By the time Alabama football went into victory formation Saturday at Tiger Stadium, LSU had its night game against the Crimson Tide after all. It just ended the way most Alabama-LSU games have over the years in Baton Rouge: with another victory by the visitors from Tuscaloosa.
Keelon Russell threw three touchdown passes as the Crimson Tide (7-2, 5-2 SEC) offense exploded late for a 31-13 statement win over the Tigers (6-3, 3-3). Two years after Alabama emptied Tiger Stadium by the fourth quarter, Kalen DeBoer's team did it again Saturday.
After trailing 13-10 late in the third quarter, Alabama found the end zone three times in a span of nine minutes on the scoreboard. With its big second-half surge against LSU, the Tide sure looked like a team
that deserved to be No. 5 in the College Football Playoff rankings.
Alabama answered in a big way just after falling behind for the first and only time against LSU. Russell needed just five plays to lead the Crimson Tide on a 75-yard scoring drive. Rico Scott had a 58-yard reception, and Russell ran for 10 yards on third-and-9 to set up first-and-goal. The former five-star recruit found tight end Josh Ford for a 7-yard touchdown that put Alabama back on top, 17-13.
Ryan Coleman-Williams' 40-yard punt return set Alabama up at the Tigers' 25-yard line on its next series, and Russell hit freshman Cederian Morgan for a quick strike and a 24-13 lead with 9:44 to play.
Devan Thompkins sacked Tigers quarterback Sam Leavitt on fourth-and-10 deep in LSU territory. Russell then hit Kaleb Edwards for a 4-yard touchdown pass to cap the scoring with 6:27 to play.
The Crimson Tide were out-gained in total yards, 457 to 285, and managed 13 first downs to LSU's 27. But the Tigers committed two turnovers and were 0-for-4 on fourth down as Alabama won for the seventh time in its last eight trips to Baton Rouge. The Tide and Tigers ended their annual SEC rivalry with Alabama owning a 29-9-2 all-time record at Tiger Stadium.
After the game, LSU coach Lane Kiffin met with reporters to discuss his team's loss to the Crimson Tide. Here's what the Tigers' coach said:
LSU coach Lane Kiffin reflects on loss to Alabama football
"Really disappointing end to the game. We take the lead, even with all the stuff we did wrong, especially offensively earlier in the game. We take the lead with three minutes left in the third quarter and then after that, they go down and score and we play a really bad 18 minutes of football. Disappointed in that. Really disappointed for our fans. At that point of taking the lead, our stadium was ready to kind of help take over. Once we got into some situations with obviously having to go for it on fourth down just to try to have a chance, it got kind of ugly there at the end.
"But I think the game, it's a very unusual statistic game. Yardage-wise, 457 to 285. It comes down to red zones and fourth downs. We didn't make any, 0-for-4 on fourth downs, and we got into the red zone more than (Alabama) did. That'll give you a problem on the scoreboard. You have a lot of yards and not many points when that happens."
Lane Kiffin credits Alabama after Crimson Tide rallies past LSU
"I credit (Alabama). They did a really good job. Some good stuff with the blitz-zero in the red zone and disguising it. Had some good pick-rub plays that their guys got open and scored some touchdowns."
How much LSU run game struggles hurt Tigers vs. Alabama?
Alabama's defense held LSU to only 77 yards rushing. The Crimson Tide ran for just 79 yards themselves.
Kiffin said afterwards:
"Yeah, obviously it makes it tougher. You get really lopsided there (with) 48 pass attempts. The game kind of went like that, but I also kind of felt that it would probably be tough to run it in general. Our strength really has been throwing the ball (with) Sam and the receivers, and at times we really did that. We moved the ball really well at times in the game.
"It comes down to fourth downs and red zone. I wouldn't think, if I was looking at a sheet and you said Sam had 380 yards passing Jackson Harris had 11 for 166 and Trey'Dez (Green) had 10 for 85, I wouldn't think that would equal 13 points. But again, you've got to score touchdowns in the red zone and make some of the fourth downs."
What did Alabama do well defensively in win over LSU? Lane Kiffin explains
"I think (Alabama) went really aggressive. There was a lot of blitz-zero in there and man-to-man and really coming after us. There's risk in that and we didn't make them pay for it."
'He's really good': Lane Kiffin describes what he saw from Keelon Russell in Alabama win over LSU
Russell finished 17 of 24 with 206 yards passing and three touchdowns. He had 25 rushing yards on eight attempts.
Kiffin said of Russell:
"I thought he played really well right from the beginning. We had a hard time getting him on the ground and catching him. He outran us a number of times for first downs on really critical plays. I thought we had a lot of stuff covered at times throughout the game, and we did really well in pass coverage. And then (Russell) took off and ran. He's really good. I've said it all week, if you don't get him to the ground and let him extend plays, he can play really well."
Lane Kiffin defends fourth-down decisions against Alabama
"At the start of the game, both teams moving the ball even though we only got the field goal, it kind of felt like it was probably going to be more high-scoring than it ended up being through three quarters. Just kind of felt like there was a time there where field goals weren't going to win the game. I think there was a fourth-and-5 there or something that we don't make that probably you're wondering why we don't kick. It's just because of the feeling right there that we were going to need some touchdowns."
"And then at the end of the game, you can play just to try to keep the score low, whatever, when you're at your own 20, but you have no chance to win really by punting analytically, so you go for it."
Lane Kiffin asked what didn't go right for LSU on fourth downs against Alabama
"I think that they all come up independently of the situation. Sometimes that comes in if it's, like, short-yardage and you're getting pushed back, and then the next short-yardage (down), you may either throw or punt. But they were very different ones I feel like that came up, and I think most of them outside of maybe the field goal one (on) the fourth-and-5, I think most of them are pretty obvious to go for it, wherever that situation in that game presented itself."
LSU coach responds to question about Tigers' practice week ahead of Alabama game
Kiffin was asked if he felt LSU had a good week of practice leading into the game. He responded:
"I did, and I think that sometimes can be overlooked with how you finish a game, whether you practiced well. Like I said, we took the lead late in the third quarter of a game that we hadn't played that great in. So, I don't think there's a whole lot there. I think that's more when you look and say, 'OK, it was 21-0 at half or something.'"
Did Alabama do anything differently when LSU got into Crimson Tide territory?
A reporter pointed out that LSU ran 46 plays in Alabama territory. Kiffin was asked if the Tide's defense did anything differently once LSU crossed midfield.
Kiffin said:
"Like I said, I think they took a really aggressive approach, and we didn't make them pay for that. (Alabama was) very aggressive and they did a good job of disguising, too, and jumping out of it. But they had a really aggressive approach to the red zone, and we didn't make them pay for it."
Watch Kiffin's full postgame press conference below.
Alabama football schedule 2026
All times Central.
- Sept. 5: vs. East Carolina Pirates (W, 48-10)
- Sept. 12: at Kentucky Wildcats (W, 45-17)
- Sept. 19: vs. Florida State Seminoles (W, 50-36)
- Sept. 26: vs. South Carolina Gamecocks (W, 49-18)
- Oct. 3: at Mississippi State Bulldogs (W, 56-23)
- Oct. 10: vs. Georgia Bulldogs (L, 20-17)
- Oct. 17: at Tennessee Volunteers (L, 26-10)
- Oct. 24: vs. Texas A&M Aggies (W, 31-20)
- Nov. 7: at LSU Tigers (W, 31-13)
- Nov. 14: at Vanderbilt Commodores, 11:45 a.m., SEC Network
- Nov. 21: vs. Chattanooga Mocs, 1 p.m., SEC Network+
- Nov. 28: vs. Auburn Tigers, TBA
Record: 7-2 overall, 5-2 SEC.
Contact us at @RollTideWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Alabama Crimson Tide news, notes and opinions.
This article originally appeared on Roll Tide Wire: What LSU coach Lane Kiffin said about Alabama football after loss
