Nick Saban, bruised in frustration, stood at the postgame podium knowing how far his team had to go. It was a valiant effort, but he nor the Alabama players were in a mood for moral victories. The LSU Tigers waited months for their shot at Saban on Nov. 3, 2007 — several months after he left the Miami Dolphins to return to college football — and a top-20 matchup in Bryant-Denny Stadium was the platform.
An underdog Alabama team dug itself into a 17-3 hole, eventually took the lead 34-27 midway through the fourth quarter, but then gave the game up. LSU scored on fourth-and-4 from the Alabama 32-yard line to tie it and then benefited from a sack and fumble to set up another last-minute touchdown and pull off a dramatic 41-34 victory.
“My hands are bruised from smacking them together when we did the wrong things and made mistakes,” Saban said. “You know what? Sometimes there’s no consequence until you do it against someone who’s as good or better than you. Prime-time players make plays at prime times of the game and we had our opportunity to do it.”
LSU went on to win the national championship while Alabama finished an unceremonious 7-6 in Saban’s first year. What’s been lost within that 2007 season is that the Tide were ranked No. 17 entering that game and were very much in SEC championship contention with a win. LSU was at an inflection point while Alabama had just begun to build. Since then, the series has become one of the biggest annual games in college football, including last season’s 42-28 Alabama win that all but clinched the SEC West title en route to a conference championship.
“I think it has developed into a rivalry game because they’re always ranked, we’re always ranked,” Saban said last season ahead of the game. “It’s always a big game relative to what happens in our division — so it’s an important game for both teams.”
Most on the Alabama side wouldn’t characterize LSU as its biggest rival, but it’s probably been the most consequential to its season in recent history. Alabama and LSU held the most SEC West crowns since divisions started in 1992 (Alabama 15, LSU 7). The start of division play saw this series grow in competitiveness — LSU has won 27 games in this series since the first in 1895, 13 of those are post-1992. In the Saban era (2007-2023), the winner of this game made the SEC championship 12 times and only twice did neither of those teams win the championship game.
The de-facto SEC West championship game and Saban’s presence no longer exist, but this game hasn’t lost significance ahead of the 2024 matchup and likely won’t in coming years as each continues to compete for SEC titles and College Football Playoff berths. For the coaches who now represent the rivalry on both sides, this is a critical moment for each program’s outlook.
Brian Kelly’s debut in this series in 2022 brought one of its most memorable moments — an overtime walk-off win that propelled LSU to the SEC Championship Game. But the Tigers are still looking to attain consistent, elite play. Last season felt like a wasted opportunity with a multitude of high-end, NFL talent and the program only has one CFP appearance since its inception in 2014. On the other side, first-year coach Kalen DeBoer is 0-1 against his new rivals, having lost to Tennessee a few weeks ago, but a win over LSU would place Alabama in a nice spot entering the final stretch of the season.
With No. 11 Alabama and No. 14 LSU both 6-2, this isn’t just a Playoff eliminator. Both teams are still mathematically alive for the SEC Championship Game and a potential first-round bye. The winner all but punches its ticket for postseason play while the loser will be on the outside looking in, a familiar scenario. But no championship scenario on each side is possible without a win on Saturday.
“We have less wiggle room, and our backs are to the wall,” DeBoer said on Monday. “So we’re going to fight. Each and every day we’re going to fight, scratch and claw like you’ve never seen, and that continues this week.”
LSU is at home Saturday, playing its famed night game in Baton Rouge. On the surface, it’s a huge advantage but ironically the road team has dominated the series. Since 1981, Alabama’s only 9-12 in games in Alabama (Birmingham or Tuscaloosa) while LSU’s just 4-16-1 in Louisiana (Baton Rouge or New Orleans).
That trend is a welcomed sight to an Alabama team that faltered in its last hostile environment at Tennessee (a 24-17 loss including 15 penalties). For a team that lost nearly 40 players in the offseason, this will be a new test for a large part of the roster.
“Oh yeah, for sure, we’ve let all the (new players) know,” fifth-year linebacker Que Robinson said of playing in Tiger Stadium. “We talked about it yesterday, we were saying how it’s gonna be loud. There’s gonna be a whole bunch of people in there that just hate you. It might be worse than Tennessee’s stadium. I told them to get ready for anything.”
Ahead of the national game of the week, a familiar place for this game over the years, let’s look back on several classic matchups.
1958 – LSU 13, Alabama 3
Paul “Bear” Bryant’s first game as Alabama head coach was against LSU on Sept. 17, 1958, at Ladd Memorial Stadium in Mobile, Alabama. LSU, the eventual national champion, bested Bryant’s team on this day. This game is also known for the bleachers collapsing in the second quarter, injuring dozens of fans.
1979 – Alabama 3, LSU 0
The second-lowest scoring game in series history (0-0 tie in 1927) saw Alabama extend its overall win streak to 18 games after a 3-0 win in Baton Rouge in a torrential downpour. Alan McElroy’s 27-yard field goal in the second quarter accounted for the game’s only points. The teams combined for four turnovers and 15 punts. The 1979 season concluded with Bryant’s sixth and final national championship.
1982 – LSU 20, Alabama 10
Bryant’s career ended how it started — a loss to LSU, which snapped an 11-game Alabama win streak over the Tigers. That loss, followed by Southern Miss and Auburn, sent Bryant out with a three-game losing streak to end the regular season before a 21-15 win over Illinois in the Liberty Bowl, his final game.
1996 – Alabama 26, LSU 0
Redshirt freshman Shaun Alexander delivered one of the greatest performances in Alabama history in Baton Rouge — a program-record 291 rushing yards and four touchdowns in a 26-0 Crimson Tide victory. Alexander scored on runs of 17, 73, 72 and 12 yards, averaging 14.6 yards per carry. Alabama went on to capture the 1996 SEC West title.
1998 – Alabama 22, LSU 16
LSU was a few minutes away from beating Alabama in Baton Rouge for the first time since 1969. Then, rivalry magic happened. Alabama scored 16 points in the final two minutes, culminating in Andrew Zow finding Quincy Jackson for the 25-yard game-winning TD pass. Zow completed the two-point conversion pass to Michael Vaughn for the final score.
2000 – LSU 30, Alabama 28
Nick Saban was the one who finally changed LSU’s bad fortune in Baton Rouge against Alabama. In his first season, the Tigers overcame a 21-14 second-half deficit against a Crimson Tide team that struggled to a 3-8 finish.
2008 – Alabama 27, LSU 21
The 2007 game set the stage for Saban’s return to Baton Rouge in 2008. Both teams were highly ranked and Alabama had a shot to win in regulation, but LSU’s Ricky-Jean Francois blocked Leigh Tiffin’s field goal attempt on the final play. In overtime, Alabama’s Rashad Johnson picked off LSU’s Jarrett Lee, his third interception of the game, to set up the winning score. Quarterback John Parker Wilson hit Julio Jones for 24 yards to the 1-yard line, then carried the ball across the goal line for the winning play.
2011 season– “Game of the Century” and the rematch
The 2011 regular season matchup was one of the most hyped in college football history. Alabama missed four field goals and had a pass intercepted by LSU’s Eric Reid on a trick play en route to a 9-6 loss. The game didn’t produce many fireworks but dozens of players on both sides went on to the NFL.
However, Alabama got the last laugh with a dominant 21-0 win over LSU in the national championship. LSU totaled just 92 yards of offense and didn’t even cross midfield until the second half. Alabama was national champion for the second time in three years and started a seven-game win streak over LSU.
2012 – Alabama 21, LSU 17
LSU outgained top-ranked Alabama by more than 100 yards, held the ball for nearly 39 minutes and forced two turnovers; but left too much time on the clock with a field goal to take a 17-14 lead with 1:28 to play. The game-winning play: AJ McCarron’s 28-yard touchdown pass to TJ Yeldon who knifed through the LSU defense, is one of the iconic moments in the Saban era.
2019 – LSU 46, Alabama 41
Arguably the greatest collection of talent on a field at once assembled on Nov. 9, 2019, for this clash of undefeated teams. Names like Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa, Ja’Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, DeVonta Smith, Jerry Jeudy, Jaylen Waddle, Najee Harris come to mind, and that’s not naming any stars on defense that included Trevon Diggs, Patrick Surtain, Xavier McKinney, Derek Stingley, Patrick Queen and more.
LSU took a commanding 33-13 lead into the half before a furious Alabama second half made it a five-point game with under two minutes to go. LSU recovered an onside kick to ice the game and went on to the national championship … which Alabama won the following year.
(Top photo of Alabama’s Jermaine Burton in the 2023 game vs. LSU: Butch Dill / USA Today)
