December 5, 2020 Week 14 · Regular Season Belt defended

Alabama defends the belt, 55–17, on the road at LSU.

Home · Challenger

LSU 17

Away · Defending Holder

Alabama 55

AI-Written

Recap

Alabama's dominant offensive performance powered the defending belt holder to a convincing 55-17 victory over LSU on the road in Baton Rouge. The Crimson Tide's passing attack was nearly unstoppable, with Mac Jones connecting on explosive plays throughout the game, including a 65-yard touchdown to DeVonta Smith in the second quarter and multiple other deep shots that LSU's secondary couldn't contain. Alabama methodically built its lead with an efficient ground game anchored by Najee Harris, who scored on short runs in the first quarter and again in the third, while the defense consistently disrupted LSU's offense with Christian Barmore recording a crucial sack and forced fumble. Despite a briefly competitive first half that saw LSU's Kayshon Boutte haul in a touchdown reception, Alabama's relentless execution and superior time of possession ultimately put the game far out of reach.

Najee Harris's two early touchdown runs (14 yards and 1 yard in Q1) set the tone for Alabama's dominance and quick 14-0 lead
DeVonta Smith's back-to-back long touchdown receptions (65 and 61 yards in Q2) established the passing game's advantage and extended Alabama's lead to 28-7
Christian Barmore's sack and forced fumble on TJ Finley in Q2 halted an LSU drive and exemplified Alabama's defensive pressure
Kayshon Boutte's fumble on the opening kickoff return of Q1 gave Alabama prime field position early in a game where field position became critical

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

LSUAlabama

Total yards351650

Rushing yards98265

Passing yards253385

First downs2132

3rd down conv.5/164/9

Turnovers11

Penalties–yards4–304–43

Time of possession26:4332:52

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 12:45	Alabama	+24 yd	Mac Jones pass complete to John Metchie III for 24 yds to the LSU 19 for a 1ST down
Q1 11:56	Alabama	+14 yd	Najee Harris 14 Yd Run (Will Reichard Kick)
Q1 7:43	Alabama	+27 yd	Mac Jones pass complete to Jahleel Billingsley for 27 yds to the Alab 42 for a 1ST down
Q1 7:09	Alabama	+43 yd	Najee Harris run for 28 yds to the LSU 30 for a 1ST down LSU Penalty, Personal Foul (JaCoby Stevens) to the LSU 15 for a 1ST down
Q1 5:50	Alabama	+1 yd	Najee Harris 1 Yd Run (Will Reichard Kick)
Q1 2:27	Alabama	+24 yd	Jahleel Billingsley 24 Yd pass from Mac Jones (Will Reichard Kick)
Q1 2:26	Alabama	+59 yd	Chase Allen kickoff for 59 yds , Kayshon Boutte return for a loss of 1 yard to the LSU 5 Kayshon Boutte fumbled, recovered by LSU Kayshon Boutte
Q1 0:41	LSU	+23 yd	TJ Finley pass complete to Kayshon Boutte for 8 yds to the LSU 27 for a 1ST down ALABAMA Penalty, Roughing Passer (Christian Harris) to the LSU 42 for a 1ST down
Q2 14:53	LSU	+1 yd	TJ Finley pass complete to Kayshon Boutte for 43 yds for a TD Kayshon Boutte fumbled, recovered by LSU Jontre Kirklin , return for 1 yd, (Cade York KICK)
Q2 13:36	Alabama	+65 yd	DeVonta Smith 65 Yd pass from Mac Jones (Will Reichard Kick)
Q2 12:32	LSU	+54 yd	John Emery Jr. 54 Yd Run (Cade York Kick)
Q2 13:28	Alabama	+26 yd	Chase Allen kickoff for 60 yds , Kayshon Boutte return for 26 yds to the LSU 31
Q2 11:14	Alabama	+61 yd	DeVonta Smith 61 Yd pass from Mac Jones (Will Reichard Kick)
Q2 9:17	LSU	-3 yd	TJ Finley sacked by Christian Barmore for a loss of 3 yards to the Alab 47 TJ Finley fumbled, forced by Christian Barmore, recovered by LSU TJ Finley , return for 0 yards
Q2 11:06	LSU	+20 yd	John Emery Jr. run for 20 yds to the LSU 45 for a 1ST down
Q2 3:20	Alabama	+30 yd	Will Reichard 30 Yd Field Goal
Q2 6:24	Alabama	+48 yd	Mac Jones pass complete to DeVonta Smith for 48 yds to the LSU 26 for a 1ST down
Q2 0:46	Alabama	+20 yd	DeVonta Smith 20 Yd pass from Mac Jones (Will Reichard Kick)
Q3 14:53	Alabama	+25 yd	Will Reichard kickoff for 58 yds , Kayshon Boutte return for 25 yds to the LSU 32
Q3 8:24	Alabama	+2 yd	Mac Jones pass complete to Slade Bolden for 19 yds Slade Bolden fumbled, forced by Jay Ward, recovered by LSU Derek Stingley Jr. , return for 2 yds to the LSU 26
Q3 6:58	LSU	-3 yd	TJ Finley pass complete to Arik Gilbert for a loss of 3 yards Arik Gilbert fumbled, forced by Christopher Allen, recovered by Alab Christopher Allen
Q3 3:39	Alabama	+11 yd	Najee Harris 11 Yd Run (Will Reichard Kick)
Q3 0:31	LSU	+52 yd	Cade York 52 Yd Field Goal
Q4 10:50	Alabama	+34 yd	Will Reichard 34 Yd Field Goal
Q4 10:41	LSU	+21 yd	Max Johnson pass complete to Jontre Kirklin for 21 yds to the LSU 46 for a 1ST down
Q4 3:07	Alabama	+25 yd	Jase McClellan run for 25 yds to the Alab 39 for a 1ST down

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD
TJ FinleyLSU	14/28	143	5.1	1
Max JohnsonLSU	11/17	110	6.5	0
Mac JonesAlabama	20/28	385	13.8	4
Bryce YoungAlabama	0/1	0	0.0	0

Rushing

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
John Emery Jr.LSU	7	79	11.3	1	54
Tyrion Davis-PriceLSU	8	24	3.0	0	9
Tre BradfordLSU	1	5	5.0	0	5
Max JohnsonLSU	5	2	0.4	0	4
TJ FinleyLSU	6	-12	-2.0	0	5
Najee HarrisAlabama	21	145	6.9	3	28
Brian Robinson Jr.Alabama	11	62	5.6	0	11
Jase McClellanAlabama	5	48	9.6	0	25
Roydell WilliamsAlabama	3	19	6.3	0	9
TeamAlabama	2	-2	-1.0	0	0
Bryce YoungAlabama	1	-7	-7.0	0	0

Receiving

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Kayshon BoutteLSU	8	110	13.8	0	43
Tory CarterLSU	3	33	11.0	0	15
Jontre KirklinLSU	2	31	15.5	1	21
Arik GilbertLSU	5	29	5.8	0	15
Trey PalmerLSU	2	16	8.0	0	13
Koy MooreLSU	3	16	5.3	0	9
Tre BradfordLSU	1	12	12.0	0	12
John Emery Jr.LSU	1	7	7.0	0	7
DeVonta SmithAlabama	8	231	28.9	3	65
Jahleel BillingsleyAlabama	4	68	17.0	1	27
John MetchieAlabama	4	58	14.5	0	24
Slade BoldenAlabama	1	19	19.0	0	19
Brian Robinson Jr.Alabama	1	6	6.0	0	6
Najee HarrisAlabama	2	3	1.5	0	8

Show more stats (5 more categories)

Defense

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HUR
Damone ClarkLSU	13	3	0	0	0	0
Jabril CoxLSU	9	4	0	0	0	0
JaCoby StevensLSU	8	4	0	1	0	0
Micah BaskervilleLSU	7	5	0	0	0	0
Neil Farrell Jr.LSU	6	1	0	0	0	0
Ali GayeLSU	5	3	1	2	0	0
Eli RicksLSU	4	3	0	0	2	0
Derek Stingley Jr.LSU	4	2	0	0	1	0
Todd Harris Jr.LSU	4	1	0	0	0	0
Jaquelin RoyLSU	4	1	0	0	0	0
Maurice Hampton Jr.LSU	3	3	0	0	0	0
Cordale FlottLSU	3	0	0	0	0	0
Jay WardLSU	2	1	0	0	0	0
Andre AnthonyLSU	2	0	0	0	0	0
Cameron LewisLSU	1	1	0	0	0	0
Glen LoganLSU	1	0	0	0	0	0
Will Anderson Jr.Alabama	8	4	2	2	0	0
DeMarcco HellamsAlabama	8	2	0	0.5	1	0
Christian HarrisAlabama	7	1	0.5	0.5	0	0
Josh JobeAlabama	6	5	1	1	2	0
Malachi MooreAlabama	6	5	0	0	0	1
Jordan BattleAlabama	5	3	0	0	0	0
Daniel WrightAlabama	3	3	0	0	0	0
Christopher AllenAlabama	3	2	0	1	0	1
Joshua McMillonAlabama	3	1	0	0	0	0
Dylan MosesAlabama	3	1	0	0	1	0
Justin EboigbeAlabama	3	1	0	0	0	0
Phidarian MathisAlabama	3	0	0	0	0	0
Byron YoungAlabama	3	0	0.5	1	0	0
DJ DaleAlabama	3	0	0	0	0	0
Drew SandersAlabama	2	0	0	0	0	0
Jamil BurroughsAlabama	2	0	0	0	0	0
Christian BarmoreAlabama	1	1	1	1	0	0
Najee HarrisAlabama	1	1	0	0	0	0
Ale KahoAlabama	1	1	0	0	0	0
Tim SmithAlabama	1	1	0	0	0	0
Patrick Surtain IIAlabama	0	0	0	0	1	0

Fumbles

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Derek Stingley Jr.LSU	0	0	2
Kayshon BoutteLSU	2	0	0
Arik GilbertLSU	1	1	0
TJ FinleyLSU	1	0	0
Christopher AllenAlabama	0	0	1
Slade BoldenAlabama	1	1	0

Kick Returns

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Kayshon BoutteLSU	3	50	16.7	26	0
Josh WilliamsLSU	1	4	4.0	4	0

Kicking

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Cade YorkLSU	1/1	100.0	52	2/2	5
Will ReichardAlabama	2/2	100.0	34	7/7	13

Punting

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Zach Von RosenbergLSU	6	206	34.3	0	1	45
Charlie ScottAlabama	1	33	33.0	0	0	33

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back.

← Auburn at Alabama Alabama at Arkansas →