Alabama football grades in LSU’s loss at Tiger Stadium

Yes, put that report card on the fridge, Alabama football.

You won’t want to forget this for a while.

No. 11 Alabama dominated No. 15 LSU 42-13 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, giving Crimson Tide coach Kalen DeBoer his first SEC road win. It also kept Alabama alive for the College Football Playoff. One more loss and the Crimson Tide is as good as over.

DeBoer said the word of the week for Alabama is “relentless.” That showed in the way the Crimson Tide played, and the report card reflected that performance.

Here’s how we rated Alabama (7-2, 4-2 SEC) against the Tigers (6-3, 3-2).

Offense: A

Ten trips. Six touchdowns. No ball losses on a day when the rain made the football slippery. This was offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan’s best performance so far this season. Alabama went into the game prepared on offense and then showed a strong second half. Jalen Milroe pounded LSU again, scoring four points. The most impressive statistic, however, may have been Alabama’s performance on third down. The Crimson Tide converted 10 of 13 attempts. That proved crucial in extending the offense while keeping LSU off the field. Alabama didn’t do much through the air, but didn’t have to pass when the running game was working so well. 311 yards rushing shows how good this ground attack can be. There are really no flaws in this class other than the one time they failed to convert the fourth and short ball. But that’s not enough to bring this grade down from an A for this unit’s dominant performance.

Defense: A

Kane Wommack’s group was on the verge of giving up another game without a touchdown until LSU scored in the final minute as the game spiraled out of control. Alabama’s defense is really coming into its own at the perfect time. The Crimson Tide picked up three more takeaways, marking their fourth straight game with at least three. The defense let up a bit at times, but was stopped when it mattered most. Or takeaways. Twice LSU had the ball inside Alabama’s 5-yard line. The Tigers failed to score a touchdown both times and only scored a total of three points from those two opportunities. The defense also recorded two sacks and five tackles while stopping the LSU offense. Another strong day from Wommack’s group, fresh off a shutout against Missouri.

Special Teams: B+

This is an area that could have been a little better at times. Especially the kickoff and punt coverage units. Alabama gave up an average of 40.5 yards per punt return on two punts. Meanwhile, 143 return yards were possible from five kickoff returns, an average of 29 yards per kick. Alabama also had a delay of game just before a Graham Nicholson field goal attempt. That put the Crimson Tide out of field goal range and forced a punt. None of these things cost Alabama much time, but the Crimson Tide will need to clean up some areas moving forward. A few bright spots: Ryan Williams returned a punt for 28 yards. James Burnup averaged 45.5 yards per punt. And Nicholson made all of his extra point attempts.

Overall: A

We will not allow the slight impairment in the special teams grade to reduce the overall grade. The offense and defense each dominated in their own way and outweighed the already somewhat finicky inadequacies of the special teams. Alabama put together its most impressive performance yet this season, earning it an overall grade of A. The Crimson Tide still have business to take care of over the next three weeks, but Alabama is now heading full steam ahead toward the playoffs.