Alabama picked up a crucial win on Saturday as they pulled away to defeat LSU, 31-13, in Tiger Stadium. It was tight for most of the game, and one in which the box score does not necessarily match the final score, but it is a win for Alabama nonetheless.
The Tide improved to 7-2 (5-2 SEC), and with results elsewhere, are now right back in a tie in the loss column for a spot in the SEC title game. Alabama also dealt a crushing blow to LSU's College Football Playoff (CFP) hopes by dealing the Tigers a third loss.
It was basically a must-win game for Alabama, and the Tide did what they had to do to win it. Here are three takeaways from Alabama's huge road win.
Alabama's bend-don't-break defense
It is not often that a team is outgained 457-285 and have less than half as many first downs
as your opponent, and yet you win by 18. That's what happened on Saturday for Alabama though. And a lot of it had to do with their defense bending, but not breaking and making plays when they had to keep LSU out of the end zone.
LSU had two turnover on downs inside the Alabama 10-yard line, and settled for a field goal on another trip inside the Tide's 10. LSU made it to inside the Alabama 40-yard line on eight of their 10 drives, but mustered just the one touchdown and two field goals. A big reason for that is that LSU was 0-for-4 on fourth down. Alabama's defense made plays when plays needed to be made.
Ryan Coleman-Williams makes plays in return
Ryan Coleman-Williams returned from injury on Saturday and made a couple key plays. His biggest play came in the fourth quarter on a punt return. LSU was punting with Alabama ahead 17-13, and Coleman-Williams sprung loose for a 32-yard return which set up a one play touchdown drive on a 25-yard pass to Cedarian Morgan which pushed Alabama's lead to 24-13. He also scored earlier in the game on an end-around in which LSU lost him. In the passing game, he ended up with just two catches for 14 yards, but he made his impact felt.
Alabama proves CFP committee right
Most of the talk surrounding Alabama this week was about their ranking in the initial CFP committee rankings in which they were ranked No. 5, a spot most felt was too-high. With all of that noise, Alabama responded with a big win over a top 15 team in LSU. This win puts Alabama in a great spot when it comes to the playoffs, but also potentially quiets some of the noise surrounding their ranking and arguably proved the committee correct in their bullishness on the Tide.
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This article originally appeared on Roll Tide Wire: 3 takeaways from Alabama's crucial road win vs. LSU
