| LSU Football For the Title! |
LSU was supposed to be here all along. Then it wasn’t. Then it was again. Then it wasn’t again, and all was thought to be lost. Then came the miracle in Morgantown and last but not least — the votes, computer chips and a lot of luck.
"It was a roller coaster ride," said All-American defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey, who won the Outland, Lombardi, Lott and Nagurski awards this season in much easier fashion than LSU won a lot of its games. "It was a wild season. We were just as nervous as everybody."
LSU won four Southeastern Conference games by seven points or less, including the SEC title game, and the first three of those featured winning touchdowns with less than two minutes to play. The two losses were both in triple overtime. LSU’s Colt David just missed a 57-yard field goal that would have won the Kentucky game as time expired in regulation, and a stop by the Tigers’ defense on fourth-and-10 would have meant a win over Arkansas in the first overtime.
"All the fans were saying to stop giving them close games because we were giving them heart attacks," Dorsey said. "But we were getting heart attacks, too. We don’t want the games to be close either."
The cardiac Cats (11-2) proved to have nearly nine lives and are the first two-loss team ever to reach a national championship game. They are a "home" win away from becoming the first two-loss national champion since Minnesota in 1960.
Minnesota finished 8-2 that season after a 17-7 loss to Washington in the Rose Bowl, but at that time the final polls came out before the bowls and Minnesota was crowned No. 1 in the Associated Press and United Press International polls. Ole Miss, which beat Rice in the Sugar Bowl to finish 10-0-1, finished No. 1 in the Football Writers of America Association poll, while 10-1 Washington was the Helms Athletic Foundation champion.
BCS No. 2 LSU and BCS No. 1 Ohio State (11-1) meet on Jan. 7 for the national title in the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, which is 87 miles from LSU’s campus and where LSU is 7-0 since the 1987 season and 3-0 in Sugar Bowls, including a win over Oklahoma in the Jan. 4, 2004, BCS title game.
"Anybody who grew up in Louisiana who played football wanted to play in the dome," said Dorsey, who is from the town of Gonzales located halfway between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. "And we’re playing the national championship in the dome again."
It’s been a charmed season for LSU, which opened up at No. 2 in the preseason Associated Press poll and moved to No. 1 on Sept. 30 following a 34-9 win over Tulane in that friendly Superdome. LSU went to No. 1 in the AP, USA Today and Harris polls following a thrilling, come-from-behind, 28-24 win over No. 9 Florida on Oct. 6 that included LSU coach Les "The Ohio Gambler" Miles going 5-for-5 on fourth downs.
The Tigers couldn’t convert a fourth-and-2 in overtime at No. 8 Kentucky a week later, however, and lost 43-37 in triple overtime.
"Our team was spent, not only emotionally but physically," Miles said. "The Kentucky loss was an emotional low without question."
LSU roared back with a 41-34 win over a physical and 18th-ranked Auburn team thanks to a 22-yard touchdown pass from Matt Flynn to Demetrius Byrd on third down with one second to spare. The Tigers came that close to not getting a chance to kick a winning field goal. Another hairbreadth escape followed at No. 17 Alabama, which led 34-27 with under three minutes to play before falling 41-34.
LSU returned to No. 1 across the board following a 58-10 win over Louisiana Tech on Nov. 10 coupled with No. 1 Ohio State’s loss to Illinois. The Tigers could not long handle success again, however, as they lost on Nov. 23 to unranked, 7-4 Arkansas at home 50-48 in triple overtime, allowing the most rushing yards (385) since 1993 in the process.
"We went from the ultimate high to the ultimate low after the Arkansas game," Dorsey said. "That was tough."
LSU, which fell to No. 7 in the BCS with the loss, also lost starting quarterback Matt Flynn to a shoulder injury in that game, and he had to miss the SEC Championship Game against Tennessee. Backup Ryan Perrilloux more than filled in. He won the game’s most valuable offensive player award by completing 20 of 30 passes for 243 yards and a touchdown in a 21-14 win. Jonathan Zenon’s 18-yard interception return for a touchdown with 9:54 to play gave LSU the win.
The Tigers boarded the plane happy, having won their first SEC title since 2003 but wondering what might have been. By the time they landed in Baton Rouge, they were wondering if someone up there liked them as BCS No. 1 Missouri lost to Oklahoma and BCS No. 2 West Virginia inexplicably fell to 4-7 Pittsburgh.
The next day, Sunday Dec. 2, LSU passed No. 6 Virginia Tech, No. 5 Kansas and No. 4 Georgia to reach the No. 2 spot behind Ohio State. Georgia (10-2) had won six straight, including victories over ranked Florida, Auburn and Kentucky, but it did not win its SEC division. Kansas was 11-1 but played a notoriously weak schedule.
Virginia Tech was the toughest hurdle. The final average computer ranking had Virginia Tech No. 1, LSU No. 2 and Ohio State No. 3 as the Hokies had won five straight in impressive fashion, including the last two over ranked Virginia and Boston College. The voters, however, could not look past one Tech loss — 48-7 at LSU on Sept. 8. LSU finished No. 2 in the Harris and USA Today polls and No. 2 in the computers for a final No. 2 BCS ranking despite losses to a pair of teams that finished out of the BCS standings and with nine losses. And one of those losses was in late November, which usually means it’s over.
"It’s been up and downs all season," Flynn said that Sunday. Just over a week earlier he buried his face in the grass of Tiger Stadium after his two-point conversion interception ended the Arkansas game.
"It’s been wild," Flynn said. "We were sitting there thinking we blew our shot. We thought the dreams and the goals that we set last winter had been shot down. But crazy things happen. You can never count anybody out. Last night, the unthinkable happened. We were just kind of in shock, wondering how this all happened and knowing we’re going to get another chance. For it all to come down to seeing our name pop up there and realize that we’re in the game. We’re thrilled to get this chance."
Without a scheduling change some three years ago, Virginia Tech’s name may have flashed up there on the BCS selection show instead of LSU’s. Amazingly, Virginia Tech only played LSU this season because it was able to get out of its original return game at LSU in the 2004 season because of a late schedule addition by ESPN of USC to Tech’s schedule. Tech, which hosted LSU in 2002, got out of the 2004 LSU game because it didn’t want to play USC and LSU back to back. The return was delayed until 2007. Without a trip to LSU and an easier opponent in its place this season, Tech could have finished 12-1 and would be New Orleans bound.
"Some people say luck," senior offensive tackle and New Orleans native Carnell Stewart said. "You can call it what you want. I’m happy regardless."
LSU was supposed to be here all along. Then it wasn’t. Then it was again. Then it wasn’t again, and all was thought to be lost. Then came the miracle in Morgantown and last but not least — the votes, computer chips and a lot of luck
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