Alabama’s defense did enough in Baton Rouge to win the game, and that’s the part that matters most. The Crimson Tide held LSU to 13 points and put the offense in position to finish the job. But the full picture was messier than the final score suggests: 457 yards allowed, 17 missed tackles, and a unit that kept flirting with disaster before slamming the door with a few huge plays.
That boom-or-bust identity has followed Alabama through nine games, and LSU was another clear example. The booms were loud - sacks, fourth-down stops, and a key interception.
The busts were there too, with missed tackles and open lanes showing up again. In the end, the big moments outweighed the breakdowns.
LSU’s opening drive set the tone for both sides of that story. Zabien Brown missed the first tackle of the day after Jackson Harris shook him loose, and Brown was almost certainly not at full strength as a game-time decision before leaving midway through. Kedrick Bingley-Jones then failed to finish a second-down tackle, letting Dilin Jones move the chains and set up first-and-goal.
Even so, Alabama held firm and forced a field goal. Leavitt nearly created something on third down after escaping the sack, and the Tide again left the door open to a big play without paying for it.
The second quarter brought some of Alabama’s best work. One of the biggest snaps of the night came when Red Morgan and Caleb Woodson combined to drop Trey’Dez Green almost immediately.
Morgan said after the game that it “exactly explains the identity” of Wommack’s “Swarm D.” The stop mattered even more because it led to a missed 56-yard field goal on the next snap.
Alabama saved three points right there.
Then came what can only be called “The Chuck McDonald Series.” The sophomore wore No. 19, blitzed with purpose, and got away with a hold from Jordan Seaton on the way through.
The pressure took him out of the play for a moment, but he still chased down Leavitt before the quarterback could turn a scramble into something bigger. McDonald also blew up LSU’s fourth-down try two plays later, another reminder that he keeps making the most of limited reps in a deep secondary.
He continues to look like a key piece of Alabama’s 2027 defense.
Before halftime, Alabama had another chance to help itself by getting off the field. Carmelo O’Neal missed a tackle that would have put LSU in third-and-long and likely forced a punt, but the Tigers converted and got into field-goal range. Then Devan Thompkins finally broke through after a five-game stretch without a tackle for loss, dropping Leavitt for a nine-yard loss.
Thompkins wasn’t finished. He got pressure again on the next play, helping force a throw that landed in Luke Metz’s hands.
That takeaway mattered. Winning the turnover battle was always going to be a major part of this game, and Metz’s interception gave Alabama the lead going into halftime.
The second half kept the same rhythm. Dijon Lee got beat by Harris for an explosive play, O’Neal was flagged for pass interference on fourth down to keep a drive alive, and LSU kept cashing in on missed tackles. None of it changed the outcome.
What did change the game were Alabama’s three fourth-down stops in the second half. Those snaps were the clearest expression of what Wommack’s defense can be at its best.
They also showed why the offseason additions matter so much. Woodson tipped the first pass at the line, Thompkins wrecked another snap, and that final sack pushed Alabama to a three-score lead and effectively sealed it.
The last stop was especially important because it came against Green, one of the nation’s most dynamic players. He could have taken over the game. Instead, Alabama limited him to some free yards and what will probably go down as the least impactful 85-yard game he ever has.
That’s the tradeoff with this defense. It bends.
It gives up yards. It misses tackles and commits penalties.
That much is clear after nine games. But in Death Valley, when the game was on the line, Alabama made the plays that mattered.
In Other News...
Alabama Stayed In The SEC Hunt Thanks To One Huge Return
Alabama left Tiger Stadium with a result that mattered far more than the yardage chart suggested, beating LSU 31-13 to move to 7-2 overall and 5-2 in the SEC. Even while getting outgained and losing the first-down battle, the Crimson Tide leaned on a defense that repeatedly bent without breaking, holding LSU to one touchdown and two field goals while coming up with key fourth-down stops that kept the game from tilting.
Ryan Coleman-Williams gave the offense the kind of spark that can change a November race, returning from injury and making an impact in the return game before adding a touchdown run. With the win, Alabama kept itself squarely in the SEC hunt and strengthened its College Football Playoff position, the kind of payoff that can make a tough road night feel a lot bigger than the final score alone. [Read more 🡒]
Alabamas SEC Title Path Now Runs Through A Messy Tiebreaker Race
With three weeks left in the SEC regular season, Alabamas path to Atlanta is starting to look less like a simple race and more like a math problem. The latest look at the conference standings lays out how the Crimson Tide and Georgia can still control the title game picture, but it also shows how much depends on the results of the games still ahead and the order in which the league sorts out ties.
If Georgia wins out, the second spot in the SEC championship game could come down to a tiebreaker chain involving Alabama, Tennessee, Texas and Kentucky, with several scenarios still alive depending on how the remaining schedule breaks. An unofficial SEC tiebreaker simulator is helping map out those possibilities, but for Alabama the larger point is clear enough: the Tide can still get there, even if the route now runs through a messy set of assumptions and a few results they will not control. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama Just Turned Its LSU Win Into A Bigger Playoff Debate
Kevin Costners appearance on the Tiger Walk before LSUs 31-13 loss to Alabama added a little Hollywood sheen to an already high-stakes Saturday in Tuscaloosa. Paul Finebaum even weighed in on Costner being there alongside Lane Kiffin, but once the game kicked off, the Crimson Tide made the biggest statement of all by controlling the moments that mattered most.
Alabamas defense kept turning LSU away on fourth down, and the Tigers finished 0 for 4 in those situations while struggling to cash in on scoring chances. For Alabama, the win did more than settle a rivalry game in the moment, it pushed the playoff conversation a little louder, with the Tide looking more and more like a team built for November pressure. [Read more 🡒]