Back to the Gene Stallings Era: Bama Survives LSU, 20-14
The Tide outlasted a feisty LSU team Saturday night, but plenty of questions remain.
By: Dave in Tuscaloosa
Gene Stallings is carried off the field after defeating Miami in the Sugar Bowl to secure a national title. Photo via Tuscaloosa News
For those of us that were alive and kicking during the Gene Stallings era (1990-1996), this past weekend provided a perfect flashback to the days of old. Coach Stallings had a very successful stint at Alabama, going 70-16-1, which included a 13-0 national championship season in 1992. Many of those 70 wins were earned the old fashioned way, with a ball control offense that relied on a solid run game and a dominating defense. Fans of the modern day Tide would have been extremely frustrated back then, as 17-6 slugfests were the norm with the Tide usually coming out on top of close contests.
Which brings us to this past weekend, as Alabama stole a page from the Stallings era and slugged out a gutsy 20-14 victory over 4-4 LSU. It wasn’t pretty, especially on offense as the Tide rushed for a grand total of 6 yards, however the victory was topped off by a stellar defensive effort that saw Tide defenders staving off the upset minded Bayou Bengals and lame duck coach Ed Orgeron time after time, including three fourth quarter drives inside Alabama territory that resulted in zero Tiger points. In addition, the win kept the Crimson Tide on track for an SEC West title and a showdown with the top ranked Georgia Bulldogs and a possible return to the college football playoff to defend its national title.
Offensively, it has been some time since this unit struggled as much as they did on Saturday. LSU and defensive coordinator Daronte Jones devised an effective game plan that kept the potent Tide offense at bay, limiting the unit to a total of 308 yards. The LSU front seven pressured and dominated the suspect Tide offensive line all evening. The Tigers sacked Bama quarterback Bryce Young 4 times, and forced a key fumble in the 4th quarter that set up LSU’s offense for a possible go-ahead touchdown with 3:25 left in the game, but the Bama defense held. Young finished the night with respectable statistics, going 24 for 37 for 302 yards and 2 touchdowns, yet he was either pressured or running for his life all night. Receivers Jameson Williams (10 catches for 160 yards) and John Metchie III (9-73) both caught touchdown passes and continue to impress.
Standout tailback Brian Robinson Jr. had a frustrating night, carrying the ball 13 times for 18 yards and a touchdown. Starting center Darrian Dalcourt went down with an injury in the first quarter. He never returned and the line struggled mightily in pass protection and failed to open up running lanes for the Tide backs. This is an area that will need to be shored up soon, as the traditional Iron Bowl looms and the Auburn defense is strong and could feast on the Crimson Tide front. Concerning also was Alabama’s lack of production on 3rd down, a stat the Tide had led the nation in prior to Saturday. The offense converted a mere 4 out of 13 attempts.
The Alabama special teams have had better nights, as they gave up a 1st quarter fake punt that led to LSU’s first touchdown of the night, a Max Johnson to Brian Johnson Jr. 8 yard touchdown strike that gave the Tigers a 7-0 lead, one they would hold until the 2:52 mark of the second quarter. There were problems in the kicking game, as snap/hold problems contributed to placekicker Will Reichard’s difficult evening. He missed a 49 yard field goal attempt on Bama’s first possession and missed an extra point after a Young to Williams 58 yard deep ball that stretched the Bama lead to 20-7 with 12:51 to go in the 3rd quarter. Punter James Burnip had a decent night, averaging 39.7 yards on 6 punts with three landing inside LSU’s 20 yard line.
It’s not necessarily a bad thing that the Tide defense had to step it up and win a game. The Bama defense limited the Tiger offense and impressive sophomore quarterback Max Johnson to 295 yards. Johnson finished the night completing 16 passes on 32 attempts for 160 yards and 2 touchdowns. He threw a costly interception late in the second quarter that led to a Young to Metchie touchdown strike that pushed the Tide to a 14-7 halftime lead, one that they would not relinquish. Tailback Tyrion Davis-Price had a good night for LSU, gaining 104 yards on 23 carries, yet he was not able to score a touchdown. Led by the linebacking unit of Will Anderson, Henry To’oTo’o, and Christian Harris, the Tide defense stepped up and made key plays when they needed to, no more so than LSU’s third to last drive of the game.
Dallas Turner delivers a blow to Max Johnson. Photo via @AlabamaFTBL
After Alabama’s third straight 3 and out, the Tigers drove to the Tide’s 7 yard line with a little over 7 minutes to go in the contest. A run and three plays later, the Tigers had gained 1 yard and turned the ball over to the Bama offense. LSU would drive two more times into Tide territory in the final 5 minutes of the game, but were turned away each time. On the final play of the game, Johnson heaved a pass into the endzone from the Tide 30 that was batted away, preserving Bama’s 10th win over LSU in the last 11 games. Coach Orgeron will end his career (to this point) going 1-5 against Alabama and Nick Saban. Will Anderson had another incredible night and has established himself as one of the top defensive players in the country. The sophomore recorded 12 tackles (4 for a loss) and had 1.5 sacks on the evening. Freshman linebacker Dallas Turner had a nice performance as well, finishing with 5 tackles and 2 sacks.
Due to the fact that fellow top 10 CFP ranked teams Oregon, Ohio State, and Cincinnati struggled against unranked opponents as well, and previously unbeaten #3 Michigan State and #9 Wake Forest both lost, Alabama looks like it will stay #2 when the new rankings come out on Tuesday night. With 1-8 New Mexico State visiting Tuscaloosa next Saturday followed by Arkansas on the 20th and a trip to 7-3 Auburn on November 27th, Bama can not even think about a possible SEC title game against Georgia. There is much work to do leading up to Arkansas and Auburn, two teams that are capable of derailing the Tide’s plans for a December 4th trip to Atlanta. Knowing full well Bama nation does not want to return to Stallings-era type wins too often, the next few weeks will tell a lot about the direction of the 2021 Crimson Tide. Is it a matter of inconsistency, or does it have more to do with the fact that this group is a darn good one, just not great? The month of November will tell all indeed.