Alabama’s 31-13 win over LSU came with a second-half surge, but one Tigers defender wasn’t eager to hand the Crimson Tide’s offense much credit.
The game was tight for most of the afternoon, with both sides committing mistakes and the outcome still hanging in the balance as the fourth quarter began. Then Alabama pieced together three touchdown drives after halftime and pulled away. The Tide also closed strong on defense, finishing with four fourth-down stops in the final 15 minutes.
Still, LSU safety Ty Benefield made it clear he saw the result as more about his own team’s breakdowns than anything Alabama did.
“Keep it so real, that’s on us,” Ty Benefield said of the second half. “They didn’t do anything.
That was on us. That’s our errors.
If you watch football and you know football, you’ll see that. But if you don’t, I don’t know what to tell you.”
Alabama’s offense wasn’t at its sharpest until the fourth quarter, but the Crimson Tide still finished with 285 total yards and made the most of its chances. UA went 3-for-3 in the red zone and scored touchdowns on every trip. LSU, by contrast, came away with points on only two of its four red-zone possessions.
When asked what Alabama did well near the goal line, Benefield again pointed inward.
“Communication errors,” Benefield said. “Eyes, gotta have better eyes.
Playing on different levels. Man coverage was fine, but it’s just got to be different levels so you don’t get rubbed in routes.
Yeah they didn’t really do anything special, it’s just on us.”
The loss was a heavy one for LSU’s postseason picture. It was the Tigers’ third defeat of the year, and it figures to send them tumbling from the No. 14 spot they held in the first College Football Playoff rankings of the 2026 season.
“You gotta accept what happened,” Benefield said. “First thing, you got to accept it. Tomorrow you blessed with that, you gotta go in, watch the tape by yourself, really just see that and wee what you did wrong, see what you did good, learn from everything.”
LSU is now 6-3 overall and 3-3 in SEC play. The Tigers return next Saturday for a home game against Texas in Baton Rouge.
Alabama improved to 7-2 and 5-2 in the SEC. The Crimson Tide heads to Nashville next Saturday to face Vanderbilt at FirstBank Stadium.
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