Alabama fights hard, falls short to No. 3 LSU 41-34

TUSCALOOSA | It was supposed to be a mismatch.

On paper, the shorthanded University of Alabama football team was outmanned, outgunned and expected to be outplayed by the No. 3 team in the country, one still very much in the hunt for the national championship and with a roster stocked by the opposing coach.

Ten months to the day LSU had waited for its shot at Nick Saban, since he decided to leave the Miami Dolphins to return to the college ranks, but the flip side was equally as impressive. If somehow the Crimson Tide could find a way to win Saturday night, it would be just one win away from the SEC Championship game, not to mention essentially secure a January bowl invitation, and arguably record the Crimson Tide’s biggest victory since the national championship game at the end of the 1992 season.

Only it wasn’t.

How close did No. 17 Alabama come?

Less than three minutes.

That’s when the bigger, stronger and more-talented Tigers scored on fourth-and-3 from the 32 to tie the game, and then benefited from a sack and fumble to set up another last-minute touchdown to pull off a dramatic 41-34 victory.

“It’s tough,” senior linebacker Dustin Mustin said. “This one hurts real bad. It was a lot of little things. They stepped up and made the plays and we didn’t.

“I feel like we had that game won.”

So did the jam-packed fans at Bryant-Denny Stadium, who went into a frenzy midway through the fourth quarter after sophomore Javier Arenas, who was doing double-duty as a defensive back, scored on a 61-yard punt return for a seven-point lead.

Statistically speaking, though, the game was nowhere that close. Without the Tide missing suspended offensive linemen Antoine Caldwell and Marlon Davis, LSU dominated the lines of scrimmage, and outgained Alabama 475 yards to 254.

Tigers senior quarterback Matt Flynn passed for 353 yards, including six balls to junior Demetrius Byrd for 144 yards, and the LSU defense rang up seven sacks, three hurries and broke up eight passes.

“My hands are bruised from smacking them together when we did the wrong things and made mistakes,” Saban said. “You know what? Sometimes there’s no consequence until you do it against someone who’s as good or better than you.

“Prime time players make plays at prime times of the game and we had our opportunity to do it.”

So many things had to go Alabama’s way to win, and after a sluggish first quarter they did, from freshman Kareem Jackson deflecting a field goal in the final play of the first half, to senior Eric Gray making a tackle on a kick return after losing his helmet.

But all that occurred after a costly early mistake, which was all LSU needed to take hold of the momentum. After the teams traded field goals on their opening possessions, Alabama had second-and-7 at its own 24 when junior quarterback John Parker Wilson looked to his left for senior Matt Caddell, but senior cornerback Chevis Jackson correctly read the play and returned the interception to the Tide 12.

Setting up another touchdown, was an even more impressive play when senior running back Jacob Hester, running to his left (a play that seemed destined to be busted up by Mustin), pitched the ball to Early Doucet, who was coming the opposite way. Having gone wide and left unguarded down the sideline, Flynn caught Doucet’s pass for a 35-yard gain, and five plays later LSU led 17-3.

“I wasn’t born to do that,” defensive end Wallace Gilberry said. “I was born a fighter. We’re never going to lay down. You can say a lot of things about us, but laying down isn’t one of them.”

Sparked by the defense’s first stop of the game and senior receiver DJ Hall’s 67-yard touchdown, in which he split between defensive backs Jonathan Zenon and Curtis Taylor in a soft zone, the Tide came roaring back. Aided by interceptions on three consecutive possessions – Rashad Johnson, Ezekial Knight and Jackson – some extremely costly penalties for LSU, and senior Keith Brown’s second touchdown of the season, on a ball he took away from two defenders, the Tide led at halftime, 20-17.

“Huge play,” Wilson said of Brown’s catch.

Although Wilson had completed just five passes, Alabama had minus-12 yards rushing on 14 carries, and the Tide was still being dominated in nearly every offensive statistic including time of possession (19:54 to 10:06) at the break, the lead held up through the third quarter when the teams traded touchdowns – Brown’s 14-yard catch over the middle to beat a blitz, and Byrd beating senior cornerback Simeon Castille for a 61-yard touchdown.

Only instead of building up to a monumental win, the Tide faltered in the final minutes, with Doucet scoring the fourth-down touchdown to tie, and freshman safety Chad Jones forcing the crucial fumble, which was recovered by Taylor for LSU (8-1, 5-1 SEC) at the 3-yard line.

“I think they might had had a busted call because the tight end and the receiver who caught the ball, Early, both ran in-route from opposite sides,” Johnson said. “I was covering the tight end and when I saw the ball thrown I thought he might knock it down, but Early made a great catch and then made a defender miss and scored.”

It left the Tide (6-3, 4-2) and Saban talking about missed opportunities, lack of consistency and mistakes, although LSU’s Les Miles was saying similar things in the visiting locker room. For example, the Tigers had 14 penalties for 130 yards.

“His thing was it wasn’t what they did, it’s what we did,” Brown said about Saban. “We have to make our own plays. We have to execute.

“They have a great team … and we’re not bad either.”

Reach Christopher Walsh at christopher.walsh@tuscaloosanews.com or at 205-722-0196.