Kelly Ward
Special to TideSports.com
BATON ROUGE, La. | At first, the University of Alabama couldn't run in the 20-13 overtime win at LSU. Then, it couldn't throw.
In the end, it was a fumble that nearly ended Alabama's hopes to come out of Baton Rouge with a win. In the end, it was the offense that pulled together a drive to send it to overtime. In the end, it was a 27-yard field goal to send it to overtime.
In the end, Alabama's offense rolled in overtime.
The Crimson Tide reached deep into its playbook on the first play of overtime to come up with a 24-yard surprise pass from Blake Sims to unlikely target Brandon Greene, a fifth-team tight end.
After that, UA overcame a 15-yard personal foul at the end of that play - taking Alabama out of first-and-goal at the 1 - and another 5-yard illegal procedure flag after it had muscled its way back to the 1-yard line, scoring on a 6-yard pass from Sims to DeAndrew White on what held up as the game-winner.
With a little over a minute left, junior running back T.J. Yeldon fumbled inside the UA 10-yard line. LSU made a 39-yard field goal to make it 13-10 with 50 seconds left.
All seemed lost, but Alabama wouldn't die even though the offense hadn't been able to get anything going.
Sims completed 5 of 7 attempts for 49 yards and scrambled away from a blitz for a 5-yard gain on third-and-four, battling the LSU defense and the clock. He heaved a key 22-yard completion to Christion Jones and hitting White for 16 more yards to the LSU 10-yard line.
With seven seconds left, Adam Griffith nailed a 27-yard field goal to send it into overtime.
On the game, Sims went 20-for-45 for 209 yards with two touchdowns. Alabama managed just 106 yards on 29 carries, with Yeldon gaining 68 yards on 15 attempts.
For most of the night, things didn't go so smoothly for the Alabama offense, which went relied heavily on the pass with the running game stifled by LSU's defense.
Sims went 5-for-12 in the air, netting 42 yards, in the first quarter. On the first series, Alabama ran the ball three times for 5 yards. The Crimson Tide didn't call another running play until the second quarter, with 10 straight called pass plays to end the first period.
In the second quarter, Alabama went back to running, at least for a bit. Yeldon saw the ball three plays in a row, notching 18 yards and a first down. After a dropped pass, sophomore Derrick Henry ran the ball. The next play, Sims' throw was incomplete.
Junior wide receiver Amari Cooper found himself with a few catches. He set the new Alabama single-season receiving record, breaking Julio Jones' old record of 1,133 yards. In the second quarter, he tied up the game at 7 on a 23-yard touchdown reception while becoming the new career leader at Alabama for yards receiving, breaking DJ Hall's old record of 2,923 yards.
https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1702103
Special to TideSports.com
BATON ROUGE, La. | At first, the University of Alabama couldn't run in the 20-13 overtime win at LSU. Then, it couldn't throw.
In the end, it was a fumble that nearly ended Alabama's hopes to come out of Baton Rouge with a win. In the end, it was the offense that pulled together a drive to send it to overtime. In the end, it was a 27-yard field goal to send it to overtime.
In the end, Alabama's offense rolled in overtime.
The Crimson Tide reached deep into its playbook on the first play of overtime to come up with a 24-yard surprise pass from Blake Sims to unlikely target Brandon Greene, a fifth-team tight end.
After that, UA overcame a 15-yard personal foul at the end of that play - taking Alabama out of first-and-goal at the 1 - and another 5-yard illegal procedure flag after it had muscled its way back to the 1-yard line, scoring on a 6-yard pass from Sims to DeAndrew White on what held up as the game-winner.
With a little over a minute left, junior running back T.J. Yeldon fumbled inside the UA 10-yard line. LSU made a 39-yard field goal to make it 13-10 with 50 seconds left.
All seemed lost, but Alabama wouldn't die even though the offense hadn't been able to get anything going.
Sims completed 5 of 7 attempts for 49 yards and scrambled away from a blitz for a 5-yard gain on third-and-four, battling the LSU defense and the clock. He heaved a key 22-yard completion to Christion Jones and hitting White for 16 more yards to the LSU 10-yard line.
With seven seconds left, Adam Griffith nailed a 27-yard field goal to send it into overtime.
On the game, Sims went 20-for-45 for 209 yards with two touchdowns. Alabama managed just 106 yards on 29 carries, with Yeldon gaining 68 yards on 15 attempts.
For most of the night, things didn't go so smoothly for the Alabama offense, which went relied heavily on the pass with the running game stifled by LSU's defense.
Sims went 5-for-12 in the air, netting 42 yards, in the first quarter. On the first series, Alabama ran the ball three times for 5 yards. The Crimson Tide didn't call another running play until the second quarter, with 10 straight called pass plays to end the first period.
In the second quarter, Alabama went back to running, at least for a bit. Yeldon saw the ball three plays in a row, notching 18 yards and a first down. After a dropped pass, sophomore Derrick Henry ran the ball. The next play, Sims' throw was incomplete.
Junior wide receiver Amari Cooper found himself with a few catches. He set the new Alabama single-season receiving record, breaking Julio Jones' old record of 1,133 yards. In the second quarter, he tied up the game at 7 on a 23-yard touchdown reception while becoming the new career leader at Alabama for yards receiving, breaking DJ Hall's old record of 2,923 yards.
https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1702103
