Alabama vs. LSU: Grading The Crimson Tide’s Performance

C stands for communication which is something the offense lacked most of the game.

A great deal of this can be contributed to the noise generated by the crowd in the newly expanded Tiger Stadium. Lane Kiffin tried to establish the passing game by throwing the deep ball when receivers were in man-to-man coverage. It was not as much bad play calling as it was a failure to execute.

Sims inability to connect on deep routes led to a season-low 44.4 percent completion percentage. LSU's secondary stayed true to its bump and run style of coverage and it forced Sims to throw in tighter windows. You could sense trouble after Sims' struggled to find Amari Cooper as much as he wanted to.

Cooper still ended the night with impressive numbers, and he picked up a few more receiving records while he was at it. But not even he can say that he had a flawless game after dropping a few passes including one on the final drive (yes, Amari Cooper dropped a pass, so you can now say that you have seen it all). O.J. Howard, Christion Jones, and DeAndrew White made the big receptions when it mattered most. White was able to snatch the game winning touchdown in the face of LSU's best secondary player, Jalen Mills.

The passing game came up big, but it was not always on point and neither was the ground game. Kiffin's aggressive play calling took carries away from T.J. Yeldon and Derrick Henry, which eventually led to missed opportunities. On third downs where they had 5 yards or less to go, Alabama passed the ball five times and ran just two times. The Tide might have found more success moving the ball if they would have focused on a more balanced attack.

An untimely fumble by Yeldon - a hero in this matchup two years ago - in the fourth quarter that almost gave LSU the win. So while we believe that Kiffin should have called on the ground game a little more, at the end of the night, it was the heroics of Kiffin's play calling and Sims' passing that won Alabama the game.

This does not even come close to the Tide's best performance in terms of offensive production, but it was the will to win that helped saved both their grade and their season.

If there is anything that Nick Saban is ever pleased with, it is a solid performance put on by his defense. That is exactly what he got on Saturday night.

We expected LSU to stick to its ground and pound style of play. The Tigers ran the ball 56 times with six different players. For most of the game, Alabama challenged the run by stacking the box, and in return only allowed 183 yards rushing. It was a job that not many could handle, but the Tide's improving defensive line and linebacking corps rose to the challenge.

Jarran Reed, a defensive lineman just one year removed from the junior college level, came up big in Baton Rouge finishing with a team leading 15 tackles. Right behind him is the rising leader of the entire defense, Reggie Ragland. The junior finished the night with 13 total tackles with 7 of those coming in the first quarter. The emergence of players like Reed and Ragland only proves that this defense has come a long way since the start of the season.

In the rare occasions where the defense receives a bad grade, it is usually due to the secondary. The secondary held its own in this close game. Granted, they did face an unproven quarterback in Anthony Jennings, but they only allowed eight completed passes for less than 100 yards. The one hiccup in the secondary came when Jennings completed a touchdown pass to true freshman wide receiver Malachi Dupre in the first quarter to give LSU an early lead. Cyrus Jones was in good coverage and Dupre made a better play on the ball. Jones later redeemed himself by knocking down a pass in the endzone that ended the game.

The main focus for Alabama's defense moving forward should be continuing to improve. Jennings may have not been a passing threat, but he was able to pick up a few first downs using his legs. This problem will need to be addressed as the Tide gets ready to face scrambling quarterbacks like Dak Prescott and Nick Marshall. With that being said, we know that this is a championship caliber defense.

Special teams does not have a lot it can do, so that is why one mistake will affect your grade heavily. That one mistake came when Adam Griffith missed a chip shot 27-yard field goal early in the game. Unless you have lived in a cave for the last five seasons, it is widely known that kickers have been the achilles heal of Alabama on a yearly basis. That is why nerves were at an all-time high when Griffith lined up to kick a 27-yard game tying field goal. Nerves turned into excitement when Griffith made the kick and sent the game into overtime.

It seems nerves are non-existent when punter JK Scott steps onto the field. Scott had to punt a career high (remember he is a true freshman) 9 times and averaged over 48 yards per punt. His 66 yard punt in the fourth quarter may have officially made him a Ray Guy Award finalist, if he was not already one.

The best special teams play of the night did not come from Griffith or Scott. Instead, it came from linebacker Reuben Foster. With three seconds left to play in the game, LSU star running back Leonard Fournette returned a kick-off to the 19-yard line before Foster laid down one of the biggest hits of the year. Nick Saban later told Marquavious Burnett of the Anniston Star that the hit "elevated our energy."

With that, we leave you with that massive hit: