Jalen Milroe rushed for a career-high 185 yards and ran for four touchdowns as No. 11 Alabama never trailed in a 42-13 victory against No. 15 LSU in an Southeastern Conference showdown Saturday night in Baton Rouge, La.
Milroe, who also passed for 109 yards, matched his best single-game rushing touchdown total and surpassed his previous rushing yardage high of 155, both of which came in a 42-28 victory against LSU last season. The Crimson Tide (7-2, 4-2 SEC) strengthened their College Football Playoff chances with their first conference road victory of the season.
Garrett Nussmeier passed for 239 yards and a touchdown, threw two interceptions and lost a fumble as the Tigers (6-3, 3-2) suffered a major blow to their already slim playoff hopes.
Alabama outgained LSU 420-343 overall and held a 311-104 advantage in rushing yards.
Trailing 21-6, the Tigers drove to the Crimson Tide 4-yard line on their first possession of the third quarter, but Deontae Lawson intercepted a Nussmeier pass in the end zone on second down. Alabama then drove 80 yards, the final 19 of which came on Milroe’s third rushing touchdown.
The score held at 28-6 until the first play of the fourth quarter, when Milroe ran 72 yards for his final score. Richard Young added an 8-yard touchdown for the Crimson Tide with 2:07 left before Nussmeier threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Kyren Lacy with 11 seconds remaining.
Alabama opened the scoring less than five minutes into the game. The Crimson Tide received the opening kickoff and drove 75 yards, with Milroe running off the final 39 to make it 7-0 with 10:49 left in the first quarter. Milroe completed all three of his pass attempts for 38 yards on the drive.
Zavion Thomas returned the ensuing kickoff 50 yards and LSU drove to a first down at the Crimson Tide 5-yard line before settling for Damian Ramos’s 23-yard field goal.
Alabama responded by marching 75 yards on 15 plays and went up 14-3 on Justice Haynes’s 1-yard run. Ramos’s 43-yard field goal trimmed the lead to 14-6 midway through the second quarter, but the Tigers would creep no closer.
One play after LSU stopped the Crimson Tide on a fourth-and-1, Tim Smith recovered a Nussmeier fumble at the Tigers 32. Three plays later, Milroe ran 10 yards for a touchdown and a 21-6 lead that held up through the end of the first half.
–Field Level Media
