A legitimate College Football Playoff contender emerged from Death Valley on Saturday night, and it wasn’t the home team.

Alabama football not only did he stay alive for the playoffs, but he also showed that he can still crush opponents.

After an October full of stumbles, the Crimson Tide entered Tiger Stadium and ran over, through and around LSU while playing stifling defense. As a result, Alabama crushed the Tigers 42-13 to give Crimson Tide coach Kalen DeBoer his first SEC road win.

Alabama remains alive in the CFP race with a 7-2 record, while LSU is all but eliminated with a third loss.

Here are the takeaways from the game between No. 11 Alabama and No. 15 LSU.

Jalen Milroe breaks LSU with his legs: Pt. 2

The Tigers must be sick of seeing Alabama’s quarterback run the football.

Milroe, who rushed for four touchdowns a season ago against LSU in Tuscaloosa, continued to find all kinds of success against LSU down the field. He scored four again in 2024.

He started with the opening kickoff as he looked for a 39-yard score. He then capped the second quarter with a 10-yard run to give Alabama a 21-6 halftime lead.

Milroe’s second touchdown gave him 14 on the season, a record for an Alabama quarterback. Jalen Hurts previously held the record with 13.

Before halftime, Milroe had eight attempts for 98 yards, one more yard than he had passing (10-15, 97 yards in the first half).

Milroe’s legs drove an Alabama offense that was often.

Milroe continued his rapid success in the second half. He scored his third rushing touchdown to put Alabama up 28-6 with a 19-yard run late in the third quarter.

Then Milroe’s best run of the day came on a 72-yard score on third down. That pushed Alabama’s lead to 35-6 early in the fourth quarter.

Jihaad Campbell made the difference in the middle

Campbell flew around the field to create problems for the LSU defense.

The linebacker made plays in more ways than one. On LSU’s first drive of the game, Campbell prevented the Tigers from scoring a touchdown when he broke up a goal-line pass intended for LSU wide receiver Kyren Lacy.

Then, in the second quarter, Campbell rushed up the middle to chase down LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier. Then Campbell forced the wet ball out of Nussmeier’s hands and Tim Smith recovered the fumble. That set up Alabama’s third touchdown. It was a much-needed play after the Crimson Tide had just turned the ball over on foot. Campbell and Smith took the momentum right back from the Tigers.

Campbell also combined to sack Nussmeier in the third quarter to end another LSU lead.

The red zone defense thrives

Twice, the Tigers had the ball inside the Alabama 5-yard line when the game was still within LSU’s reach. Over the course of those two drives, LSU managed a total of three points.

The first stop came from Campbell’s pass breakup on third down during LSU’s first drive of the game. The next impressive stop in the red zone came in the third quarter.

LSU drove 14 plays for 71 yards and used up 6:16 of the clock to open the second half. But the play ended just short of the goal line when linebacker Deontae Lawson picked off Nussmeier. Zero points on a strong LSU drive.

Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack turned in another impressive performance by his group after a shutout in the previous game against Missouri.