The Alabama–LSU football rivalry, also known as the "First Saturday in November" and the "Saban Bowl", is an American college football rivalry between the

Alabama Crimson Tide football The Alabama Crimson Tide football program represents the University of Alabama (variously Alabama, UA, or Bama) in the sport of American football. The team competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Asso ...

team of the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publi ...

and the

LSU Tigers football The LSU Tigers football program, also known as the Fighting Tigers, represents Louisiana State University in college football. The Tigers compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and ...

team of

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

. Both schools are charter members of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC), and both universities' sports teams have competed in the SEC's West Division since the conference was split into two divisions in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engines ...

Series history

Sidline picture of Alabama vs LSU on November 5th 2011

The series started in 1895, with a 12–6 win for LSU in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of count ...

. The rivalry has been played in Baton Rouge;

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

;

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...

;

Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal and Piedmont plains meet. Alabama's fifth-largest city, it had an estimated population of ...

; and Mobile, Alabama. The teams began playing each other on an annual basis in 1964, (and the series is uninterrupted since then), with Alabama playing its home games at

Legion Field Legion Field is an outdoor stadium in the southeastern United States in Birmingham, Alabama, primarily designed to be used as a venue for American football, but occasionally used for other large outdoor events. Opened in 1927, it is named in ho ...

in Birmingham and LSU playing its home games on campus at Tiger Stadium. The series has been marked by long stretches where the home team has struggled. Alabama is 29–9–2 against LSU in Baton Rouge; they went 16–1–1 from 1965–98. Since 1981, Alabama has gone 7–12 in games played in Alabama while LSU has gone 4–17–1 in games played in Louisiana. There have been five overtime games in total: two in Tuscaloosa (2005, 2011) and three in Baton Rouge (2008, 2014, 2022). Throughout the series, only 39% of games have been won by the team playing in its home state (excluding ties). In 1988, Alabama began playing its home game in the series on their Tuscaloosa campus at

Bryant–Denny Stadium Bryant–Denny Stadium is an outdoor stadium in the southeastern United States, on the campus of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. It is the home field of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Open ...

; LSU won the first game in the series after the move 19–18. Played without interruption now since 1964, the game alternates between the two respective campuses. Contests in odd-numbered years are played in Tuscaloosa, and even-numbered years in Baron Rouge. While Alabama controlled most of the series' early history by going 31–11–4 against LSU, the intensity and competitiveness has grown during the last three decades. Since

Bear Bryant Paul William "Bear" Bryant (September 11, 1913 – January 26, 1983) was an American college football player and coach. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest college football coaches of all time, and best known as the head coach of ...

's retirement in 1982, Alabama leads the series 23–15–1. Four games in the last ten seasons have also been decided in overtime. A 2009 poll of SEC fan bases found that over 60% of LSU fans singled out Alabama as their most bitter rival, while Alabama fans mostly did not consider it to be a rivalry, placing far more importance on the

Iron Bowl The Alabama–Auburn football rivalry, better known as the Iron Bowl, is an American college football rivalry game between the Auburn University Tigers and University of Alabama Crimson Tide, both charter members of the Southeastern Confe ...

vs. Auburn and the Third Saturday in October vs.

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to ...

.. In 2007, the meeting was even more heated following Alabama's hiring of head coach

Nick Saban Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. (; born October 31, 1951) is an American football coach who has been the head football coach at the University of Alabama since 2007. Saban previously served as head coach of the National Football League's Miami Dolphins ...

, who had coached LSU to a National Championship; many media outlets dubbed the 2007 meeting the "Saban Bowl." Alabama leads the series 11–4 in the games played so far during the "Saban Bowl" era. In their 2011 regular season matchup, No. 1 LSU beat No. 2 Alabama 9–6 in overtime at

in Tuscaloosa, on November 5. Later, during the 2011 post season, the two were selected by the

Bowl Championship Series The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was a selection system that created four or five bowl game match-ups involving eight or ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of American college football, includ ...

to play each other again in the

2012 BCS National Championship Game The 2012 Allstate BCS National Championship Game was a postseason college football bowl game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the LSU Tigers, and determined the national champion of the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season on Monday, Ja ...

, which was the first time since 1986 that the two teams played in a location other than Baton Rouge or Tuscaloosa. Alabama, a controversial selection to the game after failing to win the conference title, proved its legitimacy and won the game 21–0. The rematch was the first BCS Championship Game to feature two teams from the same conference (as well as the same division), and was also the first shutout of any BCS bowl game in the BCS's 14-year history. In 2012, #5 LSU and #1 Alabama met each other at Tiger Stadium on November 3, 2012. Alabama took a 14–3 lead into halftime, but LSU running back Jeremy Hill ran for a touchdown to cut the lead to 14–10. QB Zach Mettenberger threw a touchdown pass to wide receiver Jarvis Landry early in the 4th quarter for a 17–14 lead. LSU held twice on defense, but kicker Drew Alleman, the hero of the last year's game, missed a key field goal. Alabama then quickly drove downfield on completion by quarterback A. J. McCarron to wide receiver Kevin Norwood of 18, 15, and 11 yards to the LSU 28. On 2nd and 10, McCarron threw a screen pass to running back T.J. Yeldon, who weaved through LSU defenders for a game-winning touchdown with 51 seconds left. LSU failed to do anything, and Alabama won 21–17. In 2014, the #16 Tigers met the #5 Crimson Tide at Tiger Stadium on November 8, 2014. Alabama clawed to a 10–7 lead in a defensive battle, but LSU tied at 10 entering the 4th quarter. With 50 seconds left and following a Yeldon fumble in which he was injured, LSU kicker Colby Delahoussaye kicked a 39-yard field goal for a 13–10 lead. Facing a second loss, and elimination from the first College Football Playoff, Alabama drove to the LSU 10, aided by a Delahoussaye kickoff that went out-of-bounds, which gave Alabama great field position at the 35 yard line. There, sophomore kicker Adam Griffith made a 27 yarder to send the game into overtime tied 13–13. On the first possession of overtime, Alabama QB Blake Sims found DeAndrew White in the end-zone for a 20–13 lead. LSU threw 4 straight incomplete passes, and Alabama escaped Baton Rouge with a 20–13 win. In 2015, one of the biggest matchups in recent history involved LSU and Alabama. 7–0 #2 LSU was led by Heisman favorite Leonard Fournette, who ran for 200 yards against Auburn and Syracuse on national TV. 7–1 #4 Alabama had lost 43–37 to Ole Miss earlier in the season. Alabama had its own Heisman candidate in running back Derrick Henry. The Rebels had slipped up and lost 38–10 to Florida and 53–52 to Arkansas, meaning that the winner would have control of the SEC West. Alabama struck first with an Adam Griffith field goal and a 3–0 lead. After a punt, Derrick Henry had a 40-yard run to the LSU. He plunged in on the next play, and Alabama led 10–0. LSU struck back when QB Brandon Harris found wide receiver Travin Dural for a 40-yard TD to cut the Bama lead to 10–7. After a punt, LSU kicker Trent Domingue nailed a 39 yarder to tie the game 10–10. Adam Griffith then kicked a career long 55 yard field-goal, and Bama led 13–10 at the half. To open the 3rd quarter, Harris threw an interception to Dillon Lee. Henry then ran for a score to put Bama up 20–10. After 3 punts, Henry ran for a 7-yard TD for a 27–10 lead for Alabama. LSU never recovered. They scored a touchdown in the 4th quarter, but Alabama's Ashawn Robinson leapt over the center to block the extra point. Bama won convincingly 30–16. President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump in Alabama (49048699168)

President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump in Alabama (49048699168)

In 2019, the two teams met for their second Game of the Century of the decade as #1 LSU faced off against #2 Alabama. The game featured the top two NFL quarterback prospects and Heisman Trophy candidates at the time in Alabama's

Tua Tagovailoa Tuanigamanuolepola Tagovailoa ( ; born March 2, 1998) is an American football quarterback for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Alabama, where he was the Offensive MVP of the 2018 College Foo ...

and LSU's Joe Burrow. Although the matchup was fairly even in the first quarter, the Tigers never trailed over the course of the game and outscored Alabama 23–6 in the second quarter to lead 33–13 at halftime. The Tide pulled within one score multiple times in the fourth quarter, but LSU's high scoring offense would prove to be too much for Alabama to overcome with the Tigers winning 46–41. The game snapped an eight-game losing streak in the series for LSU and virtually ensured both an SEC West title win and a

College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual postseason knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level ...

berth barring a total collapse. For Alabama, it set up the first time since the founding of the Playoff that they would not make an appearance. (Though the feat would be redoned in 2022). The 46 points given up by the 'Bama defense was the most points scored in the Nick Saban era (later surpassed in the same season in the 2019 edition of the

) and the most given up by any Alabama team since October 25, 2003 against Tennessee. The game was the most viewed match-up of the 2019 regular season by over four million viewers, it also topped all conference championship games by a significant margin.

Game results

Series record sources: ''2011 Alabama Football Media Guide'',
2011 Alabama Football Media Guide
'', University of Alabama Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, pp. 176–195 (2011). Retrieved December 1, 2011. ''2011 LSU Football Media Guide'',
2011 LSU Football Media Guide
', LSU Athletic Department, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, pp. 153–163 (2011). Retrieved November 23, 2011. and College Football Data Warehouse.College Football Data Warehouse
Alabama vs Louisiana State
. Retrieved December 1, 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alabama-LSU football rivalry College football rivalries in the United States Alabama Crimson Tide football LSU Tigers football

Series history

Game results

See also

References