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, celebrated the touchdown 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 Crimson Tide defeated the Tigers, 24-15.The loss bumped LSU down two spots in the USA Today Coaches Top 25 poll to No. 11. LSU moved up one spot to No. 8 in BCS standings despite the loss. The Tigers stayed at No. 9 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll.Jones, who has battled injuries all season, struggled to be productive in recent weeks but finished Saturday 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.”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, all 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 McElroy’s 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 a 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 was injured 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.The Tigers 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 at a cost. Scott was having one of his finest games this season on the ground before breaking his collarbone at the end of the long run.Scott left the field with his right arm in a sling, and is out for the season.Alabama made it on the board again with a field goal by senior kicker Leigh Tiffin at the beginning of the fourth quarter.The next score came when Jones took the screen pass to the end zone. Alabama freshman running back Trent Richardson took the ball in for the two-point conversion giving the Tide a 21-15 advantage.”I was happy for him to make a play like that,” McElroy said of Jones’ play. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen somebody run so fast in my life.”Sheppard said the touchdown was a turning point in the game.”The whole game we were bending a little bit, but we never broke until that play,” Sheppard said. “Julio did a tremendous job when he hit the sideline. You’re just not going to catch him.”Alabama scored the game’s final points with another field goal by Tiffin. That kick came on a drive where LSU sophomore cornerback Patrick Peterson appeared to have an interception, but the play was reviewed and ruled an incompletion, allowing the Tide to keep possession.”The play happened really fast,” said LSU senior linebacker Harry Coleman. “But we all thought he got his foot down. It looked like there was a mark where he dragged his foot, but apparently not. It was a tough game. We fought hard, so it was a tough loss.”—-Contact Amos Morale at [email protected]