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— First-year LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels was unflappable in the face of an Alabama defense that sacked him six times.
First-year Tigers coach Brian Kelly made bold decisions while trying to capture a maiden victory over Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide.
Together, Daniels and Kelly helped produce a scene of sheer rapture at Death Valley —- something that was hard to envision when the two joined a program coming off consecutive non-winning seasons.
Daniels ran for 25-yard touchdown in overtime and then found Mason Taylor for a do-or-die 2-point conversion, and 15th-ranked LSU seized control of the SEC West race with 32-31 victory over No. 6 Alabama on Saturday night.
“I had never beaten Alabama,” Kelly said. “I was emotional, not for myself, but I was emotional for our team. Because I know what we looked like in January and to see where we are today, that’s pretty emotional.”
Jubilant fans stormed the field after LSU (7-2, 5-1 Southeastern Conference) triumphed in a riveting game that included six second-half lead changes and a tying field goal by Alabama in the final 30 seconds.
Alabama (7-2, 4-2) began overtime with the ball and took a 31-24 lead on Roydell Williams’ second touchdown of the game.
But Daniels needed one play in overtime to score and force a decision by Kelly to try to tie it with a kick or let the Arizona State transfer try to win it.
“If you asked me before the game started, ‘Hey I’m going to give you one play and if you are successful on that one play you are going to beat Alabama,’ I would have taken it 100 times out of a hundred,” Kelly said.
