While the LSU players slowly exited the field after suffering a heartbreaking loss to Alabama, wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. stopped and clutched the ground.
It was expected that Beckham would be so emotionally drained after one of his best efforts in an LSU uniform and the war that happened for 60 minutes on the field Saturday night. Many of the Tigers can say they did the same against the most dominant team in the country.
Just as Beckham slumped down and hit the turf, senior wide out Russell Shepard picked him up and the two walked out of Tiger Stadium with heads held high.
As hard as it was for Shepard and Beckham, it’s something the rest of the LSU football team has to do as well.
I’ve never seen LSU coach Les Miles so visibly upset after a loss. At first I thought it was because some of his quintessential Mad Hatter gambles didn’t work out or because his defense did anything but prevent T.J. Yeldon from scampering into the endzone on the go-ahead 28-yard screen pass with 51 seconds remaining in the game.
Those played a part, for sure, but it was another underlying reason that Miles has pent up the entire week leading to the clash with his counterpart Nick Saban.
“The idea that people would sit there and discount this football team before they even played the game is just unbelievable,” Miles said after the Tigers’ 21-17 loss to Alabama.
Tell us how you really feel, Les.
Coming into its tussle with undisputed No. 1 Alabama, most thought the word of the game for LSU was “revenge.”
The Tigers were out for blood after the Crimson Tide embarrassed them 21-0 in the 2012 BCS National Championship. They hadn’t scored a touchdown against Alabama’s offense since 2010.
Whatever the outcome, the Tigers had to regain what they lost Jan. 9.
But LSU did achieve something against the Crimson Tide. It wasn’t revenge — it was respect.
As Miles said postgame, everyone counted out the Tigers. It wasn’t a question of whether Alabama was going to win or not, but if LSU could even keep it close.
Not only did the Tigers keep the game within striking distance, they blanked the Crimson Tide in the second half until the five-play, 43-second drive that will surely go down in Alabama football lore.
LSU fans have been dying to see junior quarterback Zach Mettenberger have his breakout game all season long. He finally proved his worth against the best defense in all of college football, throwing for 298 yards and a touchdown.
Those achievements however won’t be valued as much as they should because the Tigers didn’t come away with a W.
Props to the Crimson Tide and coach Saban. It takes a championship pedigree to have no momentum the entire second half and put together a drive for the ages to keep your national title hopes alive.
If any other opponent were lining up opposite from the Tigers on Saturday night in Death Valley, it would have been a completely different result. They outgained the Crimson Tide, dominated the time of possession battle nearly two-to-one and won the turnover battle 2-0.
LSU exposed a chink in Alabama’s armor. No team has been able to run straight at the Crimson Tide and have success.
The Tigers displayed a dominant ground game against Alabama, who hadn’t given up a 100-yard rusher this season. A true freshman running back Jeremy Hill, who was fifth on the depth chart before the season began, accomplished that feat against the Crimson Tide.
They were also without three of five starters on the offensive line who started the opener against North Texas or running back Alfred Blue, who had cemented himself as the starter before going down against Idaho earlier in the season.
Last week it was said that Alabama could beat an NFL team. Not only did the Tigers help throw that opinion into the garbage, they took one of the best college football teams in recent memory down to the very last second.
And that’s something to hold your head up high about.
LSU junior wide receiver Kadron Boone (86) pumps up the student section Saturday, Nov. 3, 2012, during the Tigers' 21-17 loss to Alabama in Tiger Stadium.
