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DEATH VALLEY RALLY Crimson Tide scores a field goal in final seconds, holds off LSU in overtime to complete comeback thriller By Cecil Hurt Sports Writer
BATON ROUGE, L A . | Until the fi nal minute of regulation, it appeared Alabama’s championship dreams had indeed come to Tiger Stadium to die. Then Alabama switched off the life support, stood up, started to move — and won. The Crimson Tide, down by a field goal with 50 seconds to play, marched 55 yards for its own tying kick, then scored a touchdown in overtime to stun LSU and most of a crowd of 103,000 in a 20-13 overtime victory on Saturday. “We made the plays when we had to,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said after the game. “That shows we know how to win.” They did so without a second to spare. After failing to fi nd any offensive spark in the second half, the No. 4 Crimson Tide (8-1, 5-1 SEC) executed the drive with a critical fi rst-down run by Blake Sims, a 22-yard completion to Christion Jones, and a 16-yarder to DeAndrew White. That drive gave Adam Griffith, who had missed his fi rst field goal but bounced back with a key kick at the end of the fi rst half, a chance to drill the tying 27-yarder. In overtime, Alabama immediately came out with a surprise play, completing a pass that rarely-targeted tight end Brandon Greene took to the 1-yard line. SEE T IDE | 8C
Alabama had to dig deep to win, and it did
BATON ROUGE, La. or most of the Nick Saban era, Alabama’s wins have come in the old-fashioned way — blocking and tackling, whipping the other team up front, grinding them down with the running game and making their assumptions, among other things, quit. For 59 minutes Saturday night, it was LSU doing those things — running the ball at Alabama, keeping the Crimson Tide offense off the field and pushing at offense around when it did get off the sidelines, shaking Alabama’s assumptions about its own dominance. No one, with a minute remaining to play, would CECIL have argued that Alabama dominated, HURT or even held its own. This time, Alabama had to do something different to win. The punch in the nose approach didn’t work (or wasn’t given a chance, according to many “Run The Ball!” advocates. Alabama had to dig deep. It had to rally, against long odds. It had to look at the reality of a losing performance and refuse to accept that reality. And it did. STAFF PHOTO | ROBERT SUTTON A defense that was hammered all night never broke Alabama wide receiver DeAndrew White (2) makes the game-winning touchdown catch in overtime in front of LSU safety SEE HURT | 9C Jalen Mills on Saturday at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, La. The Crimson Tide won, 20-13.
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ANALYSIS:
Crimson Tide makes the big plays in the end to get the win
A breakdown of each quarter
Pass defense comes up big in overtime for Crimson Tide
After lackluster effort, Tide comes up big on last two possessions
How the Crimson Tide answered questions against LSU
Tide receiver Amari Cooper continues to set records
Alabama makes strong case to be included in playoff race
For video and a photo gallery of Alabama’s game against LSU, go to www.tidesports.com
COLLEGE FOOTBALL | TEXAS A&M 41, NO. 3 AUBURN 38 Texas A&M’s Hardreck Walker (98) and Josh Walker (14) signal their possession after teammate Alonzo Williams recovered an Auburn fumble near the goal line Saturday. The Aggies recovered two fumbles late to turn back an Auburn comeback attempt. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tigers drop the ball, fall to Aggies By John Zenor The Associated Press
AUBURN | Freshman Kyle Allen threw four touchdown passes in the fi rst half and Texas A&M recovered two late fumbles in a 41-38 upset victory over No. 3 Auburn on Saturday that likely ended the Tigers’ playoff hopes. The Aggies (7-3, 3-3 SEC), who came in as 23 -point underdogs, pulled off the kind of dramatic fi nish that had become an Auburn trademark. The Tigers (7-2, 4-2, No. 3 CFP)
twice appeared to be driving toward a go-ahead touchdown before coughing it up on plays that never really got going. First, Julien Obioha won a scramble for the ball at the 2 after Nick Marshall and Cameron ArtisPayne got tangled up in the backfield. The Aggies couldn’t get away from their goal line before punting, and Trey Williams just managed to push the ball out of the end zone to avoid a safety on third down. Then, the Tigers drove inside the 30 for one more shot. Marshall appeared to be still calling the play
when center Reese Dismukes snapped it on fi rst down from the 28. Alonzo Williams recovered with 54 seconds left, setting off another celebration on the Aggies’ sideline and leaving most of the Jordan-Hare Stadium crowd in stunned silence. Texas A&M had dropped three straight SEC games before toppling a contender. The defending SEC champion and national runner-up Tigers saw both their title hopes and the nation’s longest home winning streak (14 games) end. They’d won two straight SEE T IGERS | 4C