'Relentless': Alabama embodies word of the week in dominant win at LSU

BATON ROUGE, La. – No. 11 Alabama dominated No. 15 LSU, 42-13, Saturday night at Tiger Stadium. It was a victory the Crimson Tide needed to keep its playoff hopes alive, and Alabama (7-2, 4-2 SEC) made a statement with its impressive performance in Death Valley.

“I felt like that was probably the most complete game we’ve played,” said Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer. “We’ve done that to some extent here the last two games against Missouri and tonight. So coming into a tough environment, just play after play and just staying the course. And then coming out in the third quarter, getting an interception. 

“I think just going back down the field and playing good complementary team football.”

The Alabama defense forced three turnovers and kept the Tigers off the scoreboard until late in the fourth quarter when its second unit was on the field. Meanwhile, the Tide offense scored on all but three of its drives, with quarterback Jalen Milroe running for 185 yards and four scores in his second straight stellar start against LSU (380 yards, 8 TDs in 2 starts).

Saturday was an elimination game for both teams as the regular season enters its final month, and Alabama rose to the occasion. The performance in front of a rowdy crowd could be traced back to the Crimson Tide’s prep, DeBoer and the UA players said after the win.

“The way they prepared, I think, led them to a place where we had some pretty good confidence coming in,” DeBoer said. “Just felt like the energy was there all week long, and as the week progressed, you could just feel that we were on top of our game and understood what it would take to come here and play four quarters.”

DeBoer is now 8-0 coming out of a bye week during his head coaching career, and his teams have outscored the opposition, 286-113. The Tide’s approach during its extra time off fueled its complete showing at LSU, as Alabama embodied the word of the week – relentless.

“Relentless in what we do on the field each and every play, but just relentless in our preparation,” DeBoer said. “It just starts with simple things, just trying to go silent cadence and managing that and knowing the checks were gonna be maybe down to two or three seconds if you had to make a check or whatever it might be with the crowd noise that it would be hard, that it wouldn’t be easy. 

“And they just stayed the course, kept buckling down, kept getting better and better.”

Alabama’s goals are still in front of it, with even a shot to play for an SEC championship still a possibility – even if it’s slim. The team has continued to improve since its road loss to Vanderbilt, and that starts with its defensive play and ability to run the ball. The Tide had 311 yards and six touchdowns against the Tigers, marking its second-best output this fall.

UA dominated in Baton Rouge after the team truly bought into the coaches’ messaging.

“We were relentless from the jump,” said Alabama left guard Tyler Booker. “Relentless coming out of halftime, especially running the ball. I wanna give a big shoutout to the running backs and J-Mil. They played a great game. They finished runs. And I wanna give a shoutout to the rest of the guys on the O-line. We really had a great week of practice, and that showed today.

“I’m excited to get better and continue to stack more games like this.”

Not a member, Alabama fans? Join BOL today!

Have you subscribed to BamaOnLine.com yet? You can sign up for ONE MONTH of premium access to our Alabama coverage for just $11.99! Be able to read all of BOL’s premium articles and nuggets covering Alabama sports and recruiting and also join thousands of other Crimson Tide fans around the globe on the BOL Round Table message board! CLICK HERE!