College football: LSU stuns Alabama in dramatic fashion – Bossier Press-Tribune Online

After quarterback Jayden Daniels ran 25 yards for a touchdown to get LSU within one in overtime Saturday night, LSU Head Coach Brian Kelly didn’t hesitate to go for two.

“Before the game started if you asked me, hey, I’m going to give you one play and if you’re successful on that one play you beat Alabama, I would’ve taken that one hundred times out of one hundred,” he said in his postgame press conference.

“And so at that moment it kind of hit me that way and I knew we had a really good play that we hadn’t used and they hadn’t seen. And when you get five out on the perimeter you know you truly have a threat and so I felt really good about the play and it was well-executed and that was the thought behind it.”

Daniels threw a pass to freshman tight end Mason Taylor who made the catch at the 1 and fell inside the pilon in the right front corner of the end zone.

The conversion gave the Tigers, ranked No. 15 in the AP poll, a stirring 32-31 victory over the sixth-ranked Crimson Tide. It was LSU’s first victory at home over Alabama since 2010.

With the crowd celebrating on the field, Kelly got a little emotional during his television interview.

“I was emotional not for myself but I was emotional for our team because I know what we looked like in January and to see where we are today, that’s pretty emotional,” he said during his postgame press conference.

LSU improved to 7-2 overall and 5-1 in the SEC West. The Tigers lead Ole Miss (8-1, 4-1), which they defeated 45-20 on Oct. 22, by a half-game. Alabama dropped to 7-2 and 4-2.

LSU visits Arkansas (5-4, 2-3) Saturday. Kickoff is 11 a.m. (ESPN).

LSU took a 24-21 lead on Daniels’ 7-yard touchdown pass to Taylor with 1:41 to play in regulation. Alabama’s Will Reinhard kicked a 46-yard field goal to tie it with 21 seconds left.

LSU won the overtime coin toss and chose to go on defense. Alabama’s Roydell Williams scored on a 1-yard run after the Tigers were called for pass interference on third-and-4.

Daniels then scrambled for the TD on the Tigers’ first offensive play.

Kelly said the there were three main keys to the victory. One was the atmosphere created by the Tiger Stadium crowd of 102,000. He also thought LSU focused on one play at at a time and played smart.

“So proud of my football team and the way they just took it one play at a time,” he said. “For me just to see them grow. This was the next stage in development of our football team. And that they needed to just not think about outcome and think about one play at a time, get to the next play, focus, refocus, and that was the charge all week.

“Many people had talked about not getting off to a good start and some of those things. How do you change that? So we really were talking so much more about just locking in mentally on one play at a time, don’t think about the scoreboard and I thought they did a great job.

“And I thought we just played smart. We didn’t turn the football over. We had the one play where we came out of coverage late. Other than that I think our guys played really smart football. So the basic tenets of winning games like this is one play at a time, play tactically smart, take care of the football. I thought we did all those things and really grew up today.”

The mental toughness and overall progress LSU has shown throughout the season is another reason Kelly decided to go for the two-point conversion.

“I’m willing to do anything for this group because I think that they have shown that they’ll make it happen some way and they did again tonight,” he said.

Daniels was a big part of that. He completed 22 of 32 passes for 182 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 95 yards on 18 carries and a touchdown.

“We’re not here unless our quarterback plays really well,” Kelly said. “Whether it’s Pee Wee football, high school football, college football or the NFL your quarterback has to play well and he did some really amazing things and in particular late, right? He made big plays late when he needed to. He ran when he needed to. He threw it and made big plays. 

“But look this is a team game. We did some great things defensively. Our special teams was good. To beat a top-10 team again at home and beat Alabama you have to have a complete football game.”

Kayshon Boutte caught seven passes for 51 yards. Malik Nabers had six catches for 49. Williams rushed for 54 yards on seven carries.

B.J. Olujari led the defense with 11 tackles. Joe Foucha and Harold Perkins Jr. had eight each. Jarrick Bernard-Converse had an interception.

The game was tight the entire way. The Tigers defense forced the Tide to settle for three first-half field goals. 

After a scoreless first quarter, LSU scored on a 30-yard pass from Daniels to John Emery Jr. Alabama took a 9-7 lead on Reichard’s third field goal. 

The Tigers went back on top 14-9 on Josh Williams’ 2-yard touchdown run and Damian Ramos’ second PAT with 3:30 left in the half,

That’s the way it stood starting the fourth quarter. 

The Crimson Tide went up 15-14 on a 2-yard Williams’ run but the Tigers stopped a two-point conversion pass.

A 32-yard Ramos field goal put LSU back on top with 6:52 left.

On third-and-10 from the LSU 41, Alabama quarterback Bryant Young avoided being sacked and hit Ja’Corey Brooks got a touchdown. The LSU defense stepped up again and stopped another pass play on a try for two. The Tide led 21-17 lead with 4:44 left.

The Tigers then drove 75 yards in seven plays to regain the lead on Daniels’ pass to Taylor. That set up the dramatic conclusion.

Young, the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner, completed 25 of 51 passes for 328 yards and one TD with one interception. Jahmyr led the Tide on the ground with 99 yards on 15 carries.