No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 13 LSU didn’t have quite the same implications as the 2011 Game of the Century, but this year’s game in Death Valley sure felt like the one five years ago. The game was a punter’s dream throughout — things remained scoreless all the way into the fourth quarter, until Bama quarterback Jalen Hurts got into the end zone on a 21-yard touchdown run.
These LSU fans’ faces show what it’s like to have to lose to Alabama 6 straight times
It wasn’t pretty, but Bama got it done.
Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
The Tide would tack on a field goal to make it a 10-0 final.
LSU, even after a rejuvenated offense and high hopes under interim coach Ed Orgeron, has now lost to the Tide for the sixth straight time. For Tiger fans, this is basically what it feels like to lose to your biggest rival.
An LSU win threatened to throw the SEC West into chaos, pulling Alabama into a mass of one-conference-loss teams that would’ve also included LSU and Auburn. The SEC’s three-or-more-team tiebreakers get funky (read them here, if you’d like), and Alabama would’ve risked being subjected to them. It would’ve been tough.
Now, that’s no worry. Alabama is 9-0 and 6-0 in the SEC, with head-to-head tiebreakers on a couple of the teams behind it and an Iron Bowl still to come. It’s now highly unlikely Alabama doesn’t win the West, so the Tide should be clear for an SEC Championship game that doubles, for Bama at least, as a Playoff play-in match.
For LSU, the loss might reverberate. Beating Bama would’ve marked a signature win for Orgeron, the sort that would’ve boosted him toward removing the interim tag after the season. That might still happen, but it won’t be as easy as it would’ve been with a win over Alabama and serious contention in the West.
For the Tide, though, times are good. They usually are.
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