Alabama reached halftime with a 10-3 lead over LSU, even though the first 30 minutes often looked more favorable to the Tigers on a snap-by-snap basis.
LSU moved the ball with regularity for much of the half, while Alabama’s offense had its own rough patches and gave away too many negative plays. But the Tigers kept finding ways to stall once they got close. They bogged down in the red zone, missed a long field goal, and then threw an interception while trying to mount a game-tying drive.
Alabama’s offense, for its part, showed some good things while also spending too much time backing itself up. Three false starts, a hold on a big run play, and an offensive pass interference on a big pass play all undercut drives, including one that would have put the Tide in scoring range right before halftime.
The Tide also came out with a much more conservative offensive plan than usual. The quick game, along with easy throws to the running backs and tight ends, seemed to help Keelon Russell avoid the kind of early trouble Alabama has run into in some of its other big road games this season. There’s still room to push the ball downfield more, but the approach at least kept the offense from digging a hole.
On the ground, Alabama hasn’t done much yet. Trae’Shawn Brown and Daniel Hill combined for just 28 yards on nine carries, though Hill did have an explosive run wiped out by a hold that was way behind the play. The bigger issue has been the pre-snap mess - false starts, late alignments, and missed blitz pickups all showed up and kept drives from settling in.
Defensively, Alabama has somehow held LSU to three points despite the Tigers moving the ball well. Leavitt has already thrown for 168 yards and completed 75% of his passes while using the quick game to keep LSU moving. But the red-zone failures have kept the Tide in front, and the defense was able to stand up at the end of drives each time.
The pass rush was slow to arrive, but it started to show up more toward the end of the half. The sequence that stood out most came late, when LSU faced 2nd and 20 on its own side of the field and Carmelo ONeal completely whiffed on an easy stop on the receiver, allowing a 30-yard gain and taking away Alabama’s chance to get the ball back in plus territory before halftime.
Leavitt then threw an interception straight to Luke Metz a few plays later, which prevented LSU from scoring. Even so, the lost time - along with a dubious offensive PI call - cost Alabama a real shot at taking a two-score lead into the break.
It hasn’t been clean football, but Alabama’s offensive plan makes sense, and both sides are doing enough to keep the Tide ahead. The second half figures to be a long one.
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Alabama Showed One New Strength Nate Oats Has Been Demanding
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Even with the shot not falling the way Alabama would have liked, the rebounding edge gave the Tide a cushion and a clear early sign of progress in an area Oats has been pushing for months. It was also notable because Alabama did it without its best offensive rebounder, Jaxon Richardson, which only adds another layer to what the team may be capable of once that part of the rotation is fully in place. [Read more 🡒]
Keelon Russell Faces A Huge Alabama Weekend With More Than Heisman Stakes
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The broader slate features other Heisman hopefuls such as Jeremiah Smith, Kenny Minchey, Sam Leavitt, Trinidad Chambliss, Gunner Stockton, Devon Dampier and Bear Bachmeier, turning the weekend into a referendum on momentum as much as talent. For collectors, the stakes are tied to more than wins and losses, since player performances can move card values quickly, and the mix of licensed and unlicensed cards adds another layer to how these names are being chased. [Read more 🡒]