By BATON ROUGE — LSU football had its chances to seize control of the game against rival Alabama.
The Tigers severely outgained the Crimson Tide but trailed most of the game as Lane Kiffin and his offense amassed more than 450 yards on Alabama. No. 15 LSU briefly took the lead in the third quarter but the Tide responded and immediately went down the field and retook the lead on just a handful of plays.
That was the story of the night in LSU's deflating 31-13 defeat to Alabama on Saturday, Nov. 7 inside Tiger Stadium
LSU (6-3, 3-3 SEC) was not as sharp on both sides of the ball and the mistakes the team made pulled up as the game rolled on.
Here's how The Daily Advertiser graded LSU's loss to No. 9 Alabama (7-2, 5-2).
Offense: C+
LSU's offense struggled to finish drives in the red zone. Moving the ball between the 20s was not a problem but once the field shrank, execution for the Tigers shrank as well. The two losses LSU had coming into this game, settling for field goals and not capitalizing on red zone opportunities.
The run game couldn't get much going with running back Dilin Jones, and when LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt tried to run, the Crimson Tide defense keyed in on him. With the running game's troubles, it felt like the normal tempo Lane Kiffin and offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. like to operate wasn't available.
A bright spot, LSU's offensive line did a nice job protecting Leavitt and keeping a consistently clean pocket.
Defense: C
Alabama sported the 75th best rushing offense in the country coming into this game. While the Crimson Tide didn't wow spectators with their run game, it was able to keep LSU's defense off-balance just enough.
For the first time in what feels like all season, LSU's pass rushers were unable to finish when they reached the quarterback. Tide sophomore quarterback Keelon Russell was able to evade wouldbe tacklers when they were near. The Tigers finished with one sack and that was off a corner blitz from DJ Pickett.
On Alabama's go-ahead drive late in the third quarter, LSU's defense was never in position. It gave up the big pass play from Russell to Rico Scott and, a few plays later, Alabama tight end Josh Ford was wide open for touchdown catch.
Special Teams: F
Scott Starzyk missed a 56-yard field goal in the second quarter that would've given LSU a 6-3 lead but he made 23- and 41-yarders in the third that trimmed Alabama's lead. But when a play needed to be made on a punt coverage in the fourth quarter, Alabama receiver Ryan Coleman-Williams broke a long return to set up Alabama in great field position.
Coaching: D+
Kiffin and the staff have to take some of the blame for the blunder Leavitt late in the first half. He took the ill-advised sack and then threw an awful interception. In that instance, coaches have to relay to Leavitt to not do too much. The points LSU weren't able to get factored into decisions later in the game.
LSU's game MVP: Jackson Harris
While LSU struggled to score, Harris helped keep the chains moving and put up numbers in a big game once again with 11 catches for 166 yards.
Overall LSU grade: D+
As the game progressed, it felt like the execution level for LSU was the lowest it's been since the fourth quarter against Kentucky. So there shouldn't be any surprise that the Tigers lost this game.
Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU football report card | Grading the Tigers' loss to Alabama
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/lsu-football-report-card-grading-001439680.html
