Tide beats LSU to wrap up West

Nov. 8--TUSCALOOSA -- California dreamin'. Alabama's football team shook off its national perception by reverting back to championship form with a 24-15 win over ninth-ranked LSU that brought the third-ranked Crimson Tide its second consecutive Southeastern Conference Western Division title.

The Tide (9-0) earned a rematch of last year's SEC Championship Game with Florida by erasing a five-point deficit with a dominating fourth-quarter performance. Alabama owned the ball for nearly 11 minutes of the final 15-minute quarter, physically whipping the Tigers (7-2) on both sides of the ball to keep alive its hopes for a berth in the BCS National Championship Game in Pasadena, Calif., on Jan. 7.

The top two teams in the Bowl Championship Standings qualify for the national championship game, and while Alabama is ranked No. 3, the Crimson Tide can qualify for the game by beating No. 1 ranked Florida in the SEC Championship Game on Dec. 5 in Atlanta's Georgia Dome.

Last year, Florida was ranked second entering the game, but defeated Alabama and then Oklahoma to win the national championship.

"This team had a totally different challenge from last year's team," said Alabama coach Nick Saban. "Last year's team had a different motive. They wanted to prove that they could be good. If we wouldn't have won this game, we would not control our destiny as to whether we could get to Atlanta and win the West or not. So I'm extremely pleased and happy that we won the West and we now control our destiny in terms of what else we can accomplish and what else we can do."

Alabama clinched the division with the old-style football that had carried it to a No. 1 ranking three weeks ago: a punishing ground game led by tailback Mark Ingram, an effective passing attack engineered by Greg McElroy and a stifling defense.

While the defense had trouble containing LSU at times, the Tide knocked starting quarterback Jordan Jefferson and starting tailback Charles Scott out of the game, paving the way for a dominant fourth quarter in which the Tide used a pair of Leigh Tiffin field goals and a 73-yard pass from McElroy to Julio Jones to defeat the Tigers in Tuscaloosa for the first time since 1999.

The Tide re-established its old style of play after struggling to put away Tennessee 12-10 in its last game, causing it to drop to No. 2 behind Florida after edging the Volunteers, then to No. 3 behind Florida and Texas after an open date last week.

"We've got three more games left," noted defensive tackle Marcell Dareus, who had a pair of crucial sacks in the win. "We want to finish undefeated. This one doesn't mean anything. We've still got more games."

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