Takeaways from shocking Alabama football road loss to Florida State
The Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread and Alabama beat writer Colin Gay reflect on Alabama football’s 31-17 loss to Florida State.
- The win is significant for the SEC after losses by Alabama and Texas to non-conference opponents.
- LSU’s defense, a previous weakness under coach Brian Kelly, appears to be much improved.
- The victory establishes LSU as a potential national championship contender.
CLEMSON, S.C. — Weeks from now, while we’re deep into a crazy ride of a college football season, we’ll look back and marvel at how LSU saved the SEC season out of the gate.
And set itself up for a national championship run.
LSU coach Brian Kelly said this was his best team in four seasons. What he didn’t say was this team had characteristics unlike any he has had in Baton Rouge.
Tough. Smart. Resilient.
In one gut-check of a game, LSU distanced itself from Kelly’s three previous teams with an undeniable grit and fortitude in a 17-10 win over Clemson. And the Tigers did it with defense.
That’s right, defense.
The one thing that has kept LSU from reaching its potential under Kelly now looks like the one thing that could make this team so dangerous this fall. No matter the circumstances, the defense kept making big plays.
LSU overcame two turnovers on the road, one in the red zone. It overcame a blown call that took a touchdown pass off the board.
And it stopped Clemson’s final drive at the LSU 15 with yet another big play from a defense than held Clemson’s high-powered offense to 261 yards.
And they saved the SEC’s reputation. For a day, at least.
Because after Florida State humiliated SEC heavyweight Alabama, and Ohio State exposed Texas and hyped quarterback Arch Manning, there wasn’t much left for the big, bad SEC on opening weekend.
The conference that holds itself above all others was in danger of three losses in marquee non-conference games, and a bunch of wins against nobodies. By nobodies, I mean one opponent’s mascot was actually “Sharks.”
And no, Adam Sandler was nowhere to produce the carnage.
But LSU did show up in a big game, a line in the sand game where it had to clearly declare where it was headed under Kelly. A team that reaches almost there with a useless bowl win, or a program that rolls into big games and squeezes the life out of them.
So it should come as no surprise that the unit Kelly worked on more than any this offseason, was the group that saved the day. The defense, the one thing Kelly hasn’t been able to figure out, now looks elite.
By the time Clemson’s high-powered offense took the field with 1:46 to play, it had barely reached 200 yards of offense. The final drive ended when linebacker Harold Perkins Jr. (remember him?) forced an errant throw at the LSU 15.
It was one of many forced errors by the defense, and specifically, the pass rush. That, everyone, is what big boy football is at its core.
It’s a game of will and want.
It’s not cheap talk about whose stadium is the real Death Valley, or this being Kelly’s best LSU team — and that’s why you’re prepared to win a season opener for the first time since the electric days of Joe Burrow in 2019.
Football is finding your inner fortitude, and backing up words with action. It’s not running your mouth for social media likes or viral moments.
Earlier this summer, Florida State quarterback Tommy Castellanos did just that when he said Nick Saban wasn’t around anymore at Alabama. So Tide star linebacker Deonte Lawson responded at SEC Media Days, on the biggest stage of the offseason, by declaring, “all disrespect will be addressed accordingly.”
The only “addressing” in the SEC came from LSU in front of a raucous and wild stadium in the Lowcountry, one that was juiced for this thing for months. LSU took big blows from Clemson on both sides of the ball early on, but kept grinding, kept figuring ways to stay close until it figured out the Clemson defense in the second half.
Didn’t matter that the Tigers fumbled on their second possession, and it led to a Clemson field goal. Or that it fumbled a possession at the end of the first half — this time on fourth down at the Clemson 12.
Because the one thing that Kelly made sure wouldn’t let him down again, did it when it mattered most. The defense that struggled for the majority of his first three seasons – wasting a Heisman Trophy season from quarterback Jayden Daniels – kept punching back.
Impact players from the transfer portal (including edges Jack Pyburn and Patrick Payton, and defensive backs Mansoor Delane and Tamarcus Cooley) have changed the way LSU plays defense. So has the return of linebacker Perkins Jr., to his freshman form.
All it took was the LSU offense, the one staple under Kelly that hasn’t wavered in three seasons, to figure out Clemson’s defense. Onec quarterback Garrett Nussmeier started making big throws, even an obviously blown call that negated a touchdown pass wasn’t enough to stop this train.
And that, of course, was welcome relief for the SEC.
For a week, at least.
Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.
