There were two big plays made by Alabama early in the fourth quarter Saturday, two plays that helped the Tide seize control of a game that had been a scoreless tie for the previous 46-plus minutes.

One was Jalen Hurts' touchdown run that produced the game's first points.

The other came 36 seconds later, a Minkah Fitzpatrick interception that gave the ball right back to Alabama's offense.

In his first game at safety, Fitzpatrick helped the Tide limit LSU to 125 yards of total offense and had that big fourth quarter interception in helping Alabama come away with a 10-0 win over LSU that puts the Tide one step closer to securing a third straight berth in the College Football Playoff.

The sophomore was the recipient of unprompted praise from coach Nick Saban after the game. Saban moved Fitzpatrick from cornerback to Eddie Jackson's vacated spot at strong safety after the All-American suffered a season-ending injury against Texas A&M in Alabama's previous game. And after answering a question about another Tide defensive back Saturday night, Saban brought up Fitzpatrick.

"He did a good job," Saban said. "But he's a very instinctive player, and that was a critical move for us that worked."

Fitzpatrick thought he may be asked to move to safety as soon as Jackson got hurt, so he said it wasn't a surprise when Saban asked him two days later to move from cornerback to safety.

The conversation took place in Saban's office.

It was after that meeting that Fitzpatrick sent out a cryptic tweet: "Challenge accepted."

So, Fitzpatrick practiced at safety during the bye week and continued to work there last week. Saturday was his first true test at his new position. It ended up being more of the same production-wise from the Tide's standout sophomore defensive back.

Fitzpatrick played safety when Alabama was in its base and nickel defenses. He shifted back to nickel back when the Tide was in its dime defense.

His final stat line: Three tackles, a pass deflection and his fourth interception of the season.

"You've got to be a whole lot more disciplined with your eyes and stuff like that (at safety than at nickel back)," Fitzpatrick said. "But I think (nickel back) is a little more difficult, a little more action."

He then smiled and said, "But I like the safety spot."