Hurts, Alabama hold off LSU 24-10
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Jalen Hurts passed for a touchdown and ran for a score and No. 1 Alabama sweated out a bruising 24-10 victory over No. 19 LSU on Saturday night.
The Crimson Tide (9-0, 6-0 Southeastern Conference) had to withstand a rare challenge this season from a league opponent, managing it with big plays from the defense and a handful of timely ones from Hurts.
Alabama was ranked No. 2 in the first College Football Playoff rankings behind Georgia, which clinched the SEC East with a 24-10 victory over South Carolina.
The Tigers (6-3, 3-2) kept getting defensive stops in the fourth quarter but couldn’t muster a threat. They had to punt twice and then managed to squeeze out only a couple of first downs after taking over at their own 8 with 4:39 left.
Quarterback Danny Etling completed a couple of short passes and gave way to backup Myles Brennan, who couldn’t push them much further. He was sacked on fourth-and-long by freshman linebacker Dylan Moses.
Alabama ran out the clock on its seventh straight win in the SEC West rivalry. The Tigers came in riding a three-game winning streak since a loss to Troy that threatened to derail coach Ed Orgeron’s first season and were still three-touchdown underdogs.
Hurts had a 3-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter, throwing for two first downs and rushing for another on the drive.
Darrel Williams then led LSU to its only touchdown of the past two meetings. He scored on a 2-yarder after getting corralled just shy of the goal line following a 54-yard scamper.
Alabama added a field goal from Andy Pappanastos early in the fourth.
Arkansas 39, Coastal Carolina 38
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Cole Kelley scored on a 1-yard touchdown run with 1:55 remaining to help Arkansas rally for a second straight week to earn a win over Coastal Carolina.
The Razorbacks (4-5) trailed 38-25 early in the fourth quarter but were boosted by an 88yard touchdown run by T.J. Hammonds and Kelley’s final scoring run.
Hammonds accounted for 179 yards in the comeback win over the first-year FBS Chanticleers, scoring on the long run and a 60yard pass in the first half.
The win marks the first time this season Arkansas has won two straight games, and it’s the second time in two weeks the Razorbacks have recovered for a seemingly improbable victory — coming on the heels of last week’s 38-37 win at Mississippi.
“Our guys are resilient, they never stopped believe,” Arkansas coach Bret Bielema said. “Down by two scores from the outside world, there are probably a lot of people that thought bad thoughts. Our guys thought good thoughts, and that’s why we think at it that way.”
Backup quarterback Kilton Anderson entered the game for injured starter Tyler Keane in the first half for Coastal Carolina (1-8) and accounted for 152 total yards in the loss.
The defeat extended the Chanticleers losing streak to eight games.
Bielema improved to 29-31 in his fifth year at the school with the win, though his future with the Razorbacks was in serious question as the Razorbacks appeared on the verge of losing to the lowly Chanticleers in the fourth quarter.
Coastal Carolina entered the game with an interim coach in Jamey Chadwell, a seven-game losing streak and then lost Keane in the first half.
However, the Sun Belt Conference school very nearly earned its first win over a Southeastern Conference school in three tries — taking a 3825 lead with 12:57 remaining on Anderson’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Chris Jones. Chadwell elected to go for the point-after and not a 2-point conversion to possibly go up 14 points afterward, however, and the Razorbacks closed with Hammond’s long touchdown run and Kelley’s final score.
“I thought it was the best decision at that time,” Chadwell said. “You make decisions, you move on, and you make it and you roll with it, and obviously you lose by one point, but we had plenty of chances after that — with the ball, up 13 — and had plenty of chances to go up more than another score and we just didn’t do it.”