BAMA-LSU: Smith leaps into Heisman race as Tide wallops Tigers
Scenes from Alabama’s win over LSU at Tiger Stadium on Saturday. The Crimson Tide locked up the SEC West title with the win. (Alabama Media Relations)
By GRAHAM DUNN
From the first snap of the game, there was little doubt that the Alabama Crimson Tide would have its way with the LSU Tigers on Saturday.
Mac Jones’ 8-yard pass to Devonta Smith wasn’t spectacular, at least not as much as ones to come, but it would certainly signal what most knew beforehand that the Crimson Tide offense would have no problems in what became a 55-17 romp at Tiger Stadium.
It was the most points a Tide team had ever scored at Tiger Stadium or anywhere against LSU, for that matter.
“They had a good game plan in the first half,” stated Nick Saban, who was back on the sideline Saturday after watching the Auburn win at home. “Our players did a good job of adjusting.”
The revenge from last year’s loss was sweet for a lot of reason even if the biggest part of the win was the Crimson Tide clinched the SEC Western Division crown and will face Florida in Atlanta in two weeks.
As good as Mac Jones was at quarterback (20-28/385 yards/4 TDs), Najee Harris was running the football (145 yards/3 TDs), Smith was the star of the day, hauling in eight passes for 213 yards, most in the first half. His high wire act for a touchdown late in the second quarter became a “Heisman” moment.
“One-hand catches aren’t something you practice. It kinda just happens. If you try to do one hand catches, it never works out right so it just happens,” Smith said.
The catch had LSU coach Ed Oregeron’s attention.
“No. 6 is one of the best players I’ve seen,” he said.
“Our plan was to double-team him. We went into the game to stop No. 6. You give them credit. Sometimes we had him doubled and he still made plays, but it was frustrating to see one player have almost 300 yards in the first half.”
While the Alabama offense doesn’t necessarily run through the senior from Amite, LA, it looks as though when it needs a big play, Smith is up to the challenge.
“He was an outstanding receiver last year,” Saban said. “But we had three other receivers that were outstanding players. None of them stood out like Smitty has this year.
“(LSU) doubled him a lot, they matched up (Derek Stingley, Jr.) a lot. He had some challenges today because they were trying to take him out of the game. He still performed well. Mac does a good job of getting the ball to the right guys. We need other guys to step up and make plays.”
The Alabama defense suffered a few hiccups in the first half, allowing a 43-yard pass that ended up as a touchdown due to a dropped ball by Kayshon Boutte and recovered in the end zone by Jontre Kirklin. The defense also allowed a John Emry touchdown run of 54 yards.
Otherwise, they kept the LSU offense at bay while its own offense pounded out 650 total yards.
The Crimson Tide will finish the regular season next week at Arkansas and follow that with the much-anticipated matchup with Florida on Dec. 19.
“It’s something we worked for through the off-season,” linebacker Dylan Moses said. “With every going on with COVID, battling all the issues, this is definitely a great thing for us.”