Percy Davis
Alabama’s Derrick Henry runs through LSU defender. Photo credited to Dave Ozment.
November 7, 2015 was the day many LSU and Alabama fans were awaiting. This rivalry has been going on since 1865 with LSU getting the first victory over Alabama. Although LSU won the first game, Alabama has won 50 of the 80 games played since, with LSU winning 25 and the other 5 draws.
Saturday with the Alabama Crimson Tide hosting, they beat the LSU Tigers 30 – 16, giving the Tigers their first lost of the season. Coming into the game LSU had the upper hand with the top leading rusher Leonard Fournette. He has rushed for 1,383 yards with 16 touchdowns through only 8 games.
Fournette was smothered by Alabama’s defense led by coach Nick Saban, rushing for only 31 yards on 19 attempts. Before this game his lowest yard total was 154 yards against Western Kentucky.
Alabama’s Derrick Henry on the other hand rushed for 210 yards with three touchdowns on 38 carries. Alabama’s quarterback Jake Coker played well passing for 184 yards and completing 18 of his 24 passes thrown.
The first quarter of football was a defensive game with neither team scoring. In the second quarter the Crimson Tide got on the board first with a 22-yard field goal by Adam Griffith. The Tigers then turned the ball over on downs and the Crimson Tide went down and scored a 2-yd rushing touchdown by Derrick Henry.
With the score 10-0 at this point the Tigers knew they needed to put some points on the board before the game got out of reach. The Tigers quarterback Brandon Harris went down and threw a 40-yd touchdown to wide receiver Travin Dural making the score 10-7.
Alabama got the ball back and turned it over on downs and the Tigers marched down the field and settled for a 39-yard field goal by Trent Dominque. The score was now tied at 10-10 and the LSU Tigers started to regain their confidence from being down 10-0. Alabama, not wanting to lose the momentum, marched down the field with time running out and kicked a 55-yard field with only 14 seconds left on the clock. Going into halftime the score was 13-10 Alabama’s way and most people would have thought we had a good game on our hands.
In the third quarter the Crimson Tide was rolling! With the Tigers getting the ball at halftime, Brandon Harris came out and threw an interception on the first play of the half. This was Harris’s first interception on the season and it was definitely a game changer. Alabama scored 14 points in the third quarter to LSU’s 0 points making the score 27-10 entering the fourth quarter.
The Tigers scored one touchdown in the fourth quarter and Crimson Tide added a field goal to their score. Ending the game at 30-16 with Alabama Crimson Tide coming out on top giving the LSU Tigers their first loss of the season.