The LSU Tigers suffered their first loss in disappointing fashion, being dominated in all phases of the game by the Alabama Crimson Tide.
After a first quarter stalemate, Alabama got on the board with Adam Griffith putting a 22-yarder through the uprights. The Tide continued to roll with Derrick Henry waltzing into the endzone from two yards out to give the Tide a 10-0 lead.
But the Tigers weren’t about to go away, and Brandon Harris started to rally the team with a 40-yard pass that landed right in Breaux Bridge native Travin Dural’s arms as he walked into the endzone. The Tigers knotted things up with a 22-yard field goal by Trent Domingue who remained a perfect 10-for-10 on the season.
But in an almost mirror image of what happened in 2014, Gamble kicked the ball out of bounds on the kickoff, giving Alabama good field position to set up Griffith’s career long 55-yard field goal that just missed the goalpost to give the Tide a 13-10 lead heading into the locker room.
The Tigers opened up the second half with an errant pass from Brandon Harris that landed into Dillon Lee’s arms to break his zero interception streak. Alabama wasted little time feeding Derrick Henry the rock as he walked into the endzone from one-yard out.
The Tide increased their lead with Henry taking it in for the third time on the night from seven yards out. Alabama got another field goal out of Griffith to give them a 20 point lead early in the fourth.
After a fumble by Derrick Henry, Leonard Fournette finally found the endzone after being shut down for most of the night to cut the lead to 14. But the Tide began a methodical drive down the field to run down the clock.
The Tigers (7-1, 4-1 SEC) will now return to Death Valley where Arkansas (5-4, 3-2 SEC) will be waiting with kickoff set for 6:15 pm.
-Clint Domingue