The WarHawks forced four turnovers and blocked a field goal for their first win over a Southeastern Conference team since 1994 and third in 33 tries.

Louisiana-Monroe (5-6) held firm every time Alabama appeared poised to tie the game.

With Alabama (6-5) facing third-and-2 from the Louisiana-Monroe 18-yard line, Terry Grant was stuffed for no gain on back-to-back runs. The Tide had taken over at Louisiana-Monroe's 26-yard line after a 19-yard punt return by Jonathan Lowe.

It wasn't over quite yet even after that blown opportunity.

Louisiana-Monroe failed to get a first down and had to punt, giving Alabama one final shot from its own 37 with 56 seconds left and no timeouts.

John Parker Wilson missed an open Keith Brown down the right sideline, had to run out of bounds on the second play for a short gain and threw an incompletion under pressure on third down.

James Truxillo batted away his final attempt, drawing a cascades of boos from Alabama fans who had been restless and mostly quiet the whole game, and drew chants of "U-L-M" from the tiny section of Louisiana-Monroe, formerly NE Louisiana, faithful.

Jimmy Johns had lost a fumble deep in WarHawks' territory with 4:41 left in yet another missed chance for Alabama, which also had Leigh Tiffin's 36-yard field goal attempt blocked on the final play of the third quarter.

Calvin Dawson rushed 33 times for 91 yards and a touchdown for Louisiana-Monroe, while Kinsmon Lancaster passed for 161 yards.

Wilson was 21-for-32 for 246 yards but was intercepted by Secka on consecutive possessions in the first half. Secka returned his second pick 38 yards to the Tide 1, setting up Dawson's 1-yard TD run.

The eight Sun Belt Conference teams had all served as punching bags to the SEC this season, going 0-for-11 in previous matchups and prompting criticism for the powerhouse league's weak nonconference schedule.

Louisiana-Monroe, which came in 2-29-1 against SEC teams, managed a little redemption for its league.

It was a humbling loss for an Alabama team already coming off defeats to Mississippi State and No. 1 LSU, and a setback for a program that is paying Nick Saban $4 million a year to lead a turnaround.