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Alabama Crimson Tide © |
Louisiana State Tigers |
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Played November 5, 1977 at Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
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Teams' Belt Records
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Team |
Belt Reigns |
Overall Record |
Home Record |
Away Record |
Neutral Record |
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W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
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| Alabama © | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | .800 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| Louisiana State | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
Previous Belt Meetings: None
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1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
Final |
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Alabama |
3 |
7 |
7 |
7 |
24 |
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Louisiana State |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
The 2nd ranked, 7-1 Alabama Crimson Tide of coach Bear Bryant battled the 18th ranked, 5-2 Louisiana State Tigers coached by Charlie McClendon. Alabama's RB Tony Nathan scored 2 touchdowns & threw for another while the Crimson Tide's suffocating defense held Louisiana State to just 17 yards passing as Alabama rolled to a 24-3 win over the Tigers to retain The Belt. The Crimson Tide got the only points of the 1st quarter when PK Roger Chapman kicked a 44-yard field goal giving Alabama a 3-0 lead. Early in the 2nd quarter, Louisiana State tied the game at 3-3 when PK Mike Conway connected on a 31-yard field goal. Nathan gave the Crimson Tide the lead for good when he finished a 15-play, 94-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run coming with just 0:14 left in the 2nd quarter as Alabama took a 10-3 lead to intermission. Late in the 3rd quarter, Nathan scored on another 1-yard touchdown run giving the Crimson Tide a 17-3 lead. After a short punt gave Alabama the ball at the Louisiana State 49-yard line, the Crimson Tide took 5 plays to get into the end zone again. The touchdown came on a halfback option pass from Nathan to WR Keith Pugh from 20 yards. Louisiana State tried to rally behind the passing of back-up QB David Woodley & the running of All-American RB Charles Alexander but they could not get the Tigers into the end zone. The Tigers did not even complete a pass attempt until midway through the 4th quarter. Alabama's QB Jeff Rutledge finished with 62 yards passing while All-SEC RB Johnny Davis rushed for 126 yards. For the Tigers, starting QB Steve Ensminger did not complete a pass in 7 attempts, Woodley threw for just 17 yards & Alexander rushed for 110 yards. Alabama finished the season 11-1; SEC Champions & ranked 2nd nationally while the Tigers finished 8-4. Louisiana State would play for The Belt again in 1979.
