NEW ORLEANS — October 1, 2017. LSU homecoming.
What should have been another “cupcake” game for the Tigers turned into a nightmare by the end of the game as quarterback Danny Etling threw a game-seaing interception as LSU fell to the Troy Trojans on a Saturday night in Tiger Stadium.
It was rock bottom for a pro- gram looking for a resurgence under coach Ed Orgeron, who was in his first full season as head coach. But fast forward two years (and some change) later and the Tigers have gone from rock bottom to the peak of college football, defeating Clemson 42-25 for LSU’s fourth national championship and becoming the first SEC team to go 15-0 in the College Football Playoff Era.
“Early in my career at LSU we faced some adversity, some strong adversity, and it was time to block out the noise,” Orgeron said be- fore the national championship. “We can see through the adversity, it made us stronger.”
“I do believe the loss to Troy was a turning point in our program. It helped us realize what we had to get done, what we had to do as a coaching staff, as players. We could never let our hands down. We always have our hands up and ready to prepare for every game.”
Monday night was the culmination of everything Orgeron tried to instill since he took over the program as the interim coach in 2016.
Orgeron is no stranger to adversity. Neither are the players on this team. Orgeron’s now famous “block out the noise” became all the more important after the loss to Troy.
Now, in the shadows of the national championship, the Troy loss is a distant memory in the minds of LSU fans, but the players and coaches know what the Sep- tember night meant in the grand scheme of things.
“I think just knowing that we hit rock bottom, knowing it can’t get any worse than that,” said senior defensive lineman Breiden Fehoko. “And knowing that the guys in the room at the time we had some great senior leaders and the seniors now were sophomores on that team.
“Knowing that we had young guys who could lead as well, they’ve seen it. They haven’t let that happen one bit. They haven’t let this team fall through the cracks. Winning the Fiesta Bowl, winning a nation championship, it could only get better.”
Junior punter Zach Von Rosenberg agreed the Troy loss was the lowest point of his LSU career.
But this team was special and they always knew they were special, after the Texas game and especially after the Alabama game. It was about sacrifice and perseverance and execution. This team was wanting to do all of those things.
“I you would have told me within two years of that, that’d we’d be here,” Von Rosenberg said. “I mean I knew that we always had the talent. We could always get the players, we could always get the right people here. I was just about getting everybody pulling in the same direction to do something like this. It’s just spe- cial. The belief and the grind and the willingness to sacrifice everything to get here is all worth it.”
That 2017 season didn’t begin or end how the Tigers wanted it to, but it was the start of something new for the program. Orgeron molded this LSU program into something that mirrors himself — a tough, gritty team that does it all for the state of Louisiana.
The Troy loss may have been rock bottom, but LSU made it back to the top of the mountain.
“I just think the character and the grit of this football team,” Orgeron said after the win. “I felt like we could have played for another month. We were not tired. This team was ready to go. They were enthusiastic. One team, one heartbeat, the character and the leadership, obviously led by Joe. We wouldn’t be here without Joe Burrow.”