RIVALRY REWIND: Alabama gets revenge over LSU in national championship game
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Alabama and LSU will meet in a top-five matchup for the fifth time in eight seasons when the No. 1 Crimson Tide travels to take on the No. 3 Tigers on Saturday at 7 p.m. CT inside Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, La. This week, BamaInsider will take a look at the past four top-five meetings between the two schools. Today we continue our series with Alabama’s 21-0 victory in the 2012 BCS National Championship Game.
2012: No. 2 Alabama 21, No. 1 LSU 0
After suffering a heartbreaking 9-6 overtime loss at home to LSU earlier in the season, Alabama got its second crack at the Tigers. A series of upsets across college football allowed the Crimson Tide to reach the BCS National Championship Game despite not playing for its conference championship.
The all-SEC matchup wasn’t popular across the nation as many felt Big 12 champion Oklahoma State should have earned the No. 2 spot, especially after blowing out Oklahoma 44-10 the week before the final BCS rankings were released. However, the Cowboys weren’t able to overcome an embarrassing 37-31 overtime loss to hapless Iowa State earlier in the season.
The rematch between Alabama and LSU was the only time two teams from the same conference met in the BCS National Championship Game. By all accounts, it was the right call. Alabama and LSU entered the matchup with the No. 1 and No. 2 defenses in the nation respectively. In fact, Alabama led the nation in total defense (191.25 yards per game), scoring defense (8.83 points per game), rushing defense (74.92 ypg) and passing defense (116.3 ypg).
What happened:
After Alabama connected on just 2 of 6 field goal attempts in its previous loss to LSU, the Crimson Tide exorcized its kicking demons against the Tigers. Jeremey Shelley tied a bowl record with five field goals on the night as he went 5 of 7 with a long of 44 yards.
However, the story of the game was Alabama’s defense which held LSU to just 92 yards, preventing the Tigers from crossing midfield until halfway through the fourth quarter. Crimson Tide linebacker Courtney Upshaw earned defensive MVP, tallying seven tackles and a sack while spending the majority of the evening in LSU’s backfield.
With both teams locked in a defensive struggle, Alabama settled for five field goals before running back Trent Richardson delivered the final dagger with a 34-yard touchdown run with 4:36 remaining in the game. The touchdown was the only one scored by either team in two combined meetings.
How it could have gone differently:
