BATON ROUGE, La. — For the first time this season, the Crimson Tide did not score on its opening offensive drive. It had eight plays and was in field-goal range, but two consecutive false starts followed by a loss of two yards on a rush forced UA to punt. The streak ends at eight games.
Alabama came out and used five plays to score on its second possession, though. A 15-yard pass from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to wide receiver Henry Ruggs III got the job done.
LSU had not given up a touchdown in the first quarter for 12 games, dating back to last season’s game against Alabama.
Tide bits
Game captains were junior left tackle Jonah Williams, junior outside linebacker Anfernee Jennings and senior outside linebacker Christian Miller. … LSU won the toss and deferred until the second half. Alabama is 4-5 in coin tosses this season. The Crimson Tide has elected to receive on three of the occasions on which it won the toss. … Attendance was announced as 102,321, putting Tiger Stadium at capacity. … Alabama’s win streak against LSU is now at eight games. The last time the Crimson Tide lost to LSU was in 2011. … Nick Saban has won 22 games against teams ranked in the top five of the AP Top 25, the most of any coach in college football history. … Sophomore wide receiver DeVonta Smith (hamstring) played in the game, while junior quarterback Jalen Hurts (high ankle sprain) did not. Redshirt freshman Mac Jones briefly entered the game in the first quarter when Tua Tagovailoa was examined by the medical staff.
