'Bama upends No. 16 LSU in overtime thriller

By: Jimmy Carter

Posted: 11/12/08

Rashad Johnson's overtime interception and quarterback John Parker Wilson's subsequent touchdown plunge from a yard out made Nick Saban a winner in his return to Baton Rouge, La., as the top-ranked Tide pulled out a thrilling 27-21 overtime victory over No. 16 LSU (6-3, 3-3 Southeastern Conference.)

Alabama (10-0, 6-0 SEC) clinched the SEC Western division championship with the win and kept its place in the driver's seat for a berth in the BCS national championship game.

"The players on both sides played their hearts out," said Alabama coach Nick Saban. "LSU's team played an outstanding game. Our players played hard in the game with a lot of tenacity and overcame a lot of adversity. My hats off to our players and the way they competed."

Alabama had an opportunity to win the game in regulation, but Leigh Tiffin's 29-yard field goal attempt was blocked as time expired, sending the game into overtime.

LSU got the ball first in overtime but quarterback Jarrett Lee was intercepted by Johnson in the back of the end zone, Lee's fourth interception of the game and Johnson's school-record tying third pick on the afternoon.

"I saw him roll out and we brought a blitz to pull him up because they had been running that play a lot in the second half," Johnson said. "It was a great play call by us to blitz him on that side so he couldn't get all the way out and throw the out route like he normally does. Then he was looking for his receiver on that side and just overthrew him."

Alabama immediately went for the big play, and Wilson hit freshman receiver Julio Jones for a 24-yard gain to the LSU one-yard line.

"After that interception Coach Saban said let's take a shot, so of course we threw it to Julio Jones," Wilson said. "He made a great play. It was a back shoulder ball. [He made a] great adjustment. He was able to beat them out."

Wilson punched it in on a sneak two plays later, snapping a five-game losing streak to the Tigers and giving Saban a triumphant return to the school he led to a national championship in 2003 before leaving for the NFL's Miami Dolphins.

Saban tried to downplay the personal significance of the game.

"It's really not sweeter clinching the [SEC] West in Tiger Stadium," Saban said. "It really isn't. My emotions for this place are positive, not negative. I didn't leave LSU to go to Alabama. I left LSU to go to Miami. Myself and my family learned that we didn't like professional football as much as we liked college. So we had the best opportunity to return to college football at the University of Alabama. There is nothing personal in that for me."

Bulldogs rally past Kentucky

Georgia junior quarterback Matthew Stafford threw for a career-high 376 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winner, as the No. 13 Bulldogs (8-2, 5-2 Southeastern Conference) edged Kentucky 42-38 at Commonwealth Stadium in Lexington, Ky.

Stafford found freshman receiver A.J. Green for a highlight-reel 1-yard touchdown catch with less than two minutes remaining in the contest, and the Georgia defense thwarted a Kentucky drive deep in Bulldogs territory to seal the victory.

"I say the word of the day is thankfulness," said Georgia coach Mark Richt. "A lot of excitement, two great teams battling like mad. That was just a barnburner, that's the only way of putting it. I'm proud of how our guys finished."

Prior to Stafford's touchdown pass, Kentucky had outscored the Bulldogs 24-14 in the second half and was looking to give Georgia their second straight loss.

The Wildcats took advantage of big special teams plays that set up three relatively easy scores, and Georgia receiver Mohamed Massaquoi fumbled twice.

"The special teams made some mistakes, gave the defense two very short fields to defend," Richt said. "Like we said, Mohamed [Massaquoi] did fumble twice and our defense had a bad spot there too."

The loss was Kentucky's second close loss against a highly ranked foe this season. The Wildcats (6-4, 2-4 SEC) also lost at Alabama 17-14 on Oct. 4.

"Obviously this is a very, very tough loss," Brooks said. "One of the toughest losses we've had since I've been here. For some reason we started like we were sleep-walking."

Georgia faced third-and-goal from the Kentucky 11-yard line when Stafford evaded the Kentucky rush and found Green, who made a leaping grab over three Wildcat defenders.

Kentucky quickly drove down the field and had a first-and-10 at the Georgia 13-yard line, but quarterback Randall Cobb's screen pass was intercepted by Bulldogs lineman Demarcus Dobbs.

"I just couldn't believe I made that pass," Cobb said. "I saw it was covered and I should have thrown it away, but I have to live with that mistake now. I thought I played pretty well up until I made that pass and it (the interception) just canceled out everything."

Gators steamroll 'Dores,

No. 5 Florida kept up its dominating level of play, clinching the SEC Eastern division crown with a 42-14 win over Vanderbilt (5-4, 3-3 Southeastern Conference).

Gators junior quarterback Tim Tebow accounted for five first-half touchdowns, three through the air and two on the ground, as Florida had punched their ticket to Atlanta by halftime with a 35-0 advantage.

"It's definitely exciting, but we're just going to take one game at a time from here on out," Tebow said. "We're just trying to get to Atlanta for the SEC Championship game. We came out with some option keeps and our offense just tried to make the most out of every play."

The win was Florida's eighteenth consecutive victory against the Commodores, and kept the Gators in contention for a berth in the BCS title game. If Florida beats Alabama in the SEC championship game they could sneak into the national championship game.

"We're just focusing on our team winning and if we take care of ourselves that things will fall into place," Tebow said. "Who knows what is going to happen. Making it to Atlanta for the SEC championship was one of our goals at the beginning of the season but our goal is to take care of business every Saturday."

The Gators assured that the contest would never be in doubt with three first-quarter scores. Tebow found receiver Louis Murphy for a 12-yard touchdown with 8:49 left in the first quarter.

Tebow added touchdown runs of 26 and eight yards to give Florida a 21-0 lead after 15 minutes.

"We played a really outstanding football team tonight," Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson. "Their speed is really impressive and we helped them out a whole bunch with an interception and a blocked punt. That's no way to compete in one of these games. It had to be where we were making them earn everything and play smart on offense and not turn the ball over and we didn't do that and we didn't play very well to help ourselves."