The Alabama Crimson Tide went to hell and back to steal a 27-21 overtime victory from the Louisiana State Tigers in Baton Rouge on Saturday night. Alabama covered the 3-point spread set by BetJamaica.com.
Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban, who coached the Tigers for four years, was making his return to the bayou after abruptly leaving the program for the NFL in 2004. Adding to that bad blood was the fact that Saban returned to the SEC after just two seasons in the pros to coach rival Alabama.
A raucous and vengeful crowd met Saban and the Crimson Tide at Tigers Stadium, fueling LSU to force the nation's No. 1 team into overtime. However, following quarterback Jarrett Lee's fourth interception of the day, Alabama silenced the sea of raging Cajuns with quarterback John Parker Wilson's 1-yard touchdown run for the win. The senior pivot passed for 215 yards and one interception.
Wilson began the game in similar form, scoring with a 1-yard stride to put the Tide up 7-0 in the first quarter. The Tigers immediately answered with a 30-yard touchdown pass from Lee to receiver Demetrius Byrd to even the score.
LSU's rushing attack had their way with Alabama's fourth-ranked run defense in the first half. Running back Charles Scott totaled 92 yards and two touchdowns, including a 30-yard TD dash to give the Tigers a 14-7 lead in the first quarter.
Crimson Tide defensive back Rashad Johnson was a thorn in Lee's side all day, and took one of his three interceptions back 54 yards to the house to make it 14-14 heading into halftime.
Alabama tightened up in the second half, limiting LSU's offense while turning to its bread-and-butter running attack behind junior Glenn Coffee. Coffee charged for the go-ahead touchdown on a 3-yard rumble in the third quarter. He finished with 126 yards on 26 carries.
The Tigers gained strength from the frenzied fans in the fourth quarter and pushed the ball downfield to set up Scott's second score on a 3-yard rush with just six minutes remaining in the game. With the score locked at 21-21, the Crimson Tide managed to move the chains to within field-goal range.
Alabama kicker Leigh Tiffin launched a 29-yard attempt but LSU defensive end Ricky-Jean Francois managed to get his hand on the ball, blocking the potential game-winning field goal and sending the game to additional minutes.
Alabama wasted little time after getting the ball back in overtime. Wilson launched a pass to leading receiver Julio Jones who dug in for additional yards before getting pulled out of bounds at the one-yard line. That set up the quarterback's plunge past the goal line, finishing off the feisty Tigers 27-21 and keeping the Tide a perfect 10-0 (7-3 ATS).
The final score played over the 46.5-point total set by BetJamaica.com.