Alabama football went to Baton Rouge on Saturday night, where so many teams have had their dreams die, and made themselves right at home in a place that many consider to be Bryant Denny West. The Crimson Tide made a statement in a blowout win over the LSU Tigers.
The win not only emphatically shows that Alabama is a playoff-quality team, but this version of the Crimson Tide is every bit good enough to win the national championship.
It was a warning shot to the rest of college football that, in the words of Nick Saban, had buried Alabama. The Tide was dead, buried, and gone following the loss to Tennessee in Knoxville a few weeks ago.
But Alabama responded. The leaders on the team got everyone to buy in and the Crimson Tide started playing to the standard. They won 34-0 at home over a ranked Missouri team before the bye week, though some of the most ardent naysayers were still making excuses because of the injuries Missouri had.
What are they going to say now?
3 Takeaways from Alabama's statement win over LSU
3. Alabama has its offensive identity
It felt like the ground game was destined to be Alabama's identity this season with the nation's best running quarterback in Jalen Milroe, a talented group of running backs, and an offensive line that has four projected future draft picks in the NFL. It took a while for it to sort out, but it seems to have finally come to fruition. Just in the nick of time.
Credit to Kalen DeBoer and Nick Sheridan for the gameplan on offense this week. They ran the football, particularly with the quarterback, and LSU had zero answer for it. The traditional run game with Jam Miller and Justice Haynes was a slog, but they still stuck with it and the duo combined for 21 carries. It allowed for the big plays from Milroe on the ground to open up.
Milroe scored four touchdowns on the ground. He had touchdown runs of 39, 10, and 19 yards, and then the kill shot, a 72-yard touchdown to open the fourth quarter.
This is the recipe for this offense.
2. Kane Wommack deserves his flowers
I said it when Alabama shut out Missouri two weeks ago, and plenty of commenters said they wanted to wait and see what happened in Baton Rouge. Well, now we've seen it. Kane Wommack has worked wonders with this young defensive unit.
He got a lot of criticism for the Vanderbilt loss, but Wommack has had to work with a lot of underclassmen this year, and it's clear how much they've grown through the season.
They got pressure on Garrett Nussmeier, sacking him twice. They forced him into three turnovers - two interceptions and a fumble.
Alabama played complimentary football on both sides of the ball, but when the defense needed to make a play, they did.
Alabama was leading just 14-6 late in the first half and had just gotten stuffed on a 4th-and-1 just inside LSU territory. It was a golden opportunity for the Tigers to get points and get to halftime with the game potentially tied. LSU would receive the 2nd half kick.
Instead, on the first play following the 4th down stop, Jihaad Campbell came up the middle like he was shot out of a cannon and sacked Nussmeier, stripping the ball in the process. Tim Smith recovered, and Milroe and the offense punched the ball into the endzone a few plays later to give Alabma a 21-6 halftime lead.
A defense that once had a lot of question marks now looks like a strength for Alabama heading into the stretch run of the season.
1. This version of Jalen Milroe makes Alabama a national title contender
You'll never convince me that Milroe was healthy for the majority of October. The version of Milroe we saw in Baton Rouge was unrecognizable from the guy we saw a few weeks ago in Knoxville. He looked afraid to run against Tennessee. Against LSU, he stuck his foot in the ground and looked like the explosive runner we've come to expect.
Milroe only threw for 109 yards, but he didn't need to do much in the air with the rain pouring down from the Louisiana sky. He ran for 185 yards and four touchdowns, repeatedly gashing the LSU defense over and over again.
This version of Milroe strikes fear into every defensive coordinator in college football. Because he made the throws that were there to make. He took his check downs. He narrowly missed a deep ball to Ryan Williams that would have been a touchdown.
When he's dialed in, and when he's fully healthy, Milroe is the most feared player in the country. And Alabama football is not only a playoff-worthy team, but fully capable of winning the national championship.