TUSCALOOSA, Alabama — The No. 15 Alabama football team came to Baton Rouge looking to survive Death Valley and keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive. The Crimson Tide finally did a lot more than survive as they made a statement in Kalen DeBoer’s first SEC road win by beating LSU 42-13.

Strong defense was the theme for the Crimson Tide as they turned LSU over three times and didn’t allow a touchdown until there were just 11 seconds left in the game. However, like Alabama’s game against Georgia, the Crimson Tide’s offense was surgical and executed at a high level, as their performance buried LSU in their own backyard.

Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe led the way, notching the second four-touchdown rushing game of his career in the process, joining former Crimson Tide superstar Shaun Alexander as the only men to have multiple games scoring four or more times on the field in a game in program history. .

Milroe took just seven carries for 10 yards against Vanderbilt and 14 for 11 yards against Tennessee after a difficult matchup with the Georgia Bulldogs. He combined for 29 more against South Carolina and Missouri for 86 total yards and two touchdowns as speculation grew about the quarterback’s health. The bye week and his effort on Saturday night put to rest doubts about his health after some challenging performances in October.

“Yeah, I think so,” Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer said. “He probably had some good vibes from a year ago as well. I think there’s something about us getting him off to a fast start and, again, other guys also did their job to help him get to that place. There are blocks that other guys are doing. I think our line played physical. I think we won the trenches, both the offensive line and the defensive line, but opening up some holes for him, everyone did their part and helped take the pressure off in the big moments where he has to convert. .on a third and extra long every drive. And when we’re able to stay ahead of the chains, we can hit it three yards, five yards, eight yards and then all of a sudden a big explosive play. Yeah, I felt like that certainly. He was running well tonight, wasn’t he? He was fresh.”

Alabama offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan revealed a beautiful game plan Saturday as the Crimson Tide opted for football first in a hostile environment. Sheridan’s early plays got the ball quickly into the hands of Jam Miller, Kendrick Law, Ryan Williams and Justice Haynes, forcing the Tigers to start considering something other than Milroe. In fact, Milroe’s first carry didn’t come until the eighth play of the opening drive, marching for 39 yards and a touchdown to emphatically set the tone for the rest of the game.

When Sheridan finally decided to coach Milroe, he opted to show LSU a play that would haunt them all night. Alabama lined up in a travel set with Williams, Germie Bernard and Law on the outside with tight end CJ Dippre on the weakside end.

The play is designed toward the weak side or away from the receivers. It is designed to look like a quarterback read, but instead is more of a duo with the running back serving as the primary blocker.

Sheridan actually traps LSU in a bad drive, accentuating the Tigers’ problems the first time this play is called. LSU’s inside back is attacking Alabama’s right side, taking himself out of the play, Kadyn Proctor and Tyler Booker double-team their defensive lineman until Proctor confronts the linebacker and from there it’s a bad angle for the quarterbacks’ safety. Tigers open the hole. for Milroe to run in and score the first goal of the game.

Faking the handoff to the running back makes the whole play work. Because? Because you’ve already spent the first seven plays of the game handing off the runner, making the Tigers believe you can and will do it on any down. It works because Miller and Haynes set the tone in the contest and are dangerous enough to beat any defense. Why did the safety take a bad angle on the first touchdown of the game? Because he was playing the possible transfer to Miller, further widening Milroe’s gap.

It appears that the running back’s responsibility on this play is to slowly play a fake handoff, and then send the most dangerous man through the B gap first and then to the final man at the line of scrimmage second. Milroe stares at the last man in line, making them think he’s reading them, but in reality he just wants to make the defender stop. Hesitation at the second level allows Alabama’s offensive line to eradicate opposing defensive lines and work at the second level, creating running lanes that Milroe’s athleticism can take advantage of.

Sheridan seemed to use this running action as a big trap, using it only four times in the game, but three of them for impactful plays in the game. Milroe gained 70 of his 185 yards and two of his four rushing touchdowns in this action, as LSU seemed in a bad mood every time he was called.

Alabama has three games left in the 2024 regular season and now teams know this play is in the Crimson Tide’s bag of tricks. How will teams try to game plan for this difficult action? And more importantly, how will Sheridan and the Crimson Tide use it over the last month to create more complications and reveal new wrinkles?