With his team down 15-13 in the fourth quarter, Alabama junior quarterback Greg McElroy threw a screen pass to sophomore wide receiver Julio Jones.
Jones turned, ran, and 73 yards later was celebrating the go-ahead score with his teammates
“They just needed me to make a play,” Jones said. “I stepped up.”
The play Jones made for his team proved to be the game winner as the No. 3 Crimson Tide defeated the No. 9 Tigers, 24-15.
Jones, who has battled injuries all season, had struggled to be productive in recent weeks. But he finished with four catches for 102 yards to go along with his touchdown.
“Probably last week was the first time he looked like his old self in terms of having the juice and the burst,” said Alabama coach Nick Saban. “He played a good game tonight.”
The Jones touchdown was a part of the 21 second half points scored by Alabama. The LSU defense pestered the Alabama offense throughout most of the first half, and although the Crimson Tide racked up 200 yards of offense in the first half, they only scored three points.
“We played well in the first half,” Saban said “We just didn’t finish drives.”
The Tide have a Heisman trophy candidate at running back in sophomore Mark Ingram, but they began the game throwing. McElroy attempted 25 passes in the first half, while Ingram only carried the ball six times.
“We planned to spread them out and do a lot of empty [backfield sets], which we did, throw the ball more and create downs,” Saban said. “We knew we were going to try to come back and try to work on the ball at some point.”
Alabama sophomore wide receiver Marquis Maze had six catches for 88 yards in the first half. The catch total was a new career high for Maze, and the yardage tied his career high.
After a scoreless first quarter, LSU put the first points on the board when sophomore quarterback Jordan Jefferson connected with sophomore tight end Deangelo Peterson for a 12-yard touchdown, capping off a 91-yard drive.
Alabama responded with a 40-yard drive set up by a 40-yard kick return from Alabama senior cornerback Javier Arenas.
The Tide made it into the red zone on the drive but came up short after LSU junior linebacker Kelvin Sheppard intercepted a McElroy pass with 29 seconds left in the half.Alabama’s first drive of the second half was where Ingram made his mark. He carried the ball four times for 46 yards on the drive that ended with a touchdown catch by Alabama junior wide receiver Darius Hanks to give the tide a 10-7 lead.
Ingram finished with 144 yards on 22 carries after a slow start in the first half.
LSU sophomore quarterback Jarrett Lee entered the game after sophomore quarterback Jordan Jefferson got hurt with a little more than eight minutes to play in the third quarter.
LSU scored a safety in the same quarter when junior defensive tackle Drake Nevis was credited with a sack after McElroy was called for intentional grounding in Alabama’s end zone, tightening the score to 10-9.
LSU struck again in the third when sophomore running back Stevan Ridley scored on an eight-yard touchdown run to give LSU a 15-10 lead.
The touchdown was set up by a 34-yard run by LSU senior running back Charles Scott, but that run came with a great cost to the Tigers. Scott was having one of his finest games this season on the ground before being hurt at the end of that long run.
Scott left the field with his right arm in a sling, and CBS Sports reported he left with a broken collarbone.
 
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