LSU will relive its glory when the 2007 LSU Tigers are welcomed back to Tiger Stadium on Saturday.
“I’m just looking forward to seeing all the guys again,” said former quarterback Matt Flynn. “I keep in touch and am good friends with a lot of the guys, but there are some guys I haven’t seen in 10 years.”
Flynn, a fifth-year senior with one career start prior to 2007, came into the season replacing JaMarcus Russell — the No. 1 overall draft pick in the 2007 NFL draft. Flynn was the face of a group of LSU players that were replacing four first round draft picks, but the Tigers still entered the 2007 season ranked No. 2 in the polls.
“It’s a little bit of an odd situation because we did lose four first round picks coming into that year,” said running back Jacob Hester. “We lost JaMarcus [Russell], LaRon Landry, Dwayne Bowe, [Craig] ‘Buster’ Davis. We had just won the Sugar Bowl against Notre Dame, but anytime you lose four first round picks, I don’t know how high expectations can be.”
The expectations rose following the Tigers’ 45-0 win against Mississippi State in Starkville. The defense was led by All-American defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey and safety Craig Steltz. Steltz was tasked with replacing Landry in 2007 and finished the game against Mississippi State with a school record three interceptions.
“Football is the ultimate team sport,” Steltz said. “The list of all the guys we had rushing the passer, it makes your job that much easier in the backend. The quarterback gets hit in the first quarter, and come the third, fourth quarter he is looking for where the rush is coming from and not reading the coverage.”
The defense continued its high-level of play into the following week against No. 9 Virginia Tech. The Tigers blasted the Hokies 48-7, setting the tone for the rest of the season.
LSU was for real, and everyone knew it.
“They stumbled into Tiger Stadium that night, and I don’t know if they’ve ever been in a place like Death Valley on Saturday night,” Flynn said. “We were hitting on all cylinders, the crowd was amazing, and it was a good night.”
LSU went through its next three games, defeating opponents — Middle Tennessee State, No. 12 South Carolina and Tulane — by a combined score of 106-25.
The Tigers then welcomed defending national champions Florida and Tim Tebow into Tiger Stadium.
“Coaches will tell you that it was the same, you kind of went through the same routine, but everybody from players, fans, coaches know those games are different,” Hester said.
The game turned out to be one of the most memorable games of the season. LSU trailed by 10 points heading into the fourth quarter, and Flynn said that quarter felt like every big moment of a season squeezed into one. The Tigers went for it on fourth down five times during the game, including twice on their final drive.
On the final drive, LSU called on Hester to carry the team to victory. Hester converted both fourth downs and scored the game winning touchdown from two yards out on a play that Flynn did not announce in the huddle.
“It’s the only time in football I’ve never had a play called in the huddle,” Hester said. “We all knew what the play was; he didn’t have to tell us formation; he didn’t have to tell us which way to go. That’s the kind of squad we had, we had just been together so long that he said ‘go score,’ and score we did.
“To be able to a part of something so special in LSU history, it’s just monumental for me, and I’m just honored to be a part of it. So many guys went into making that drive what it was.”
However, the Tigers’ first mishap of the season followed the next week on the road against No. 17 Kentucky in a 43-37 triple overtime loss.
LSU returned home to play No. 18 Auburn and continued its stretch of playing four straight ranked opponents. Much like the game against Florida, LSU fell behind early, clawing its way back into the game and once again relying on a last second touchdown to win.
Against Auburn, then-LSU coach Les Miles relied on Flynn’s arm to win the game as time was winding down with LSU down one and in field goal range.
Flynn said that while the play was cutting it close to final whistle, the team felt they still had time left to kick a field goal. The final play was max protection with a vertical route on each side of the formation, and if Auburn was in zone coverage, like expected, Flynn was going to throw the ball away.
“I get up to the line of scrimmage, and they are playing single high safety, press man on the outside,” Flynn said. “I’m sitting there licking my chops and just gave it a ride.”
Flynn completed a 22-yard touchdown pass to receiver Demetrius Byrd, giving LSU a 30-24 win over Auburn.
The Tigers then traveled to Tuscaloosa to play Nick Saban and the No. 17 Alabama Crimson Tide. It was Saban’s first game against LSU, following his departure from the team for the Miami Dolphins at the end of the 2004 season.
“There was obviously a lot of emotional stuff going on that week,” Hester said. “All of us seniors had played for coach Saban, we were recruited by coach Saban, and we kind of knew what it meant. Also we wanted to respect our coach, coach Miles, because all the attention was going to coach Saban. We wanted him to know that we were his guys, and we were going to bust our tails for him.”
The Tigers had another comeback in the second half and left Tuscaloosa with a 41-34 win. The win set LSU up for a much easier November against Louisiana Tech, Ole Miss and Arkansas.
LSU defeated Louisiana Tech and Ole Miss by scores of 58-10 and 41-24 respectively, setting up a regular season finale with a 7-4 Arkansas team led by running back Darren McFadden.
McFadden totaled 240 yards and four touchdowns in the game, but the LSU offense — led by Flynn, who separated his throwing shoulder in the third quarter — matched the Razorbacks score for score. However, LSU fell once again in triple overtime, and assuredly eliminated from the national championship picture.
LSU still had a game to play after its loss to Arkansas. The team won the Western Division and earned the right to represent the division in Atlanta.
The Tigers, without Flynn, defeated Tennessee in the SEC Championship Game but needed luck to fall their way and both Missouri and West Virginia to lose. LSU found out its luck came through on the plane ride back from Atlanta.
“The pilot was giving us updates every 20-30 minutes,” Flynn said. “I remember that one of the teams lost, and we raised our hands and celebrated. Then we hit some really bad turbulence real sudden and the plane just dropped and the lights started flickering.”
The Tigers made it home safely and were picked to play No. 1 Ohio State in New Orleans in the national championship game. After falling down 10-0, LSU stormed back behind Flynn’s four touchdown passes, winning the game 38-24.
“You’re the best college football team in the world,” Hester said.
“Winning the Super Bowl, I’m sure is amazing, the best of 32 teams, but when you’re in college football, you’re the best of over 100 teams,” he said. “So to me, that just means the world, playing against a historic Ohio State team, playing in the Superdome, those things just go in together, the way we got there, it’s hard to beat that one.”
The team that won the school’s second national title in four years will be honored during halftime at LSU’s game against Auburn this Saturday.
“It’ll be fun to see everyone, everyone will be back together,” Flynn said. “That truly was an incredibly special team, a group of guys, group of leaders. For us all to be able to come back and stand in front of the LSU crowd one more time, to salute the fan-base and the LSU Tigers one more time is going to be great.”

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Courtesy of LSU Sports

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