BATON ROUGE — Fourth-ranked Alabama forced overtime with a 27-yard field goal with three seconds left in regulation then scored a go-ahead 6-yard touchdown in the extra period to hand No. 14 LSU a rare Saturday night loss in Tiger Stadium, 20-13.
LSU (7-3, 3-3 SEC), which lost for only the fourth time under coach Les Miles at home on Saturday night, looked to control the game when linebacker Kendell Beckwith recovered a T.J. Yeldon fumble at the Alabama 6-yard line with only 73 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
A personal foul on the next play moved the Tigers back to the Alabama 21, and the Tigers were forced to settle for a 39-yard Colby Delahoussaye field goal with 50 seconds left to take a 13-10 lead.
After the ensuing kickoff went out of bounds, Alabama (8-1, 5-1 SEC) – with no timeouts – started a nine-play, 55-yard drive at its 35 and methodically marched into the LSU red zone and knotted the game at 13-13 with three seconds remaining.
In overtime, LSU won the coin toss and elected to start on defense. On the first play of overtime, Alabama quarterback Blake Sims looked across the middle for sophomore tight end Brandon Greene, who made the first catch of his Alabama career for 24 yards inside LSU 1. A personal foul moved the Tide back to the 15, but Alabama gained a first down with three runs. On second-and-goal from the LSU 6, Sims connected with wide receiver DeAndrew White for the go-ahead touchdown.
In LSU’s overtime possession, the Tigers threw four incomplete passes to end the game.
The sour ending spoiled an otherwise terrific showing by the Tigers, who outgained Alabama 315-259 and had a 38:16-21:44 advantage in time of possession. The LSU defense forced seven three-and-out drives, nine punts and a fumbled that looked to put the Tigers in position for victory.
LSU had 56 rushes for 183 net yards, as freshman running back Leonard Fournette led the way with 21 carries and 79 yards. Quarterback Anthony Jennings added 40 net rushing yards, while Terrence Magee had 29 yards on 12 carries.
Jennings was 8-of-26 passing for 76 yards including a 14-yard touchdown pass to freshman wide receiver Malachi Dupre that put LSU ahead 7-0 late in the first quarter.
The Tigers return to action Saturday, Nov. 15, when they travel to face Arkansas for a 7 p.m. CT kickoff in Fayetteville. The game will be televised by ESPN2 and broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network beginning with the pregame show at 5 p.m.
Despite an advantage of 102-7 in third quarter total offense, LSU added only a Delahoussaye 35-yard field goal that tied the game at 10-10 in the third quarter.
Alabama’s Sims was 20-of-45 passing for 209 yards including touchdowns of 23 yards to Amari Cooper and six yards to White in overtime. Yeldon led the way with 68 net rushing yards on 15 carries, while Cooper caught eight passes for 83 yards.
Each team punted nine times and each had one turnover that led to the others’ field goals.
Blow-by-Blow
LSU won the coin toss and deferred its decision until the second half. With its back to the south endzone, the Tigers kicked off to the Crimson Tide to open the game.
Each team gained a first down on their first possession of the game before punting, while neither gained field position in the exchange.
LSU forced a three-and-out when defensive end Danielle Hunter batted down a middle screen pass from Sims and Jalen Mills stopped Christion Jones short of the first down to send Tide punter JK Scott to the field again.
The Tigers’ longest play of the half, an 17-yard catch-and-run by Magee, helped the Tigers flip the field position when Jamie Keehn‘s 40-yard punt was fair caught at the Alabama 11.
A pair of overthrown passes from Sims led to a Scott 46-yard punt that was returned 18 yards by Tre’Davious White to the Alabama 41.
LSU was in business.
Four-straight runs by Fournette netted 25 yards to the Alabama 16. After Jennings got back to the line of scrimmage on a blown play, a 3-yard run by Fournette set up third-and-7 from the Alabama 13. Jennings lofted a perfect pass to the left side of the endzone where Dupre pulled in a one-handed grab that was initially ruled out of bounds. Video review overturned the call and the play was ruled a touchdown.
LSU led 7-0 with 2:07 remaining in the first quarter.
On the ensuing series, Cooper picked up nine yards on first down. However, Sims and Cooper weren’t on the same page on the following play and the Tide quarterback was thrown for a 9-yard sack by LSU linebacker Kwon Alexander. Another pass batted down by Hunter led to Alabama’s fourth punt of the first quarter.
After gaining eight yards on two runs, the Tigers tried to catch Alabama over-committing to the run on third-and-2 but looking deep to Travin Dural. Jennings overthrew the pass in tight coverage along the right sideline and a penalty flag for pass interference was waived off.
The Tide countered with its most productive drive of the half – moving 70 yards in seven plays – but came away empty. On the drive, Alabama converted four third downs starting with a 12-yard run by Yeldon on third-and-4. With Beckwith in the lockerroom with an injury, Yeldon weaved 18 yards on third-and-18 to keep the drive moving at the Alabama 48. A 20-yard reception on third-and-5 by Cooper, who slipped between cornerback Jalen Collins and linebacker D.J. Welter, moved the Tide to the LSU 27. Finally, an 11-yard catch by Cooper on third-and-9 had the Tide in the LSU red zone. Two incomplete passes and an underneath pass to Yeldon for five yards left Alabama with a 27-yard field goal attempt. Placekicker Adam Griffith pulled the kick, which careened off the left goal post and back into play.
Though the Tigers escaped unscathed, the offense quickly went three-and-out. A punt of only 32 yards by Keehn set up a short field for the Tide at their 49.
With Beckwith off the field for the first two plays of the drive, Alabama attacked the middle of the field. A 13-yard run by Sims started the drive and gave Alabama a first down at the LSU 38 before Henry ran six yards to the 32. After defensive end Jermauria Rasco and Alexander affected a pair of Sims passes, the Tide called a timeout to setup a 9-yard pass to Cooper, who came in motion from the backfield for an easy catch along the right sideline for a first down. On second-and-10, Sims again looked for Cooper over the middle and the All-American receiver broke a tackle to tie the game with a 23-yard touchdown.
With 5:40 left in the half, the game was tied at 7-7.
The teams exchanged punts again before LSU took over at its 31. On second-and-10, Dural slipped to the ground and Jennings pass went straight into the hands of cornerback Eddie Jackson for an interception. Jackson’s 18-yard run back to the LSU 29. On fourth-and-3 from the LSU 22, Griffith booted a 39-yard field goal with nine seconds remaining in the half.
Alabama took a 10-7 lead into the lockerroom.
LSU wasted no time tying the score in the second half, marching 57 yards on 12 plays to add a 35-yard field goal by Delahoussaye with 9:20 left in the third quarter that tied the game at 10-10.
Passes of 10 and 12 yards to fullback Connor Neighbors and Dural, respectively, gave the Tigers first downs before Jennings added another with his feet to the Alabama 22. Another pass to Dupre that was caught in the endzone was ruled out of bounds, leading to the field goal.
Alabama, which was outgained 102-7 in the quarter, quickly went three-and-out and LSU took over at its 11 after a 45-yard punt by Scott.
The Tigers converted a third-and-7 with a 9-yard run by Jennings and then a fourth-and-1 at its 32 with another sneek by the quarterback, who had his face mask bracket snapped on the play. A delay of game penalty stalled the drive near midfield and LSU punted into the endzone.
The Tide gained only six yards and punted again early in the fourth quarter, pinning LSU at its 8. Again, the Tigers bulldozed their way to midfield but punted after a sack of Jennings on third and 6.
The next four possessions included only one first down – an 11-yard run by Yeldon – and ended in punts, as each team wasn’t taking any chances in its own territory with the game tied.
However, Alabama gave the Tigers an opening when Yeldon fumbled on a second-and-5 run from his 6-yard line and Beckwith recovered with 1:13 to play.
After the costly unsportsmanlike contact personal foul called against LSU offensive guard Vadal Alexander on the first play, the Tide used all three of its timeouts following LSU runs. Delahoussaye kicked a 39-yard field goal to put the Tigers ahead, 13-10.
But, the LSU lead lasted only 43 seconds. Alabama used short passes toward the sidelines to eat up yardage without using the clock. Once across midfield, a 22-yard pass to Jones advanced Alabama into field-goal range at the LSU 26 and another 16-yard pass to White setup the chip-shot, game-tying field goal by Griffith with three seconds left.