No. 1 Alabama blasts LSU, 55-17

Alabama's trip to the bayou occurred a few weeks later than originally planned. Its blowout, on the other hand, was delivered in expected fashion.

No. 1 Alabama exacted revenge over LSU while ripping apart a toothless Tigers team, 55-17, Saturday night. The lopsided win marks the biggest margin of victory by either side of the rivalry since the Tide’s 42-0 victory in 1925. Alabama's 55 points are the most scored by either team over the rivalry's 85-game history.

Alabama (9-0) clinched the SEC West with the win, earning a spot in the SEC Championship against No. 6 Florida (8-1) on Dec. 19 in Atlanta. The Gators clinched the SEC East with a win over Tennessee earlier in the day. Alabama will close out its regular season with a trip to Arkansas next week.

The Tide wasted no time getting to work Saturday, scoring on each of its seven possessions in the first half, including touchdowns on its first five drives. Alabama went into the break up 45-14, piling up a staggering 469 yards and 20 first downs over the game’s first two quarters. It finished with 650 total yards on the night.

DeVonta Smith recorded the fourth 200-yard game of his career, finishing with 231 yards and three touchdowns on eight catches. He now sits 49 receiving yards away from Amari Cooper's school record of 3,463.

Mac Jones completed his first 12 passes of the game before finishing 20 of 28 for 385 yards and four touchdowns. Najee Harris recorded his fourth 100-yard game of the season with 145 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries.

Alabama was without four assistant coaches as Karl Scott (cornerbacks), Freddie Roach (defensive line), Sal Sunseri (outside linebackers and Holmon Wiggins (receivers) who did not travel with the team for unstated reasons.

LSU (3-5) is just the third defending national champion to record more than four losses since the turn of the century. The 2011 Auburn team and 2008 LSU team both went 8-5. LSU has two remaining games on its schedule, including a matchup against Florida next week.

Alabama improved to 54-26-5 all-time against LSU. The Tide has now won its last five games inside Tiger Stadium. Last season, LSU snapped an eight-game losing streak to Alabama with a 46-41 victory inside of Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Smith made one of the best catches of his Alabama career, out jumping LSU cornerback Derek Stingley to make an acrobatic grab in the back of the end zone for his third touchdown of the game. At that point, the Alabama receiver had seven receptions for 219 yards. There were still 46 seconds left in the second quarter. It was the second time in Smith’s career that he had recorded 200 yards and three touchdowns in a half.

Through nine games, Smith leads Alabama with 80 receptions for 1,305 yards and 15 touchdowns. That already surpasses his 68 receptions for 1,256 and 14 touchdowns over 13 games last season. According to ESPN, Smith is the third player in SEC history with 1,200 receiving yards in multiple seasons, joining former Ole Miss receiver A.J. Brown and former Vanderbilt receiver Jordan Matthews.

After recording his first career sack in last week’s Iron Bowl, Will Anderson picked up right where he left off against LSU. The freshman outside linebacker recorded eight stops, including two sacks while helping to make a fourth-down stop in the first quarter.

Christopher Allen had a strip and a fumble recovery to go with three stops. Fellow Baton Rouge natives Christian Harris and Dylan Moses also performed well against their hometown team. Harris finished with seven tackles, Moses had three tackles and a pass breakup.

DeMarcco Hellams tallied eight stops and a pass breakup while filling in for starting safety Daniel Wright, who was ejected for targeting in the first half. Josh Jobe also had a solid day, recording six tackles, including a sack with a pair of pass breakups.