The 2019 LSU vs. Alabama football game was a regular-season college football game between the LSU Tigers (ranked number 1 in the AP Poll) and the Alabama Crimson Tide (ranked number 2) on November 9, 2019, at Bryant–Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The game is considered a "Game of the Century", as it pitted the two top-ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, and it was the first such regular-season game since the 2011 LSU vs. Alabama game. Both teams entered the game undefeated and tied for first place in the Southeastern Conference's West Division.
The Tigers offense, led by quarterback and future Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow, dominated the first half of the game and led at halftime by a score of 33–13. The Crimson Tide responded with a stronger performance in the second half, with running back Najee Harris scoring two touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters to bring the score to 33–27. The fourth quarter saw both teams trade touchdowns, with a collective 34 points scored in the quarter. Ultimately, the Tigers managed to prevent an Alabama comeback and won with a final score of 46–41.
Following the game, the Tigers won all of their remaining regular season games and defeated the Georgia Bulldogs in the 2019 SEC Championship Game en route to a number-1 berth in the College Football Playoff. They defeated the Oklahoma Sooners in the 2019 Peach Bowl semifinal and the Clemson Tigers in the 2020 National Championship to finish the season as undefeated champions with a 15–0 record. Alabama, meanwhile, won all of their remaining regular season games except for their matchup against the Auburn Tigers. In the postseason, they beat the Michigan Wolverines in the 2020 Citrus Bowl to finish the season with an 11–2 record.
Pre-game buildup
The football teams representing the University of Alabama and Louisiana State University played their first game against each other in 1895. Both schools were founding members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), which was established in 1932, and the football teams have played each other annually since 1964. Going into the 2019 season, Alabama held more wins in the all-time series record, which was 53–25–5. Both teams compete in the SEC's West Division.
At the start of the 2019 season, Alabama and LSU were ranked No. 2 and No. 6, respectively, in both the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll. By October 14, the AP Poll had Alabama and LSU ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. These rankings held going into their matchup on November 9, making the game the first "Game of the Century" matchup between the two top-ranked teams in the nation since the 2011 LSU vs. Alabama game, which LSU won 9–6. However, since that game, Alabama had won eight straight games against the Tigers leading up to their 2019 matchup, including the 2012 BCS National Championship Game. The 2019 game was a home game for the Crimson Tide. The winner of the game was expected to be a strong contender to make the SEC Championship Game and the College Football Playoff, and both teams starting quarterbacks (Joe Burrow for LSU and Tua Tagovailoa for Alabama) were considered frontrunners for the Heisman Trophy. Several news sources expected the game to be high-scoring with a predicted combined score of around 60 points. The over–under was 64 and Alabama was favored by 6.5 points. On the day of the game, ESPN's Football Power Index gave Alabama a 71.8 percent chance of winning. LSU
In the preseason, LSU was ranked No. 6 in both the AP and Coaches Polls. In their season opener, they defeated the Georgia Southern Eagles with a score of 55–3. With the offense using a new spread scheme, Burrow threw five touchdown passes, tying a school record. The next week, the No. 6 Tigers traveled to take on the No. 9 Texas Longhorns in a matchup between two top-10 teams. The Tigers prevailed in a close game with a score of 45–38, as Burrow threw four touchdown passes and placekicker Cade York scored three field goals. Following the win, LSU moved up to No. 4 in the AP Poll before a September 14 home win against the Northwestern State Demons of the Football Championship Subdivision.
Conference play for the Tigers began with their fourth game of the season, a road win against the Vanderbilt Commodores, during which Burrow threw six touchdown passes, setting a new school record. Following a bye week, LSU hosted the Utah State Aggies in a game where Burrow again threw five touchdown passes and became the first quarterback in LSU history to throw for over 300 yards in four straight games. Afterwards, the Tigers had a three week stretch of SEC games, including an October 12 home game against the No. 7 Florida Gators, an October 19 road game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs, and an October 26 home game against the No. 9 Auburn Tigers. LSU won all three games and, following the Florida game, rose to No. 2 in the AP Poll. The Tigers then had another bye week leading up to their game against the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide on November 9.
Coming into the game, LSU ranked second in the SEC for points per game (46.8) and yards per play (7.5) and were tied with Alabama for most plays that resulted in a gain of over 40 yards (13). Those 46.8 points per game also ranked fourth nationally. In his eight games for the season, Burrow had passed for 2,805 yards with a completion percentage of 78.8, the highest percentage among qualified passers in the nation. He was averaging 10.8 yards per completion and had thrown 30 touchdown passes and only four interceptions. Prior to the game, Athlon Sports called Ja'Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, and Terrace Marshall Jr. arguably the best group of wide receivers besides Alabama's. On defense, LSU had the second-best run defense in the conference (with opposing teams managing an average of 2.95 yards per carry), the fifth-best pass rush (with 20 quarterback sacks), and the sixth-best pass efficiency defense (allowing just 13 touchdown passes). Additionally, Athlon called cornerbacks Kristian Fulton and Derek Stingley Jr. "arguably the best in college football".
Alabama
In the preseason, Alabama was ranked No. 2 in both the AP and Coaches Poll, second only to the Clemson Tigers, who had beat Alabama in last season's National Championship game. In Week 1, Alabama played the Duke Blue Devils in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, dominating them with a final score of 42–3. Tagovailoa threw four touchdown passes and accumulated over 300 passing yards in the game. In their first home game the following week, the Crimson Tide beat the New Mexico State Aggies 62–10 before beginning conference play with a road win over the South Carolina Gamecocks. Alabama then beat the Southern Miss Golden Eagles and the Ole Miss Rebels by more than four touchdowns in back-to-back weeks, with wide receiver DeVonta Smith setting school records in the latter game with 274 yards and five touchdowns.
Following the win over Ole Miss, Alabama moved to No. 1 before an October 12 road game against the No. 24 Texas A&M Aggies, the Crimson Tide's first ranked opponent of the season. Alabama won the game, which saw Tagovailoa break the school record of 80 passing touchdowns in a career, previously held by A. J. McCarron. Next week, the Crimson Tide hosted the Tennessee Volunteers in a winning effort, during which Tagovailoa suffered an ankle injury. Mac Jones served as the starting quarterback for the following game against the Arkansas Razorbacks, which Alabama won by 41 points. Following this, the Crimson Tide had another bye week before their game against LSU. In the days leading up to the game, it was unsure if Tagovailoa would play due to his injury, with head coach Nick Saban saying that it would be a game-time decision. However, Tagovailoa ultimately was able to play.
Coming into the game, Alabama ranked second in the nation (and first in the conference) in points per game (48.6), with the offense averaging 168 rushing yards per game. Tagovailoa had a completion percentage of 74.7, passing for 2,166 yards, including nine passes that resulted in a gain of at least 40 yards. He had thrown 27 touchdown passes and only two interceptions. The team had what Athlon called "the nation's best receiving corps", consisting of Smith, Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs, and Jaylen Waddle, who had a combined 24 touchdown receptions that season. On defense, the Crimson Tide had held opposing teams to only 15.2 points per game and had allowed only one play that resulted in a gain of at least 40 yards. The defense kept opposing teams to just 4.54 yards per play, ranking 14th in the nation.
Game summary
The game was scheduled for kickoff at 2:30 p.m. CST, though this was pushed back to 2:42 p.m. ESPN broadcast their pre-game show College GameDay live from Alabama's campus in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where a sell-out crowd of 101,821 were in attendance at Bryant–Denny Stadium. ESPN-owned SEC Network's pregame show SEC Nation also broadcast live from Tuscaloosa. Among those in attendance were President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, who watched the game from a luxury box with other Republican politicians. The Million Dollar Band performed a halftime show tribute to the United States Armed Forces, as the game took place over Veterans Day weekend. The game was broadcast nationwide on CBS as part of SEC on CBS. The broadcast team consisted of Brad Nessler as the play-by-play commentator, Gary Danielson as the color commentator, Jamie Erdahl as the sideline reporter, and Gene Steratore as the rules analyst (contributing from CBS's New York studios). CBS's pregame show, led by host Adam Zucker with analysts Rick Neuheisel and Brian Jones, also broadcast live from Tuscaloosa. The broadcast averaged a 9.7 Nielsen rating, making it the highest-rated regular season game since the 2011 LSU vs. Alabama game. The broadcast averaged 16.64 million viewers, reaching a 15-minute average peak of 20.61 million. John McDaid served as the game's referee.
First quarter LSU won the coin toss and elected to defer, giving Alabama possession of the ball to start the game. Avery Atkins performed a 65-yard kickoff that was received by Henry Ruggs, who returned it 29 yards to start the Crimson Tide's first series at their own 29-yard line. From here, a 20-yard pass to Ruggs and a 31-yard rush by Najee Harris put the team into LSU territory. However, the Crimson Tide's positive momentum stalled and on third down, Tagovailoa fumbled, with Ray Thornton recovering the ball for LSU at their own 8-yard line. In their first possession, LSU started with two rushing plays from Clyde Edwards-Helaire to give them a first down at their 19-yard line. A short run from Burrow and a pass to Chase moved them to near midfield, and a pass to Justin Jefferson put the Tigers at the Alabama 33-yard line. A pass from Burrow to Chase resulted in the first touchdown of the game, putting the Tigers up 7–0.