Video: Beating Alabama vs. Beating Saban
LSU football coach Les Miles grabbed and ate a chunk of Tiger Stadium grass in the fourth quarter as he watched the Tigers fight for an upset win Saturday against rival Alabama.
He said after the game it was the best grass he had ever tasted.
Now Miles has tasted victory against the Crimson Tide (7-2, 4-2) for the first time since 2007, as LSU (8-1, 5-1) overcame familiar early offensive struggles behind junior quarterback Jordan Jefferson’s best performance of the season, in LSU’s 24-21 win.
“I have a little tradition that humbles me as a man, lets me know I’m a part of the field, a part of the game,” Miles said. “The grass in Tiger Stadium tastes best. The gift my team gave me today was allowing me to coach them and playing with passion and great effort.”
LSU went into halftime trailing 7-3 with just 95 yards of total offense. The second half was a different story, as the Tigers erupted for 338 more yards in a relatively balanced attack and finished with 208 passing yards and 225 rushing yards.
Arguably the biggest play of the day came when the offense took possession on its own 6-yard line with 8:57 left in the third quarter, as a long field stared Jefferson in the face.
Jefferson rose to the challenge, though and completed LSU’s longest pass play of the season, a 75-yard touchdown to sophomore wide receiver Rueben Randle to cap a 94-yard drive that spanned just 40 seconds.
Jefferson said his confidence soared in the upset victory. He finished 10-of-13 for 141 yards with no interceptions and no sacks with his highest completion percentage (76.9 percent) and passing efficiency (193.42) of the season.
“I felt like I was in high school again, making big plays and making things happen on the field,” Jefferson said. “I had to make a statement tonight … It’s a relief for me.”
With his touchdown catch, Randle atoned for an earlier dropped pass from Jefferson as the first half wound down. Randle set a career-high with 125 yards on three receptions, including a 47-yard strike from junior Jarrett Lee on third-and-13 to help ice the game.
“I told [offensive coordinator Gary Crowton] I wanted another chance to make a play for the team, and he went back to me,” Randle said.
Fellow sophomore wide receiver Russell Shepard said Randle’s mistake with 21 seconds left in the first half visibly bothered him in the halftime locker room.
But he said the team made adjustments and threw the playbook at Alabama in the second half to edge the Crimson Tide.
“We didn’t get that respect at all. Everybody thought we were going to lose,” Shepard said. “There were a lot of situations we put [Jefferson] in that a lot of other quarterbacks wouldn’t want to be put in, but he showed why he is one of our starting quarterbacks.”
LSU snapped Alabama’s 28-game winning streak when leading at halftime under coach Nick Saban. It was his second loss in 37 occasions with the Crimson Tide ahead at the half, both at the hands of his former team.
LSU won the turnover battle Saturday, garnering an interception and fumble recovery of quarterback Greg McElroy. Senior linebacker Kelvin Sheppard had a hand in both Alabama miscues, picking off his second career pass and securing the fumble that senior defensive tackle Drake Nevis forced.
Miles called the defensive effort “knock-down, drag-out football.”
LSU senior kicker Josh Jasper kicked field goals of 45 and 39 yards to capitalize on the turnovers, although he missed a 45-yard kick four plays after sprinting 29 yards on a fake punt on the opening drive of the second half.
“My team likes to get in tight quarters, and they play,” Miles said. “It was a field goal kicker who came back after a disappointing miss. It’s a two-quarterback system where both contributed significantly … a wide receiver who dropped the ball and came back in and made big plays in key times.”
Alabama scored its first-half touchdown on a 1-yard pass from McElroy to running back Trent Richardson to cap an 81-yard drive, and it answered LSU’s 75-yard score with a 5-yard run by Mark Ingram to regain a 14-10 lead.
LSU junior running back Stevan Ridley followed with a 1-yard touchdown run, and Jefferson completed the 2-point conversion pass to Randle.
Alabama found the end zone one more time on a 9-yard reception by Julio Jones to culminate a 74-yard drive that took 2:04.