LSU vs. Alabama: Grades for All 22 of the Crimson Tide's Starters

The Game of the Century didn't exactly live up to the hype, but it was still an instant SEC classic. In a game that featured two incredible defenses, LSU's proved to be just a bit better than Alabama's. 

Unfortunately for the Tide, there were too many mistakes to overtake the No. 1 team in the land. 

Needless to say, penalties hurt Alabama's field position on more than one occasion and a couple of mental mistakes by quarterback AJ McCarron were just too hard for the Tide to overcome. 

Defensively speaking, however, Alabama played an incredible game. 

Here's a breakdown of how each starter fared for the Tide on Saturday night. 

QB AJ McCarron

Grade: C-

AJ McCarron had a decent night under center. The sophomore was accurate and made the throws he needed to early. 

McCarron missed what would have likely been the game's first touchdown by overthrowing his receiver. While the toss was overthrown, it appeared the redshirt sophomore quarterback threw to the wrong man, as he had a receiver wide open on the opposite side of the field.

McCarron's interception in the second half was on a terrible floating pass and falling down to take a sack at your own 35 on third down in overtime will almost always come back to haunt your team. 

The redshirt sophomore's numbers are a bit skewed as close to half of his 199 yards were the result of Trent Richardson's amazing ability to run after the catch. 

RB Trent Richardson

Grade: A+

Trent Richardson was hard to keep up with for the LSU defense in the first half. The Heisman frontrunner had 114 total yards (rushing and receiving) by halftime. 

The Tigers defense was responsible for a couple of missed assignments on the receptions, but Richardson still made guys miss to get the most out of those opportunities. 

Richardson ended up with 89 yards on 14 carries. His 80 yards receiving included a ton of yards following the catch. 

WR Marquis Maze

Grade: C

Marquis Maze was mostly quiet on the night. Two receptions on the game's second drive were nice, but his only rushing attempt went for negative yards and pushed the Tide back from inside the 20, to the 24-yard line. 'Bama missed a field goal two plays later. 

Maze was injured early in the third and did not return until the fourth quarter. Maze threw an interception on a trick play deep in LSU territory in the fourth quarter.

WR Darius Hanks

Grade: C

Darius Hanks made an incredible grab in the middle of the field for a 19-yard gain that set the Tide up inside the LSU 35. On the next play, Hanks couldn't come up with a very catchable ball in the endzone, which should have been the Tide's first touchdown of the night. 

Hanks also couldn't get off the field quickly enough in the overtime period, resulting in a five-yard penalty that pushed the Tide back to the 30.

TE Brad Smelley

Grade: C

Brad Smelley caught a short pass on the first drive of the night. That was about the only offense he had the opportunity to muster. 

TE Michael Williams

Grade: C-

Alabama's other tight end, Michael Williams, only caught one pass and it only went for one yard. But Williams was late getting on the field for Alabama's first field goal try and the Tide was forced to burn a timeout. 

LT Barrett Jones

Grade: B

Barrett Jones had a spectacular block that helped spring Eddie Lacy for a 20-yard scamper in the first half.

The entire Tide O-Line was pretty spectacular in pass protection as well. 

Jones was injured in the third quarter, but came back on the next drive. 

LG Chance Warmack

Grade: B

The entire O-Line played well in pass protection. Richardson struggled to get much of anything on the ground in the second half as LSU's front pushed the Tide back in the ground game. 

C William Vlachos

Grade: B

Vlachos didn't have any errant snaps and did his part to protect his quarterback. 

RG Alfred McCullough

Grade: B

Following All-American Barrett Jones's injury in the third quarter, McCullough was reportedly getting ready to move from guard to tackle. Jones came back, however. 

RT DJ Fluker

Grade: B

DJ Fluker had a big block in the second quarter that helped spring an 11-yard run for Richardson. He was incredible most of the evening at his right tackle position.

DE Jesse Williams

Grade: B

Williams was hurt early, but he didn't miss many plays. 'Bama's front seven was gashed a bit in the first half on LSU's speed option, but the front line did a good job of containing the Tigers in the second half. 

NT Josh Chapman

Grade: B

Other than issues with the speed option in the first half, Alabama's defensive line handled the game well. 

DE Damion Square

Grade: B

Alabama's defensive front was instrumental in holding LSU on its final drive of regulation. Two giant stops near midfield saved the game for the Tide. 

SAM Jerrell Harris

Grade: B+

Jerrell Harris landed a couple of huge hits on LSU ball carriers. He also missed a tackle as LSU's option gashed the Tide in the first half. 

MIKE Dont'a Hightower

Grade: B+

The junior wasn't as disruptive as he'd probably hoped to be, but Hightower still ended up with the third-most tackles for this 'Bama defense against LSU.  

WILL Nico Johnson

Grade: B+

Nico Johnson had a game-high 11 tackles for the Tide. He was all over the place in the second half and was largely responsible for helping the Tide shut down the LSU ground game in the third and fourth quarters. 

JACK Courtney Upshaw

Grade: A

This just in: Courtney Upshaw is a man! With a sack and a couple of QB hurries, Upshaw was in the LSU backfield quite a bit Saturday night. 

He ended up with six tackles on the evening, but his presence alone was instrumental for the Tide's incredible defense. 

CB DeQuan Menzie

Grade: A

The senior from Columbus, Ga. was all over the place Saturday night. Menzie finished second in tackles with eight, but he was in on just about every play in the first quarter. 

Menzie also had one-half of a tackle for loss. He was part of a secondary that held LSU to under 100 yards passing. 

CB Dre Kirkpatrick

Grade: A

Until he was blindsided by a bush league forearm to the shoulder by the "Honey Badger" Tyrann Mathieu, Dre' Kirkpatrick was a big reason LSU couldn't do anything through the air. 

Kirkpatrick only had four tackles, but his presence in the secondary was felt. 

SS Robert Lester

Grade: A

The first Jarrett Lee interception since September landed in the arms of strong safety Robert Lester. 

The Foley, Ala. native ended up with three tackles. 

FS Mark Barron

Grade: A+

Mark Barron's ability is unquestioned. Barron picked off Lee and returned the interception 14 yards to set the Tide up deep inside LSU territory. A penalty elsewhere negated much of the return, however. 

Barron's half-tackle for loss stuffed LSU on third down near midfield with less than a minute remaining in regulation.