LSU, Lane Kiffin can't escape Alabama's shadow in blowout home loss

LSU hired Lane Kiffin in part to finally escape big brother Alabama's shadow. Instead, on Saturday afternoon in Death Valley, the Tigers were swallowed by it.

The Associated Press No. 5 Alabama Crimson Tide (7-2, 5-2 in SEC) went on the road to Baton Rouge and for the eighth time in nine tries walked away with a win, taking down the No. 12 LSU Tigers (6-3, 3-3 in SEC), 31-13, while ending the game on a 21-0 run.

The result looked a lot like most others in the one-sided Alabama-LSU rivalry in the years since former Tide coach Nick Saban turned the program into a national power. Try as the Tigers might, and they aren't nearly enough to keep up with the national power.

LSU, Lane Kiffin experience more of the same against Alabama in 31-13 loss

Take a cursory glance at the final stats and you might think LSU ran away with a victory. The Tigers out-gained the Tide, 457-285, holding them to 2.7 yards per carry and 3-of-11 (27.2 percent) on third downs.

But Alabama was even better situationally; in addition to only allowing five third-down conversions on 14 attempts, the Tide held the Tigers to 0-of-4 on fourth downs. LSU ran nearly as many plays in Alabama territory (49) as Alabama ran total (53) but couldn't finish drives, finishing with only 10 points in the red zone. Overall, of the eight Tigers drives that ended inside the Tide's 40-yard line, three resulted in points.

Since the two teams' epic 2011 regular-season meeting at Alabama which LSU won, 9-6, in overtime, the Tide have dominated the series, improving to 14-2 over the last 16 meetings after Saturday. Most haven't been close. Only three of Alabama's wins during the stretch (and none since 2021) have come by fewer than 10 points, while both of LSU's wins (2019, 2022) were by seven points combined.

The result continued Bama's dominance over Kiffin, too. The former Ole Miss coach fell to 0-6 against his previous employer.