The No. 10 LSU defeated No. 6 Alabama (32-31) in an overtime thriller at Tiger Stadium in which Tigers quarterback Jayden Daniels completed a star-making performance in overtime. Trailing by a touchdown, Daniels ran into the endzone on his first play in OT, where LSU coach Brian Kelly nailed a do-or-die 2-point conversion that Daniels completed on a flare route to tight end Mason Taylor and finished. It gave the game and the Crimson Tide their second loss of the season.
It was an uneven and sloppy game for most of the night with 21 seconds left.
Alabama struck first after interference on a third-down pass gave the Tide new life. Roydell Williams scored from one yard to make the game 31-24. This gave Bama 17 of 24 points as he battled from a 17-15 deficit with seven minutes remaining. That was before Daniels and his LSU left a bit of magic in the pocket and Kelly decided to put it all on his 2-point conversion.
Daniels excelled in helping the Tigers finish with 3 total touchdowns, 182 passing yards, and a team-high 95 yards rushing on 18 carries.
Alabama QB Bryce Young had some bright spots, including a great 41-yard touchdown pass to Jacory Brooks late in the fourth quarter to give the Tide a second-half lead, but he was not consistent. A swarming LSU defense held him to 25 of 51 passes for 328 yards with a touchdown toss and an interception he threw into the end zone early in the game.
In other words, Young played his fair share of plays, while Daniels and LSU simply played more.
The win put LSU in control of the SEC West. LSU currently holds the tiebreaker with both Alabama and Ole Miss, with all three teams having one loss in league play. While this loss doesn’t completely eliminate Bama from his SEC race, he’s played in seven of the eight events so far, making college football his playoff chances unlikely. Become.
Let’s take a look at a few more takeaways from LSU’s stunning Alabama upset in Death Valley.
The Tide is totally too dependent on Young
The current Heisman winner is limited in what he can do, and with Alabama now in the bones of the SEC schedule, it’s clearly not enough for the Tide to put his entire offensive game plan on his shoulders. After losing a bevy of talented playmakers in the NFL Draft over the past few seasons, Bama has struggled to replace similarly dominant players in his game with them.
The Tide doesn’t have enough players who can expand the field and pick up chunk plays. Of Alabama’s top four pass catchers on Saturday, only Brooks (97 yards) is wide his receiver. The next wideout, Jermaine Burton, was fifth with two grabs for 19 yards. Bama demands far too much from his running back and tight end, with RB jammer Gibbs totaling 23 touches for 163 yards, but to compete offensively at the level the Tide is accustomed to. Not enough.
Bama is not the same team on the road
This loss is probably not surprising. Sure, Alabama were the 13-point favorites, but anyone who paid attention to how the Tide was performing on the road all season knew it might not be so easy. With a 20–19 win over Texas, Young had to lead a second-half comeback despite Texas’ loss of starting QB Quinn Ewers in the first half of the game. And the match where Bama could not return. Tennessee lost 28-7 and scored one point to take the lead, but lost 52-49.
Sure, Arkansas had a 23-point win, but the Razorbacks lost at home to the Liberty on Saturday. I’m not sure I should consider it a difficult road game this season. Winning Fayetteville, Arkansas is certainly no more difficult than winning Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Enough to make you wonder what will happen next week when Alabama faces Ole his mistakes again.
