LSU defense falls well short in 42-28 loss at Alabama

Since 2007, it was the 16th time the two teams had met as ranked teams. The two rivals had split the last four meetings, and the winner has won the SEC West eight of the last nine years.

Alabama is well on its way a division championship after defeating LSU 42-28 at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday night.

For three quarters, it was anyone’s game.

Then, it was purely a night for the Crimson Tide.

LSU won the toss and deferred, giving Alabama the ball first.

LSU got a stop on the first possession as Harold Perkins got a sack on a third-down-play to force a punt.

Jayden Daniels set the tone immediately, dropping back to pass and taking off for a 7-yard gain.

LSU moved it nicely before Malik Nabers ran right by Malachi Moore on a deep post, broke wide open with no safety help, and Daniels hit him in stride on a 46-yard touchdown pass to give the Tigers a 7-0 lead 9:46 to play in the first quarter. That capped a five play, 85-yard drive, taking 2:42 off the clock.

Alabama responded immediately, making it look easy, driving 76 yards in five plays with Jalen Milroe scoring untouched on a 23-yard run to tie the game 7-7 with 7:14 to play in the first quarter.

On the next possession, Daniels ran a quarterback draw for 24 yards. Then, Kyren Lacy committed a false start penalty.

On fourth-and-one at the Alabama, LSU inexplicably lined up in shotgun, called a rollout pass and the pass was batted down. Why not run the ball with Daniels or Logan Diggs, who was not even on the field but is a power runner?

The Crimson Tide took advantage, marching 58 yards in nine plays with Milroe scoring on a 4-yard run to make it 14-7 with 25 seconds left in the opening quarter.

The next LSU drive reached the Alabama 25-yard-line but Daniels was sacked on third-and-10.

Damian Ramos missed a 47-yard field goal, a second straight empty possession.

Paris Shand got a sack on the next Alabama possession but Milroe improvised and flipped a pass to Jase McClellan who raced 42 yards to the LSU 27-yard line.

Will Reichard had made 28 straight attempts but missed a 47-yard field goal as the score remained 14-7 with 7:14 to play in the first half.

LSU gained momentum from it and drove to tie the game on a 9-yard drive to cap an eight play, 71-yard drive and it was 14-14 with 3:09 to play in the first half. Daniels completed two passes for 31 yards to Brian Thomas Jr. on the drive.

Nabers joined Josh Reed with two seasons of 1,000 yards receiving yards.

Unfortunately, the LSU defense failed as Alabama drove 74 yards in nine plays with Milroe racing 21 yards for a touchdown to give the Crimson Tide a 21-14 lead with 1:02 to play in the first half. Again, LSU lost lane integrity and it was easy for Milroe to get his third rushing touchdown.

On third-and-nine from his own 26-yard line, Daniels raced 40 and he made another huge run but Aaron Anderson committed an awful personal foul penalty on an illegal block.

Daniels overcame it, hitting Kyren Lacy with a 26-yard touchdown pass on a bullet of a throw. Lacy shook a defender and kept his balance, diving into the end zone, capping a 75-yard drive in just five plays as LSU tied the game 21-21 heading to halftime.

Daniels was 10-of-16 for 164 yards and two touchdowns and rushed eight times for 137 yards and a touchdown in a brilliant performance.

Milroe matched him, going 10-of-16 for 165 yards and he rushed 13 times for 102 yards and three touchdowns.

It was the first time in the history of the series that each team scored 21 points in the first half.

The Tigers took the second half kickoff and drove 75 yards in nine plays with Josh Williams scoring on a 2-yard run to take a 28-21 lead with 11:14 to play in the third quarter. The big play was a fabulous throw and catch from Daniels to Nabers, covering 30 yards to the Alabama 13-yard line. Earlier on the drive, Daniels hit Nabers for 18 yards.

It did not last.
Alabama drove 70 yards in nine plays with Roydell Williams scoring on 16-yard run to tie the game 28-28 with 7:30 to play in the third quarter.

Reichard made the extra point and recorded his 500th point, the most by any kicker in college football history.

On the next LSU possession, Will Campbell was guilty of holding, killing the drive. Then, Mason Taylor dropped one right in his hands and LSU had to punt.

You knew it would cost the Tigers. Milroe made it four touchdowns rushing 11 yards for a score to give Alabama a 35-28 lead with 1:01 to play in the third quarter. The drive covered 68 yards in six plays.

Then, Alabama got the big defensive play as Daniels was intercepted by Terrion Arnold as Dallas Turner batted the pass in the air as Alabama took over at the LSU 25-yard line.

That set up a 10-yard touchdown run by McClellan to make it 42-28 with 13:01 to play in the game.

To add insult to injury, Daniels was injured when driven into the ground by Turner on the next possession with 12:54 to play in the game. Roughing the passer was called but not targeting.

After Garrett Nussmeier completed a 5-yard pass, Daniels returned. He is one tough guy, but he could not remain in the game and Nussmeier returned as Daniels went into concussion protocol and did not return.

Major Burns went down injured with 9:01 to play in the game.

Reichard could have put the game away but missed a 43-yard field goal wide right again.

It did not matter. Nussmeier engineered a drive but it ended when Nabers, of all people, dropped a perfectly thrown pass.

Milroe completed 15-of-23 passes for 216 yards and rushed 20 times for 155 yards and four touchdowns.

Daniels was 15-of-25 for 219 yards with two touchdowns and one interception and he rushed 11 times for 163 yards and a score.

Alabama finished with 507 yards while LSU had 478 total yards.

The offense failed when it could not with too many drops and penalties. The defense failed all night. The lack of discipline was glaring, at times, and gave the Tigers no chance. The result was predictable.

The LSU defense has some players who were “five-star” rated, others who netted “four-star” ratings. As I have stated for years, do not accept that stuff as Gospel. Do you see anyone who comes close to filling that bill on this LSU defense? Perkins has talent but misses tackles and disappears at times. Who else would you even mention?

The coaching, well, you cannot help but wonder about the game plan not to spy Milroe much of the night.

Of course, good players make good coaches and LSU simply does not have enough of those on defense.

You have to feel bad for Daniels.

He is a brilliant player, talent and young man who deserved a better fate. Let us hope he can recover from a hit that should have resulted in an ejection. Then again, there was the matter of a horse-collar tackle on Daniels in the first half that was not called.

Then again, this is Alabama we are talking about, a great program and team that does not need any help.

The drama is gone. LSU (6-3, 4-2) will not win any kind of title and will not have a shot at the playoffs. Daniels now has no shot at the Heisman Trophy.

Florida is up next.

It becomes a matter of trying to improve, to show progress, looking ahead as there will be no improvement, only some regression, from Brian Kelly’s first year on the job in Baton Rouge.

Virtually all of us said it would take three years to rebuild a program which was decimated by the end of the Ed Orgeron era. We will see if that turns out to be accurate next year.

For now, there is the rest of this year to ponder.