‘Hateful’ defense leads Alabama past LSU
After two weeks of trash talk and pent-up frustration, it took something hateful for No. 1 Alabama to remain unbeaten.
That’s how Alabama head coach Nick Saban described his defense after it recorded its second shutout of the season in a 10-0 victory over No. 13 LSU on Saturday night in Tiger Stadium.
“We got some pretty hateful guys that play defense, they are pretty big competitors,” Saban said. “When they get challenged a little bit, they are going to respond.”
LSU defensive back Dwayne Thomas added a little fire to an already heated rivalry two weeks ago, proclaiming LSU would “dominate” Alabama’s offense. While Alabama did not respond to Thomas’ statement in the weeks leading up to the game, Tide players were determined to do their talking on the field Saturday night.
“This game, it’s a rivalry game, so that’s motivation within itself. That extra step just threw fuel on the fire,” Alabama linebacker Ryan Anderson said. “We felt really disrespected, man.”
By the end of the night, it was Alabama’s defense that was doing the dominating.
Alabama held LSU to 125 total yards and just 33 yards on the ground. The Tide also shut down Tigers running back Leonard Fournette for a second straight year, limiting the bruising back to 35 yards on 17 carries.
“I think when you play a great back like that, everybody has to really focus on doing their job,” Saban said. “Our guys did it last year. We played a lot of the same stuff we played a year ago.”
Quarterback Jalen Hurts provided the only offense Alabama would need on the night, rolling to his right before tucking the ball and cutting across the field for a 21-yard touchdown with 13:08 left in the fourth quarter.
Hurts finished the night with 10 of 19 passing for 107 yards and an interception while adding a team-high 114 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries. The true freshman battled back from a tough start, throwing an interception on the Tide’s opening drive. He later fumbled the ball in the third quarter while trying to make a play in the backfield.
As he has all season, Hurts responded, leading Alabama on a 12-play, 90-yard touchdown drive the following possession.
“He had his errors early in the game that were costly, but we made some plays at the end that his athleticism allowed him to make,” Saban said. “I think as we grow with him, we are going to have to live with both. I like the second part better than the first, but he’s a great competitor and he never loses his poise.”
Following Hurts’ touchdown run, Alabama’s offense continued to pound a tired Tigers defense on the ground, executing a 15-play 50-yard drive ending in a 25-yard field goal from Adam Griffith to put the game out of reach.
In its first game without injured safety Eddie Jackson, Alabama’s secondary passed the test, limiting LSU quarterback Danny Etling to 11 of 24 passing for 92 yards and an interception.
Minkah Fitzpatrick filled in for Jackson at strong safety, recording his team-leading fourth interception of the season while also adding three tackles and a pass breakup. Tony Brown filled Fitzpatrick’s old role in the Star position.
“It was a little bit of a challenge at first being comfortable back there, but I think we did a good job of playing out there,” Fitzpatrick said. “We all executed and did our job.”
Alabama (9-0, 6-0 in the SEC) will host Mississippi State (4-5, 2-3) on Saturday at noon at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
This story was originally published November 6, 2016 at 7:53 AM with the headline "‘Hateful’ defense leads Alabama past LSU."