The last two weeks, the hype around this game was unreal. With the three wins over top-10 ranked opponents, it felt like this time around was going to be different for LSU (7-2, 4-2 SEC) when they took on Alabama (9-0, 6-0 SEC) inside Tiger Stadium.
It wasn’t any different as the Crimson Tide smothered the Tigers offense and came away with a 29-0 win to clinch the SEC West.
LSU’s defense looked outmatched from the jump with Tua Tagovailoa getting Alabama down to the LSU 14-yard line. However, the defense was able to push them out of field goal range thanks to a pair of false start penalties by Alabama. LSU’s offense didn’t fare much better with only ten yards gained on six plays and were forced to punt. The Tide offense continued to control the ballgame and struck first with a 15-yard pass to Henry Ruggs to make it 6-0 after a botched PAT attempt.
After Joseph Bulovas redeemed himself early in the second quarter with a 23-yard field goal, Things started to look up for LSU when Todd Harris picked off Tagovailoa late in the second quarter. The only negative of that play was that it pinned the Tigers at their own four-yard line and Joe Burrow was almost sacked for a safety two plays later. Alabama took advantage of the short field with a two-play drive capped off by a 25-yard pass to Irv Smith Jr. to make it 16-0 as both teams headed into the locker room at halftime.
Alabama really started to put the boots to LSU with Tua took it himself for a 44-yard touchdown run to make it 22-0. After Cole Tracy missed a field goal from 33 yards out, Damien Harris put the game on ice with a one-yard run into the endzone to cap off an eight play drive.
LSU will return to action on Saturday when they take on the Arkansas Razorbacks (2-7, 0-5 SEC) with kickoff set for 6:30 pm
-Clint Domingue