EDITOR’S NOTE: Every day until Aug. 29, Creg Stephenson is counting down significant numbers in Alabama football history, both in the lead-up to the 2025 football season and in commemoration of the Crimson Tide’s first national championship 100 years ago. The number could be attached to a year, a uniform number or even a football-specific statistic. We hope you enjoy.

The drive didn’t exactly clinch anything for Alabama, but it did give the Crimson Tide some margin for error that it would end up needing in its quest for a second straight national championship.

Alabama moved the ball 72 yards to beat LSU 21-17 in 2012, with a 28-yard screen pass from AJ McCarron to T.J. Yeldon the capper. The drive took all of five plays — four of them completed passes — and 43 seconds of clock time, as Nick Saban’s top-ranked Crimson Tide dealt the Tigers a stunner in Baton Rouge.

“It was like clockwork,” McCarron told reporters after the game. “The whole offense just looked at each other and you could just tell in everybody’s eyes it was like, ‘We do this every Thursday (in practice), so what’s the difference here?’ ”

Alabama led 14-3 at halftime, but its first five possessions of the second half ended in four punts and a fumble. Fifth-ranked LSU, meanwhile, scored two touchdowns to take a 17-14 lead and was driving in Crimson Tide territory in the final three minutes of the fourth quarter.

The Tigers stalled out at the Alabama 28-yard line, however, and Drew Alleman came on to attempt a 45-yard field goal. He missed wide right, giving the Crimson Tide life with 1:34 to play.

McCarron had been struggling along with his team in the second half to that point, having completed just one of his last seven passes for 0 yards. But on the final drive, he was nearly perfect.

On the first play, McCarron hit Kevin Norwood for 18 yards to the Alabama 46. The two hooked up again on the next two plays, for 15 yards to the LSU 39 and then 11 yards to the LSU 28.

McCarron threw incomplete deep to Norwood on the following play (both the receiver and the defensive back fell down as the ball sailed into the end zone), stopping the clock with 51 seconds left. That gave Alabama second-and-10 from the LSU 28.

McCarron dropped straight back, and Yeldon let blitzing cornerback Jalen Mills slip past him as he drifted into the right flat. McCarron dumped the ball right over Mills’ head into the waiting arms of Yeldon, who caught it at the 33 and turned upfield with several blockers in front of him.

Yeldon, a freshman who had split time with fellow 1,000-yard rusher Eddie Lacy all season, evaded diving LSU linebacker Kevin Minter at the 27 and then juked safety Craig Loston — who had overpursued on the play — off his feet at the 15. After that it was a clear path to the end zone on what was Yeldon’s only receiving touchdown of the season.

“I’m really, really pleased with that last drive,” Saban said. “That’s something I’ll never forget.”

Here’s video of every scoring play in the game. The McCarron to Yeldon touchdown takes place at the 1:03 mark:

After Alabama’s Jeremy Shelley added the extra point, LSU’s Michael Ford returned the kickoff to the 20. Zach Mettenberger completed two short passes to running back Jeremy Hill before Damion Square sacked him on the game’s final play to secure the Alabama win — the Crimson Tide’s second in less than a calendar year over the Tigers, along with a 21-0 shutout in New Orleans for the previous season’s BCS national championship.

The November 2012 victory at Tiger Stadium improved the Crimson Tide to 9-0, but a week later Texas A&M came to Tuscaloosa and claimed a 29-24 upset win behind redshirt freshman quarterback — and eventual Heisman Trophy winner — Johnny Manziel. Alabama closed out the regular season with back-to-back 49-0 victories over Western Carolina and Auburn, the latter clinching the SEC West title.

Alabama edged Georgia 32-28 in the SEC championship game, which was enough to get it into the BCS national championship game against Notre Dame. The Crimson Tide pummeled the Fighting Irish 42-14 for its second straight title and third in four years.

But if not for a memorable victory in Baton Rouge, Alabama would not have been in position to beat either Georgia or Notre Dame. It all came down to a clutch five-play, 72-yard drive in the final minutes, and a perfectly executed pass from AJ to T.J. that turned into a TD.

“I didn’t doubt it one bit at all,” McCarron said. “I just love moments like that. I like having the ball in pressure situations. When you’ve got teammates like I have, it makes your job easy.”

Coming Friday: Our countdown to kickoff continues with No. 71, when Alabama changes its offense and changes the trajectory of an entire decade