That was fun, wasn’t it?

No. 8 Alabama downed No. 14 LSU 42-28 in Tuscaloosa Saturday night to take full control of the SEC West. It started as one of the better QB duels we’ve seen this season and devolved into more typical Alabama 2nd-half heroics.

Alabama is now just 1 SEC win away from officially stamping its ticket to Atlanta, but with wins over Ole Miss and now LSU there are no real challengers for the West remaining.

Here are 3 takeaways from Week 10’s incredible SEC West showdown.

An even first half fueled by a running QB’s duel

We may have just witnessed one of the greatest running quarterback duels in the sport this season. It was so great because while both are known for their skills on the ground, they had pretty balanced performances to start out.

Jayden Daniels and Jalen Milroe both played at an elite level early and entered the halftime break with eerily similar stat lines. Milroe finished having completed 10 of his 16 attempts for 165 yards while rushing for 102 yards with 3 touchdowns.

Daniels also finished the first half 10/16 for 164 yards and 2 passing touchdowns, adding 137 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground.

So, to recap: Daniels and Milroe combined for 329 passing yards and 2 touchdowns through the air and 239 yards with 4 touchdowns on the ground. The pair combined for 568 of the 2 teams’ 608 total yards by the end of the first half.

Those are video game numbers, folks.

Milroe went on to end Saturday’s game with 15/23 completions for 219 yards with 20 rushing attempts for 155 yards and 4 touchdowns. Daniels finished 15/24 for 219 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception, adding 163 rushing yards and 1 rushing touchdown.

The LSU penalty that swung the game:

Perhaps the most important minutes in Saturday’s elite matchup happened in the back half of the 3rd quarter.

Why? Because it represented a chance of pace in an otherwise “predictable” bout. Let me explain.

There was just 1 punt in the first 38 minutes of the game and it came on Alabama’s first possession. However, the Tide were able to keep up with LSU’s unreal offense by forcing a key turnover on downs. The Tide scored the next drive and instead of 14-0 LSU the game was knotted at 7-all.

The end of the first half brought each team a missed field goal attempt and 2 touchdowns. Jayden Daniels found Kyren Lacy for a 26-yard TD just before the end of the half to enter the break tied at 21.

No lull came from either team to start the 2nd half, either. LSU was the first to score and Alabama followed suit with a 16-yard rushing score from Roydell Williams.

Here’s the key, though: Alabama’s offense kept going after Williams’ score while LSU’s offense sputtered. The Tigers did not score again after their first touchdown of the 2nd half.

The most important play of the game may have been Will Campbell’s hold after a long rush by Daniels. Instead of a 40-yard gain deep into Alabama territory, LSU faced a 2nd and 17 from the LSU 30.

Daniels was unable to pick up the first down, LSU had to punt and Milroe was standing in the end zone 6 plays and 68 yards later.

The Tide then earned 2 more stops to essentially put the game away early in the 4th quarter. To make a bad situation worse for LSU, Jayden Daniels had to leave the game after taking a huge hit from Dallas Turner during one of the Tigers’ punting drives.

Tide control the West, just 1 SEC win away from Atlanta

Alabama is a perfect 6-0 in conference play and has only lost to the No. 7 team in American this season. The Tide has scored wins over Tennessee, Ole Miss and now LSU. And with tonight’s win, Alabama is 1 win away from officially stamping their ticket to Atlanta to face likely Georgia.

The Vols are technically still in the race for the East, but they’d need to beat Mizzou and Georgia with a Georgia loss to Ole Miss to advance.

Being in this position speaks to a heck of a response from Nick Saban’s squad after looking vulnerable early in the year. The Tide have faced some scares, but good teams will always continue to find wins even when things don’t seem to be going their way. Just ask back-to-back champ Kirby Smart after last season’s victory over Mizzou.

Alabama travels to Lexington to take on Kentucky next week, with kickoff scheduled for Noon on ESPN.