GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: NCAAF: LSU (7-1) at ALABAMA (6-2)

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama (Ticker) -- Nick Saban guided LouisianaState to a championship four years ago. The gritty Tigers keptalive their current title hopes by beating their former coach indramatic fashion Saturday.


Jacob Hester scored the go-ahead touchdown with 1:26 remainingto lead third-ranked LSU to a 41-34 victory over No. 17 Alabamain a Southeastern Conference thriller.


The highly anticipated matchup pitted Saban's Crimson Tideagainst the Tigers, who won the 2003 BCS championship - theschool's first national title since 1958 - under Saban.

After spending the last two seasons as the coach of the NFL'sMiami Dolphins, Saban returned to the college game amidst muchfanfare January 3, signing an eight-year deal reportedly worth$32 million to coach Alabama.


By beating their former mentor, the Tigers (8-1, 5-1 SEC West)remained a serious title contender while emerging as theoutright leader in the SEC West division.


Alabama (6-3, 4-2 West) fell one game behind LSU and dropped itsfifth consecutive contest in this rivalry.


LSU, which trailed by as many as 10 points in the second half,forged a 34-34 tie with 2:49 remaining on Matt Flynn's 32-yardTD pass to Early Doucet, who caught a short slant to convert a4th-and-4 before juking past a pair of defenders for the score.

With the momentum clearly shifted in their favor, the Tigersmade another crucial play on the ensuing possession. Alabama'sJohn Parker Wilson was sacked at his own 16-yard line by safetyChad Jones, who forced the junior to fumble.


Safety Curtis Taylor recovered the loose ball at the Alabama 3,and Hester scored from a yard out two plays later to give LSUthe lead for good.


Alabama scored 24 points during a 25-minute span bridging thesecond and third quarters to take a 27-17 lead late in the thirdquarter.


But LSU forged a 27-27 tie courtesy of Flynn's 61-yard TD toDemetrius Byrd late in the third quarter and Colt David's49-yard field goal with 11:21 remaining.


After forcing a punt on the following possession, the Tigerswere faced with a 4th-and-1 from their own 36-yard line with7:51 remaining.


Known for making risky decisions, LSU coach Les Miles left hisoffense in the game, opting to go for the first down. Thegamble backfired, as the Tigers ultimately were forced to puntafter being whistled for a five-yard false start and a 15-yardpersonal foul on the play.


Alabama took a 34-27 lead on the next play, as Javier Arenasreturned the punt 61 yards for a score with 7:33 to play.

 

NCAAF: LSU at ALABAMA

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
NCAAF
LSU (3) 41
ALABAMA (17) 34 FINAL</div>

 

NCAAF: LSU at ALABAMA

<div class="pre">NCAAF FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
LSU (3) 10 7 7 17 41
ALABAMA (17) 3 17 7 7 34 FINAL

ALABAMA-FG, L Tiffin 36 YD 2:30 1st Qtr
LSU-FG, C David 43 YD 8:55 1st Qtr
LSU-TD, E Doucet 10 YD PASS FROM M Flynn (C David
KICK) 10:30 1st Qtr
LSU-TD, J Hester 1 YD RUN (C David KICK) 0:04 2nd Qtr
ALABAMA-TD, D Hall 67 YD PASS FROM J Wilson (L Tiffin
KICK) 3:57 2nd Qtr
ALABAMA-FG, L Tiffin 21 YD 8:48 2nd Qtr
ALABAMA-TD, K Brown 29 YD PASS FROM J Wilson (L Tiffin
KICK) 14:14 2nd Qtr
ALABAMA-TD, K Brown 14 YD PASS FROM J Wilson (L Tiffin
KICK) 13:41 3rd Qtr
LSU-TD, D Byrd 61 YD PASS FROM M Flynn (C David KICK)
14:40 3rd Qtr
LSU-FG, C David 49 YD 3:39 4th Qtr
ALABAMA-TD, J Arenas 61 YD PUNT RETURN (L Tiffin KICK)
7:27 4th Qtr
LSU-TD, E Doucet 32 YD PASS FROM M Flynn (C David
KICK) 12:11 4th Qtr
LSU-TD, J Hester 1 YD RUN (C David KICK) 13:34 4th
Qtr


LSU ALABAMA
First downs 21 20
Rushed-yards 34-87 33-20
Passing yards 388 234
Sacked-yards lost 3-19 7-53
Return yards 36 122
Passes 25-46-3 14-40-1
Punts 6-46 8-33.4
Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-1
Penalties-yards 14-130 2-15
Time of possession 33:17 26:43


Individual Statistics

RUSHING: LSU-Jacob Hester 16-47, Keiland Williams 3-24, Matt Flynn
10-19, Trindon Holliday 1-2, Richard Murphy 1-0, Charles Scott 1-MINUS
1, - Team 2-MINUS 4. ALABAMA-Jonathan Lowe 10-31, Terry Grant 13-23,
Dj Hall 1-0, John Parker Wilson 9-MINUS 34.

PASSING: LSU-Matt Flynn 24-44-353- 3, Early Doucet 1-1-35- 0, - Team
0-1-0- 0. ALABAMA-John Parker Wilson 14-40-234- 1.

RECEIVING: LSU-Demetrius Byrd 6-144, Early Doucet 5-67, Richard
Dickson 3-55, Brandon LaFell 4-43, Matt Flynn 1-35, Jacob Hester 5-33,
Terrance Toliver 1-11. ALABAMA-Dj Hall 2-76, Matt Caddell 3-55, Keith
Brown 2-43, Terry Grant 3-29, Nick Walker 2-25, Mike McCoy 1-4,
Jonathan Lowe 1-2.


Att: 92,138</div>

 

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama (Ticker) -- Nick Saban guided LouisianaState to a championship four years ago. The gritty Tigers keptalive their current title hopes by beating their former coach indramatic fashion Saturday.


Jacob Hester scored the go-ahead touchdown with 1:26 remainingto lead third-ranked LSU to a 41-34 victory over No. 17 Alabamain a Southeastern Conference thriller.


The highly anticipated matchup pitted Saban's Crimson Tideagainst the Tigers, who won the 2003 BCS championship - theschool's first national title since 1958 - under Saban.

After spending the last two seasons as the coach of the NFL'sMiami Dolphins, Saban returned to the college game amidst muchfanfare January 3, signing an eight-year deal reportedly worth$32 million to coach Alabama.


"It's like playing against someone who is in your family," Sabansaid. "I wish (LSU's players) well and like to see them doingwell. I am proud to see how some of them developed intosuccessful young men, and I want to watch them continue to besuccessful in their lives."


By beating their former mentor, the Tigers (8-1, 5-1 SEC West)remained a serious title contender while emerging as theoutright leader in the SEC West division.


But it was far from a picturesque performance for LSU, whichcommitted three turnovers and 14 penalties.


"I don't know if I have been around a game where we have playedthis poorly, made mistake after mistake and, yet, come out witha victory," Tigers coach Les Miles said.


Alabama (6-3, 4-2 West) fell one game behind LSU and dropped itsfifth consecutive contest in this rivalry.


"If anyone is going to have success in the SEC, I wish it for(LSU), and I want to see them do well," Saban said. "If it'snot going to be us, it might as well be them."


LSU, which trailed by as many as 10 points in the second half,forged a 34-34 tie with 2:49 remaining on Matt Flynn's 32-yardTD pass to Early Doucet, who caught a short slant to convert a4th-and-4 before juking past a pair of defenders for the score.

With the momentum clearly shifted in their favor, the Tigersmade another crucial play on the ensuing possession. Alabama'sJohn Parker Wilson was sacked at his own 16-yard line by safetyChad Jones, who forced the junior to fumble.


"It was tough," said Wilson, who was sacked seven times andintercepted once. "We made some good plays, but we just didn'tmake enough. We had our chances; we had plenty of chances towin, but we just didn't make the plays."


Safety Curtis Taylor recovered the loose ball at the Alabama 3,and Hester scored from a yard out two plays later to give LSUthe lead for good.


"This team is just tough," Flynn said. "We've got so many olderguys and so many leaders on this team that they just come outthere every day and work hard. It doesn't matter what'shappening in the game - they just overcome adversity and findplays."


Alabama scored 24 points during a 25-minute span bridging thesecond and third quarters to take a 27-17 lead late in the thirdquarter.


But LSU forged a 27-27 tie courtesy of Flynn's 61-yard TD toDemetrius Byrd late in the third quarter and Colt David's49-yard field goal with 11:21 remaining.


After forcing a punt on the following possession, the Tigerswere faced with a 4th-and-1 from their own 36-yard line with7:51 remaining.


Known for making risky decisions, Miles left his offense in thegame, opting to go for the first down. The gamble backfired, asthe Tigers ultimately were forced to punt after being whistledfor a five-yard false start and a 15-yard personal foul on theplay.


Alabama took a 34-27 lead on the next play, as Javier Arenasreturned the punt 61 yards for a score with 7:33 to play.

But Flynn took over from there, rebounding from a poor firsthalf to lead the Tigers to their fourth consecutive win. Thesenior completed 24-of-44 passes for 353 yards, three touchdownsand three interceptions.


"It doesn't matter if something good happens or something badhappens," Flynn said. "You just have to play. You just have toforget about it and keep reading the plays."


Byrd had an outstanding game, hauling in career highs of sixcatches for 144 yards. Doucet finished with five receptions for67 yards and two TDs while Hester rushed for 47 yards and twoscores for the Tigers, who improved to 5-1 vs. ranked teams thisseason.


Wilson struggled through one of his roughest performances of theseason, completing just 14-of-40 passes for 234 yards, threeTDs and one interception.


"We need to not be hung over about this game," Saban said. "Weneed to learn from this game, improve and play better in thefuture."