Alabama established the run, stopped the run and had a mistake-free game from its quarterback.
In other words, LSU didn’t stand a chance.
Crafting its most dominant performance of the season inside Bryant-Denny Stadium, Alabama whipped the Tigers 30-16 Saturday night to improve to 8-1 overall and 5-1 in Southeastern Conference play. The Crimson Tide have the inside track to a second consecutive SEC West title and can reach the Georgia Dome by winning at Mississippi State this Saturday and at Auburn on Nov. 28.
“I was really proud of our team and the way they competed,” Tide coach Nick Saban said afterward in a news conference. “They really did everything we asked them to do. We didn’t play perfectly, but I thought it was really important that we could control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.”
The Crimson Tide have won five straight over LSU, where Saban coached from 2000 to ’04.
Alabama led 13-10 at halftime before erupting to score the first 17 points of the second half. The Crimson Tide wound up posting sizable advantages in total yards (434-182), plays (79-45) and first downs (28-12).
In the final 30 minutes, Alabama had possession for 21 minutes and 9 seconds.
“Our defense was on the field for the whole second half virtually,” LSU coach Les Miles said in his news conference. “We have to improve. This football team is much better than they showed tonight.”
Saturday was billed as a showdown between LSU tailback and Heisman Trophy favorite Leonard Fournette and Alabama counterpart Derrick Henry. It never developed.
Fournette was smothered from the start by Alabama’s deep and talented defense, managing five carries for 5 yards in the first quarter, four carries for 4 yards in the second quarter and six carries for 4 yards in the third quarter. He broke one run and had one touchdown in the fourth quarter, but that simply cut into a 20-point deficit.
“We were going up against the best player in the country,” Alabama senior linebacker Reggie Ragland said of Fournette’s 19-carry, 31-yard evening. “We had to come up and hit him. If you wrap him up, you have a chance. We wrapped him up and held on.”
Henry, meanwhile, strengthened as the game progressed. The 6-foot-3, 242-pound junior had 30 yards in the first quarter and added 60 in the second quarter.
He had 129 yards through three quarters before pounding out 81 yards on 11 carries in the final 15 minutes to finish with 210 yards and three touchdowns on a career-high 38 rushes.
“Everybody on offense did a great job – the tight ends, the receivers – just everybody did a great job,” Henry said. “We had success and we played physical. That’s what we did all week. That’s how we practiced all week.”
Said Saban: “The guy is having a great year. He had a great game, and it couldn’t have happened at a better time against a very good defensive team.”
As dominant as Fournette and Henry had been entering Saturday, the play of the two quarterbacks was expected to have just as big of an impact on the outcome. LSU’s Brandon Harris had not thrown an interception in 128 attempts before facing the Tide, and that didn’t change during the first half.
On the first play of the second half, however, Harris was intercepted by linebacker Dillon Lee, whose 4-yard return to LSU’s 28 helped set up a 1-yard Henry touchdown that essentially put the game away at 20-10. Harris completed just six passes in 19 attempts.
“They ran that play in the first half, and I was late getting out there,” Lee said. “When they ran it again in the second half, I just turned and ran as fast as I could to get underneath the throw.”
Coker had thrown two interceptions in a loss to Ole Miss and two more in a win over Arkansas during home games earlier this season, but he was crisp against LSU. He went 18-of-24 for 184 yards and helped the Tide go 7-for-15 on third-down conversions.
“He did what we asked him to do,” Saban said.
Tide tidbits
Alabama increased its series lead to 50-25-5 over the Tigers. Saban-coached teams are now 11-4 in the Alabama-LSU rivalry. Henry is averaging 173.6 yards per game this season against ranked teams (Wisconsin, Ole Miss, Georgia, Texas A&M and LSU). Sophomore punter JK Scott is averaging 48.4 yards per punt over the past four games.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.