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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Joe Burrow passed for 393 yards and three touchdowns and No. 1 LSU snapped an eight-game losing streak to No. 2 Alabama with a 46-41 victory Saturday.
The Tigers (9-0, 5-0 Southeastern Conference, No. 2 CFP) are no longer second fiddle in the SEC West, or maybe in the playoff rankings. And Burrow stamped himself as the Heisman Trophy front-runner with a gutty performance when he answered every challenge from ‘Bama.
And the challenges were plentiful.
The Crimson Tide (8-1, 5-1, No. 3 CFP) rallied from a 33-13 halftime deficit to three times to pull within a touchdown in the fourth quarter. It seemingly kept going from game seemingly over to game on.
The showdown lived up to its billing as a duel between two high-powered offenses and star quarterbacks with President Donald Trump attending. Tua Tagovailoa launched an 85-yard touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith with 1:21 left after the Tigers’ own scoring march.
Justin Jefferson recovered the onside kick and LSU ran out the clock.
Burrow completed 31 of 39 passes and ran for 64 yards and was carried most of the way off the field by two teammates.
“He’s one of the best we’ve had here,” LSU coach Ed Orgeron said. “But we’ve still got four games left and we’re going down the road, we’re going to try to win every game and we’re going to bring a championship back to Louisiana.”
That’s what Burrow sought when he transferred to LSU from Ohio State.
“We’re not done yet,” the two-year starter said. “It’s Game 9. We’ve got three more regular-season ones and the SEC championship. This was never our goal. We’ve got bigger goals than this.”
Clyde Edwards-Helaire ran for three touchdowns and caught a scoring pass, getting emotional on the sideline after a late touchdown that appeared once again to put the game away.
Tagovailoa, 20 days removed from ankle surgery, was 21 of 40 for 418 yards and four touchdowns with an interception and a fumble. He was called a “game-time decision” all week, looked shaky early and appeared to be limping after the game, but he kept Alabama in it.
Coach Nick Saban said Tagovailoa practiced all week without any issues.
“He said he could play in the game, he wanted to play in the game and he thought he could go out and do a good job,” Saban said. “I think he was a warrior in terms of what he did.”
Smith had 213 yards and a pair of touchdowns on seven catches for Alabama.
LSU outgained Alabama by a slender 559-541. The Tigers had scored just 39 combined points in the last five meetings.
