Matt OsbornIt had been a season like no other in LSU history. Undefeated, 12-0 after beating 8 ranked teams including #3 Oregon (40-27), #25 Mississippi State (19-6), #16 West Virginia (47-21), #19 Auburn (45-10), #3 Arkansas (41-17), and #12 Georgia (42-10) in the SEC Championship Game. Oh, and #2 Alabama in overtime at Bryant Denny (9-6) in the first “Game of the Century.”
We had an offense that led the SEC in scoring, the #2 defense in the nation, and the phenom known as the Honey Badger running pretty much anywhere he wanted to. It was 2011.
But none of that mattered heading into January 2012 because there stood Alabama once again. Even though we had beaten them at their own house, had won the SEC West and the overall SEC title, we were forced to face Bama yet again. In the Superdome. The 2012 BCS Championship Game.
Unfair? Maybe. But other teams had lost in the prior weeks, most notably Oklahoma State to Iowa State, and Alabama found itself back at #2. Considering LSU’s unlikely ascent to #2 back in 2007, we really could not complain. It still didn’t sit well though . . . with anyone to be honest, except for Alabama fans. In fact, the whole selection debacle led to the current playoff system.
But again, that didn’t matter. What did matter was playing Alabama again and knowing this all-time season was all for nothing if the beast was not slain a second time.
And we all know how it went. LSU not only lost, but was shut out. Worse, the offense would cross the 50-yard line only once, and that was in the second half. The final was 21-0.
For LSU fans, 2011 never left us. Visions of the greatness of 2011, the greatest season and a generational team, all of which was shattered in the BCS Championship Game. The 50-yard line. 21-0. To a team we had already beat.
Fast forward 8 years and a few days. Again, it was a season like no other in LSU history. And somehow, it was even better than 2011. Undefeated, 14-0 after beating 6 Top-10 teams including #9 Texas, #7 Florida, #9 Auburn, #4 Georgia in the SEC Championship Game, and #4 Oklahoma in the Peach Bowl/playoff semifinals.
Oh, and #3 Alabama at Bryant Denny. It was the first time since that 2011 game in Tuscaloosa that LSU had beaten Alabama, breaking a string of 8 straight defeats.
Since that time, Bama had won four national championships (2011, 2012, 2015, and 2017) and five SEC championships (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2018). Meanwhile, LSU had won zero championships, had a five-loss season, two four-loss seasons, gone 4-4 in bowl games, almost fired a head coach, then did fire that coach, and had even lost to Troy. 2011 had changed things.
But all of those demons had been excised in 2019. Coach O’s loss to Troy in his first season (much like Saban’s loss to UAB in his first LSU season) was forgotten. Bama was finally beaten. Unlike multiple times in the Miles era when LSU would suffer unexplained letdowns or losses that would derail a season, the team had shown up week after week, playing at the highest level whether against yet another Top-10 team or Vandy.
Plus, there was the offense. The offensive woes that had plagued LSU throughout all but a few seasons of the Miles era were gone. In fact, it was the complete opposite – LSU had taken over the SEC offensive record book with perhaps the greatest offense ever and indisputably the greatest quarterback season ever.
And then the awards. Coach of the Year (x 4), Maxwell, Walter Camp, Davey O’Brien, Johnny Unitas, AP and Sporting News Player of the Year, Biletnikoff, Thorpe, Joe Moore, four AP All-Americans, 12 All-SEC. And of course the Heisman.
But here we were again in New Orleans for a title game. Just like 2011. And again, despite all the awards, all the points, and all the shattered records, none of that seemed to matter.
Because we had seen this in 2011. LSU fans were still trying to rectify how perhaps the greatest team in LSU history, a team that had imposed its will on everyone throughout the season, never really seemed to show up at the Superdome in the biggest game of them all.
We knew Coach O, Joe, and everyone would be ready. But we also thought that the last time.
2011 loomed. Heavily.
And then the game started with our offense being pinned back deep on the first two possessions. Punt. Punt. Then Clemson scored. And then we punted again. It was the first time in so many games that we hadn’t scored on the first possession, let alone the first three.
Oh no. 2011.
But then we passed the 50-yard line. Check. We scored. Check. By the end of the first quarter, even though LSU was losing, the lingering traumas from 2011 – the goose egg on the scoreboard and the 50-yard line – were gone.
These two things may seem silly and small to non-LSU fans, but Tiger fans understood the significance.
And then, down 17-7, what never happened in 2011 happened in 2019. The team we had seen just completely take over games all year suddenly appeared in the Superdome and on our TV screens.
21 unanswered points to end the second quarter – 21-0. Fitting.
The collective sigh of relief from the entire LSU fan base might as well have been a Cat 4 hurricane. Our team, the one we had seen all year, was there.
LSU would end up outscoring Clemson 35-8 after being down 17-7 and gain 628 yards of offense. Joe would throw for 463 yards and 5 touchdowns. Ja’Marr would account for 221 of those yards and 2 of those touchdowns. Clyde would run for 110 yards.
2011 this was not. Gone were the questions of whether we would show up, whether we could score, whether we could cross the 50, and certainly whether we could win.
The sting of 2011 may never fully heal for LSU or its fans. But watching Coach O lift that championship trophy and watching the 2019 team finish arguably the greatest season in college football history, the fears of 2011 repeating itself were finally and forever rectified.
