeier threw a costly interception to linebacker Deontae Lawson, squandering a potential scoring drive the Tigers desperately needed. Alabama took over at the 20 after a touchback in the end zone. The drive went 14 plays for 75 yards before the turnover.
On 3rd-and-8 from the Alabama 38, Swinson and Jones had Milroe wrapped up for a sack, but Jones was called for a facemask penalty to extend the drive for the Tide. Alabama would take advantage as Ryan Williams rushed for 22 yards to bring the ball to the LSU 22 and Milroe would cash in with a 19-yard touchdown rush. It was mark Milroe’s third rushing score of the game. Alabama led 28-6 with 5:05 to play in the third quarter.
Milroe would continue his dominant play, rushing for his fourth touchdown of the game, a 72-yard scoring run, to extend the Alabama lead to 35-6 with 14:50 remaining.
With 2:07 to play, Richard Young extended the Alabama lead to 42-6 with an 8-yard rush.
Nussmeier ended the game with a touchdown, finding Kyren Lacy in the end zone for an 11-yard scoring connection with 11 seconds to go. The game finished with Alabama defeating LSU 42-13.
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Follow Zack Nagy on Twitter: @znagy20 and LSU Tigers On SI: @LSUTigersSI for all coverage surrounding the LSU program.
Zack Nagy is the Managing Editor and Publisher of LSU Country, a Sports Illustrated Publication. Nagy has covered Tiger Football, Basketball, Baseball and Recruiting, looking to keep readers updated on anything and everything involving LSU athletics.
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