No matter the sport, every coach has a career-defining game.
Despite his tendency to nibble on grass and his creative use of the English language, LSU coach Les Miles is no different.
Of the 137 games the Mad Hatter paced the LSU sidelines, the top-ranked Tigers’ 28-24 comeback victory against then-No. 9 University of Florida on Oct. 6, 2007, stands out as the most memorable game of the Les Miles era to former players, current Tigers and fans alike.
It wasn’t the highest-stakes game Miles coached during his LSU career, or even during the 2007 season as the Tigers brought home their third national championship with a 38-24 win against Ohio State University in the Bowl Championship Series National Championship Game.
And it wasn’t the Tigers’ perfect 5-for-5 mark on fourth-down conversions against the Gators.
What transformed Miles and the 2007 squad into legends that October day is simple — their belief in one another no matter the odds.
“It brought us together as a team,” said former LSU running back Jacob Hester. “It took every single one of us to win that football game. … Being in a battle like that on the football field is going to do nothing but help your team. It was such nasty battle between us and Florida that it swung our season.”
From the first snap, the Tigers’ offense struggled to convert scoring opportunities, while former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow trounced LSU’s defense for a passing touchdown and rushing touchdown in the first half, leading the Gators to a 17-7 halftime lead.
Following former LSU defensive coordinator Bo Pelini’s halftime adjustments, the Tigers’ defense held Florida’s offense to only a touchdown in the second half and 147 total yards.
Despite tallying just 162 offensive yards in the first half, Miles’ confidence in his offense to convert fourth-downs never faltered, fueling the Tigers’ 15-play, 70-yard touchdown drive to open the third quarter.
With LSU facing fourth-and-5 from Florida’s 25-yard line, Miles sent then-junior placekicker Colt David, who missed a 43-yard field goal in the second quarter, out for the short kick.
But when the ball snapped, then-senior quarterback and holder Matt Flynn tucked it for an eight-yard run on the fake, converting the Tigers’ second fourth down of the game and allowing LSU to cut Florida’s lead to three points just five plays later with 7:49 remaining in the third quarter.
Although the Gators extended their lead to as much as 10 points in the second half, the Tigers trailed by only three points when Hester and company took over possession at their own 40-yard line with 9:20 left in the fourth quarter.
Despite Hester opening the drive with a seven-yard run, an offensive pass interference penalty threatened to end the Tigers’ comeback.
Flynn kept the drive alive with a 15-yard scramble to set up a fourth-and-1 on the Tigers’ 49-yard line, which Hester converted with a two-yard rush.
After Flynn connected with then-sophomore tight end Richard Dickson for a first down and Hester broke a 19-yard run, Hester got the call again on a fourth-and-1 at the Gators’ 7-yard line.
“I remember being in the huddle of the Florida game and thinking, ‘I don’t want to let coach Miles down because he’s trusting us on these fourth-downs with no hesitation to make the call,’” Hester said. “That’s the last person I want to disappoint.”
Hester notched his second fourth-down conversion on the same play call, setting up LSU with first-and-goal on Florida’s 5-yard line.
Just three plays later, Hester and the rest of the team waited in the huddle for Flynn to walk up with the expected play call for third-and-goal from the Gators’ 2-yard line.
“Matt Flynn comes in the huddle, and he said, ‘You know what the play is, and you know how to run it,’” Hester said. “He didn’t even call a play. It was that for sure we knew exactly what we were running. Not any other time in my football career did I have a situation like that.”
Seconds later, Hester plowed through the Gators’ defense to score the go-ahead touchdown, capping the game that defined his LSU career.
Looking back at the Tigers’ comeback, Miles stressed the role the Tiger faithful played, especially when Stanford University’s 24-23 upset of then-No, 2 University of Southern California was announced during the final drive.
“The stadium erupted,” Miles said. “That was the dangest thing I’ve ever been a [part of] because I actually asked somebody, ‘Why are they celebrating? We haven’t taken the lead yet.’ It made a difference, it really did. There was some juice and some energy in that stadium that these Tigers feed off of.”
Although they didn’t play there that year, the 2007 Florida game holds a sacred place for today’s Tigers, propelling the LSU-Florida rivalry to new heights.
“That’s like the game of the year watching it as a kid,” said senior linebacker Deion Jones. “It’s like LSU-Florida, then it’s LSU-Bama. But Florida was the one that really stuck out to me as a kid.”
Senior linebacker Lamar Louis, junior safety Rickey Jefferson and Jones all remember exactly where they were when they watched the Tigers and Gators face off in 2007.
Jefferson said he “didn’t really appreciate” having to watch the game on TV after his father took a friend, instead of him, and his older brother, former LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson, to Baton Rouge for a recruiting visit.
Although Jefferson looks at the night as a missed opportunity, Jones said he remembers watching the 2007 game at his uncle’s house with his mom and dad.
“We were sitting there watching it,” Jones said. “It was crazy. … [I remember] the fourth downs that Jacob got, and then punching it in at the end.”
Of the trio, Louis was the only one to be in Tiger Stadium to experience the game firsthand.
“That was one of the greatest experiences of my life,” Louis said.