L.S.U. Survives Alabama’s Second-Half Push for a Big Win

The disruptive behavior that Alabama students were warned against earlier in the week at the risk of losing their football seats — a threat that was later walked back — never materialized. The stakes of the game — and the tension that it carried down the stretch — largely relegated Trump’s presence to a footnote.

Instead, it was Burrow, the senior transfer from Ohio State, who carried the day.

Burrow has been dynamic in the Tigers’ biggest games this season — wins at Texas and home against Florida and Auburn — and was even better against Alabama. He was elusive and decisive, and when he wasn’t delivering darts to his receivers, he was torturing the Tide with soul-crushing runs.

At the end, he was carried off the field by his teammates.

“This is why I decided to transfer,” said Burrow, who was stuck behind Dwayne Haskins at Ohio State. “I wanted to play, and I knew I could play on this stage and, you know, I got great people around me, great coaching staff, great program all around.”

Burrow was also at his best when he needed to be, after Alabama charged back to within six points early in the fourth quarter. But Burrow calmly converted three third downs. The first came when he hit Justin Jefferson on a slant on third-and-3 and the last when he raced for 15 yards on a draw.

But the most impressive came when, with a blitzer in his face, Burrow dumped the ball to Edwards-Helaire, who bulled his way through the safety Xavier McKinney for 11 yards on third-and-10. Edwards-Helaire finished the drive by tormenting McKinney again, dancing out of his grasp in the backfield and coasting into the end zone for a 5-yard touchdown run with 10:07 left for a 39-27 lead.

After Alabama closed within 39-34 on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Tua Tagovailoa and an extra point with 5:32 to play, Burrow went to work again. He quickly hit Ja’Marr Chase for 29 yards over the middle; with the defense keying on Edwards-Helaire, Burrow kept the ball on a third-and-2 keeper for 18 yards.

Edwards-Helaire, listed at 5-foot-8, 208 pounds, then broke two tackles on the next play for his third rushing touchdown. He rushed 20 times for 103 yards.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/09/sports/ncaafootball/lsu-alabama-tigers-tide.html?emc=rss&partner=rss