Alabama Beat LSU 31-13 as Russell Throws Three Touchdowns

No. 5 Alabama beat No. 14 LSU 31-13 on Saturday, November 7, 2026, at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Crimson Tide scored 14 points in the fourth quarter to pull away from a game LSU led late in the third quarter. Alabama quarterback Keelon Russell completed 17 of 24 passes for 206 yards and three touchdowns, and he ran eight times for 25 yards.

A tight game for three quarters

Both teams came off a bye week, and both opened with field goals. Connor Talty put Alabama ahead from 43 yards, and Scott Starzyk answered with a 23-yard kick for LSU inside the first 10 minutes of the game.

Starzyk missed a 56-yard field goal in the second quarter. Alabama took over and drove 62 yards in 11 plays, and Ryan Coleman-Williams scored on a one-yard reverse to give Alabama a 10-3 lead. LSU had a chance to tie the game before halftime. Sam Leavitt moved the Tigers toward midfield, but Luke Metz intercepted him and returned the ball to the LSU 48-yard line with under 40 seconds left in the half. Alabama led 10-3 at the break.

LSU scored the first 10 points of the second half. An 11-play, 53-yard drive ended with a 41-yard field goal by Starzyk. On the next scoring drive, Leavitt completed passes of 16 yards to Trey'Dez Green and 32 yards to Jackson Harris, a pass interference call against Carmelo O'Neal on fourth down kept the drive alive, and Dilin Jones scored on a five-yard pitch with 2:44 left in the third quarter. LSU led 13-10, its first lead of the game.

Russell answers at once

Alabama needed five plays to take the lead back. Russell found Rico Scott across the middle for a 57-yard gain to the LSU 18-yard line. Facing third down and nine in the red zone, Russell scrambled for 10 yards. One play later he threw a seven-yard touchdown pass to Josh Ford, 40 seconds before the fourth quarter, and Alabama led 17-13.

The fourth quarter belonged to Alabama. Coleman-Williams returned a punt 32 yards, and Russell hit Cederian Morgan for a 25-yard touchdown on the next play. LSU then tried a fourth down deep in its own end, and Devan Thompkins sacked Leavitt. Alabama took over at the LSU 18-yard line, and Kaleb Edwards scored from four yards out, running down the sideline to finish the scoring at 31-13.

LSU wasted its yards

LSU gained more than 450 yards and still scored only 13 points. The Tigers missed a field goal, failed on four fourth-down tries, lost a muffed punt, and gave the ball away on the Leavitt interception. Two of the failed fourth downs came inside field goal range, close enough to add points that never arrived.

Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer is now 3-0 against LSU as the Alabama coach. LSU head coach Lane Kiffin is 0-6 against Alabama across three SEC schools, and LSU fans began leaving the stadium with more than six minutes still to play.

What it means

Alabama strengthened its College Football Playoff case with a road win over the team ranked No. 14 in the first playoff rankings. The win sits next to Alabama's road win at Kentucky, the only loss Kentucky took in the first two months of the season.

LSU fell to 6-3 with three games left in the regular season. A third loss leaves the Tigers a thin path to the playoff, and two of the remaining opponents are strong teams. LSU hosts Texas on Saturday, November 14, in its last home game of the regular season.