LSU Led Alabama 13-10—Then Three Short Sequences Flipped the Game

For most of three quarters, LSU had No. 5 Alabama exactly where it wanted it: uncomfortable, trailing and forced to answer a 90-yard touchdown drive. Then the game turned in three brutally compact sequences.

Quick Answer

LSU led Alabama 13-10 with 2:44 left in the third quarter on November 7, 2026. Alabama answered with a 75-yard touchdown drive, then scored from LSU’s 25 after a 32-yard punt return and from LSU’s 18 after a turnover on downs. The 21-point swing was a complementary-football collapse involving an explosive pass, field position and offensive failure—not one unit alone.

How did LSU’s 13-10 lead disappear?

The official LSU box score records the sequence with painful clarity. Dilin Jones scored on a five-yard run at 2:44 of the third quarter, finishing an 11-play, 90-yard drive that gave LSU a 13-10 lead.

Alabama needed only five plays and 2:08 to answer. Keelon Russell found Rico Scott for 57 yards, then hit Josh Ford for a seven-yard touchdown with 36 seconds left in the quarter. LSU went from controlling the game to trailing 17-13 before its offense touched the ball again.

The first crack was an explosive pass

The 57-yard completion was the only gain of that size in Alabama’s 285-yard afternoon, but it changed the geometry of the game. LSU’s defense had forced the Crimson Tide to live on short gains for most of the day. One coverage failure erased that work and put Alabama in immediate scoring range.

That is the lesson LSU carries into Texas week: a defense can win 50 snaps and still lose the game if it gives away the wrong one. Arch Manning just completed 74% of his passes at Missouri. LSU must keep the top on the coverage while still rallying to Raleek Brown underneath.

The second touchdown began with field position

Early in the fourth quarter, LSU’s offense stalled at its own 11. Grant Chadwick’s 46-yard punt was returned 32 yards to the LSU 25. Russell needed one snap and five seconds to find Cederian Morgan for a touchdown. Alabama led 24-13.

That score belongs in the complementary-football ledger. The defense inherited a short field after a return, but it also allowed the immediate strike. Special teams lost the field position; the defense lost the snap. Championship-level teams survive one of those mistakes. LSU stacked both.

The third touchdown followed an offensive failure

LSU’s next possession lost seven yards and ended on downs at the Tigers’ 18. Alabama required three plays to score again, with Russell finding Kaleb Edwards from four yards out. The lead grew to 31-13 with 6:23 remaining.

That possession connects directly to TigerHype’s analysis of LSU’s 0-for-4 fourth-down night. The failed conversion did more than end a drive. It handed Alabama a red-zone possession when LSU’s defense had almost no room to absorb a mistake.

Why this was not simply a defensive collapse

Alabama scored 21 straight points, but the drive chart shows three different causes: an explosive pass on a full-field drive, a punt return that created a 25-yard field and a turnover on downs that created an 18-yard field. Calling all of it a defensive failure hides the real correction.

LSU needs the offense, defense and special teams to stop magnifying one another’s mistakes. After the Tigers took the lead, a single explosive became a short field, then another short field. Momentum was not magic. It was a sequence of concrete, preventable losses.

What must change before Texas?

First, LSU must finish drives so the defense is not defending sudden-change situations. The 31-13 final recap showed how a 457-yard offense can still leave the team exposed when points do not follow.

Second, punt coverage must erase the return lane. Texas blocked a punt at Missouri and has already shown it can steal possessions on special teams. LSU cannot give the Longhorns the same compressed field Alabama enjoyed.

Third, keep the coverage structure disciplined after LSU scores. Texas’s 4-for-4 red-zone day at Missouri makes every short field dangerous.

The bottom line

LSU was not overwhelmed for 60 minutes. It was broken by three linked sequences after taking the lead. That diagnosis matters because it is fixable. The Tigers do not need a total rebuild before Texas; they need to stop one mistake from becoming the next one.

And LSU still has a passing-game foundation: Jackson Harris’s 166-yard breakout gives the offense a weapon capable of helping the entire team regain control.