Rewind: A Look Back at Alabama’s Last Minute Comeback Against LSU in 2012
The Crimson Tide looked to bring back-to-back titles to Tuscaloosa after embarrassing LSU in the 2011 BCS National Championship with a 21-0 shutout. The stacked Alabama roster consisted of several notable names such as AJ McCarron, TJ Yeldon, and Kevin Norwood.
The Tide handily defeated both No. 8 Michigan and No.13 Mississippi State on their way to the much anticipated rematch with the Tigers. On Nov. 3, 2012, Nick Saban stepped into Death Valley to battle Les Miles in Alabama's toughest game at that point in the season.
The word "struggle" is an understatement when used to describe Alabama's performance. They were 1-of-9 on third-down conversions and lost two fumbles, one of them being while they were down with 2:29 left of the game.
The Tide had things going their way for a little bit as they went into halftime with 14-3 lead, but momentum quickly shifted towards LSU in the second half, as they scored two touchdowns to make the score 17-14. McCarron also struggled before the final drive of the second half as six of his seven passes fell incomplete and the one complete pass was caught for no gain.
Alabama had not allowed anymore than 14 points in any of their games leading up to that night. Crimson Tide fans had one spark of hope left however, as LSU's Drew Alleman missed to 45-yard field goal attempt, resulting in a turnover on downs with 1:34 left of the game.
The last minute and a half of this game is every Bama fan's favorite part, as McCarron was finally able to shake off whatever had been eating him up that night. McCarron threw three straight first down passes to Kevin Norwood to put the Tide at LSU's 28-yard line.
The final score of the game happened when T.J. Yeldon took a screen pass all the way to the house. The PAT from Jeremy Shelley made made the score 21-17. The score was finalized when Damion Square sacked LSU quarterback Zach Mettenberger to run out the last remaining seconds on the clock.
Alabama defeated Notre Dame 42-14 in the 2012 BCS National Championship later that season to secure Saban's third national championship with the Crimson Tide.