TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Just when it appeared as if third-ranked Alabama was destined to lose yet another home game to LSU, ending the decade O-fer in five tries, the Crimson Tide looked to familiar faces to save the day.
You know them. Mark Ingram (Heisman Trophy candidate). Julio Jones (Welcome back). One of the nation's top defenses (97 yards allowed in the second half). Lynyrd Skynyrd (American rock band).
When the final seconds ticked off at Bryant-Denny Stadium, Alabama's hand signals to its delirious fans told the story: The Crimson Tide earned a rematch with No. 1 Florida in the SEC Championship next month in Atlanta thanks to its dramatic 24-15 victory over the ninth-ranked Tigers.
As expected, it was a brutish, physical, entertaining showdown that was also tinged with controversy involving -- guess who? -- the officials over a replay ruling at a key moment in the fourth quarter.
Still, there was no denying the outcome and one fact remained: Alabama (9-0 overall, 6-0 SEC) moved a step closer to its second straight perfect regular season.
"It was a tough, physical game," said Alabama coach Nick Saban, who beat his former team for the second straight year.
"Man, those games are fun to be a part of. We wanted to play our best game today. We kind of knew our destiny was ours in terms of what we wanted to do. We knew it was about what we would do in the game."
What Alabama did was change its offensive approach against LSU, which took a 15-10 lead into the fourth quarter despite losing quarterback Jordan Jefferson (ankle) and running back Charles Scott (broken collarbone) to injuries for most of the second half.
The Tigers (7-2, 4-2) also had won four straight games here but haven't fared well lately against top-10 teams. They have lost four straight after winning six in a row.
"I understand what happened, I am just unhappy with the outcome," LSU coach Les Miles said. "We'll regroup and fight again."
After uncharacteristically relying on the pass in the opening half against a LSU defense that was putting extra defenders near the line, the second half was more typical of the Tide's grinding style.
Alabama handed the ball to Ingram, who gained 106 of his 144 yards in the final 30 minutes to continue to merit serious Heisman Trophy consideration. Ingram averaged 6.5 yards on 22 carries, 16 in the second half. Mighty-Mark has 719 rushing yards against four ranked opponents this season.
The Crimson Tide also held a decisive advantage in time of possession in the fourth quarter -- 10:56 to 4:04.
But it was the catch, juke, run-to-the-house for 73 yards from Jones that ignited the sold-out crowd of 92,012, which goes 'Bama bonkers when the Southern rock song "Sweet Home Alabama" by Skynyrd blares over the stadium loudspeakers.
Jones, quiet for most of the season due to injuries, caught a short pass near the line from quarterback Greg McElroy, made a quick move and sprinted down the sideline untouched for a touchdown with 10:24 remaining in the game. Trent Richardson's two-point conversion pushed Alabama back in the lead at 21-15.
"They needed me to make a play and I did," Jones said without a hint of emotion despite enjoying one of his best games of the season -- four catches for 102 yards, including his second touchdown.
"We practiced that all week. A situation like that, I feel like I should just step up and make the play.
"I did what I had to do."
A few feet away, senior left guard Mike Johnson, a few steps slower than Jones, couldn't wipe the grin from his face.
"I don't know if we have ever run that play before," said Johnson, who was one of the players who attempted to make the letter 'A' hand signal to represent Atlanta for the fans, signifying the location of the SEC title game.
"It was kind of a little action to the right, kind of where we let the tackle back out to the backside. I locked eyes with the linebacker and after I made my block I looked out there (on the flat).
"I saw a couple of blocks and Julio looked like he was just high-stepping. Other than that, I was looking for a yellow flag on the ground because it was too good to be true."
The Tide - specifically McElroy -- also breathed a sigh of relief at the 5:52 mark in the fourth quarter, when Patrick Peterson nearly picked off the Alabama quarterback's pass on the sidelines. However, after a lengthy review that proved inconclusive, Peterson was ruled out of bounds.
McElroy then completed a pass to Jones on third-and-7 to help Alabama move into field goal position.
"It was kind of like an 'Oh, shoot' moment,'" said McElroy, who completed 19-of-34 passes for 276 yards and two touchdowns. He opened the game with seven straight pass attempts and threw the ball on nine of its first 10 plays from scrimmage.
"What can you say," McElroy continued.
"It was a learning experience. Sometimes you have them go in your favor and that call did. It was a situation I should have thrown it away. It's frustrating to me that I could make a mistake like that in a key moment. But it also gives me confidence they were willing to put the ball in my hands in that situation."
The weather couldn't have been any better for early November -- sunny, low 70s with a slight breeze and not a cloud from here to possibly Atlanta. Of course, the Crimson Tide had clear sailing to the SEC title game with a victory.
In a game that was expected to be low on points, instead it had plenty of shoot-out drama. The game has decided the SEC West for four of the past five years.
"Anytime you lose it's bad, but when you lose in a big game like this, when we knew we had it, we where right there," LSU linebacker Kelvin Sheppard said.
"We knew we had to pull away. We needed to make a lot of adjustments on different plays. Alabama had a great scheme coming in. In the first half they had a hard time establishing the run but in the second half they did a really good job of moving the ball."
LSU's defense held its own through three quarters, but, in the end, it was the Tide's unit that set the tempo. It limited the Tigers to 253 total yards, 9 in the fourth quarter.
Jefferson and Scott were playing well before going to the sidelines. Scott ran for 83 yards and his 34-yarder was the longest run play given up by Alabama this season. Jefferson passed for 114 yards and also had some success running the option.
Needing two scores, backup quarterback Jarrett Lee and LSU couldn't get it to midfield in the final minutes.
"I don't think we played our best game but we did enough to win," Alabama safety Mark Barron said.
"LSU's offense did a couple things we weren't prepared for, so we had to make adjustments as the game went on. I feel like we did a pretty good job of that."
Comments (Page 1 of 2)
by the way they played this week:
1). Alabama
2). Texas
3). Florida
4). TCU
5). Cincinnati
6). LSU
7). Boise State
8). Georgia Tech
9). Iowa
10). Penn State
Don't know how you have Texas over the Gators. They did not play any better than Florida did. Sure as hell don't see why you have Penn State as 10 when they were beaten by OSU. LSU lost two games and should not be at 6
Texas fan here. I would love to see Texas and Alabama in the national title game. We would see Brown, a class coach, against Saban, a classless, headset throwing, fine example of the University of Alabama's win at all cost sportsmanship and ethics be damned mentality. Wouldn't ever hire a U of Alabama graduate.
the only thing texas has is big hats with
little brainless heads the sec is the top
in college football saban has put alabama
back where they belong after the bear died
the hot weather in texas has fryed your
mind got drink a red stripe and get in
your red beat up truck and go the to
drive in to see the texas cheerleaders
repeat of dumbass does dallas
It's a good thing none of them want to work for you. And Sabin makes so much money he doesn't care what you think. ROLL TIDE!
What is more arrogant and nausiating than fans from the Universaity of Texas?
Still looking to secede and vote for George Bush?
When Texas teams grow up and play the rest of the country- we will see what happens.
Texas fan here. I would love to see Texas and Alabama in the national title game. We would see Brown, a class coach, against Saban, a classless, headset throwing, fine example of the University of Alabama's win at all cost sportsmanship and ethics be damned mentality. Wouldn't ever hire a U of Alabama graduate.
Amen!!
nick is an emotional coach who i might ad is proven he can guide a team to the national level ie. lsu and on the verge of possible alabama,s 13th national title bama fan.
howdy yall folks whoever wrote this, I dont give a damn what they thinks because its all about the teamwork and the fans that led jones to inspiration however, without the screaming fans, rolling tides wouldnt be in this far...jones happened to have a great team and fans who root for them..negativity ends here...tonite is a living proof that they can come this far to win! alabama players aint alone same jone aint alone. it's our coach job to work for roll tide roll.
I don't want to see Florida and Tebow in the National Title. Please win the SEC title Alabama. Cincinnati isn't going undefeated, so it is going to come down to wether Texas loses. And if they do who goes? TCU or Boise? I say Boise, but either way Alabama would probably lose.
Florida is so overated. this is what they have done this year and are still #1. They have beaten teams with a combined record of 44wins and 38losses, out of those teams only LSU was even ranked in the top 25. they have played 6 home games and only 3 road games. out of the 9 games they have played only 2 teams have more that 5 wins. out of the 9 games they have played, 7 of them are 5 and 4 or worse. do they really deserve to be #1?
Florida is so overated. this is what they have done this year and are still #1. They have beaten teams with a combined record of 44wins and 38losses, out of those teams only LSU was even ranked in the top 25. they have played 6 home games and only 3 road games. out of the 9 games they have played only 2 teams have more than 5 wins. out of the 9 games they have played, 7 of them are 5 and 4 or worse. do they really deserve to be #1?
Everyone know what happens when a Big 12 team plays an SEC (real) football team. No matter if its us(UA) or UF, we'll beat the a$$ out of your one dimensional longhorn group.....got no defense in the Big 12....
Really? Texas and OU have a defensive battle and it's deemed "ugly" but Bama plays the same ugly style, particularly against Tenn, and it's deemed "good ol' SEC football" WTF? Whatever.
Last I checked Texas has allowed less than one yard rushing per carry over the last 6 games. They are 3rd in the country in rushing yards allowed per game; 9th in total defense. The defense has forced 23-24 TO's.
Shove the Bama defense garbage up your bunghole.
Maybe the rest of the country could say Bama has no offense because that would be correct.
By the way, that was an LSU interception in the 4th quarter. Nice to see the SEC referee's help decide the outcome.....once again. SEC ref's are pathetic.
Bama Alum here. Hat's off to the Tide coaching staff for their successful adjustments as the game wore on. I also think that this game was won back in the summer by the strength and conditioning program that the players committed too then - Bama seemed to get stronger as the LSU players were being worn down as evidenced by the total domination of the Tide in the fourth quarter - 9 yards of total offense by LSU in that quarter. I'm not going to make any predictions about what will happen in the SEC championship game right now because the Tide has another big game next week with Mississippi State - an opponent who is enjoying a bye week and who gave Florida all it wanted. As coach Saban says, one game at a time. Roll Tide!
BELIEVE ME WHEN I TELL YOU THERE IS AN AGREMENT IN THE SEC AND OTHER CONFRENCES THAT THE ON FIELD CALL WILL STAND IF THE REFEREE WANTS. THE BOOTH PERSONELL HAVE NO SAY. THEY TELL THE REFEREE WHAT THEY SEE AND HE DECIDES. THE SEC IS THE BIGGEST DEFENDER. THERE IS A DEFINITE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE SEC AND ON FIELD OFFICALS. THE SEC AND OTHER CONFERENCES WHO USE THIS AGREEMENT SHOULD BE DISBANNED.
So many people with tiny brains.......Go Gators!
I know that everyone is talking about SEC officiating, but I watched almost every snap of 4 or 5 games yesterday (from all conferences), and I saw "bad calls" galore. Calls that changed momentum and lead to potentially "unearned" victories and losses. The SEC might be in the spotlight, but bad calls happen in every conference, in every game. Stop trying to make it sound like it's only happening in the southern states. You will be able to find mistakes in ANY game depending on what team you are routing for...it's just another opportunity for the losing team (or their fans) to make excuses.
Texas IS playing good ball this year, but last year the top defense that they played against was NUMBER 75 IN THE NATION!!! How can you claim to be #1 while going against bottom of the barrel defenses all season. This year they've played much better, but over the past decade, the Big 12 has been typically beaten badly by the SEC. I would love to see Bama and Texas play. I know it would be the best defense that Texas has played this season. It would be a competitive matchup; I know Bama would have their hands full. You can all talk all the trash you want about Saban and Bama, but I can promise you, this is just two seasons into the building of an upcoming dynasty. A few more years of top recruiting classes, and the dominance will become apparent...to EVERYONE! Roll Tide!