LSU’s 2001 Southeastern Conference championship team hardly looked like a title contender when the Tigers traveled to Tuscaloosa, Ala. 10 years ago today.
An unranked 4-3 LSU entered Bryant-Denny Stadium on Nov. 3, 2001, reeling from a sloppy home loss to Ole Miss the previous week.
Then-LSU coach Nick Saban was in the middle of his second season in Baton Rouge and held a modest 12-7 mark through 19 games.
Tiger fans, discontent with Saban at the time, reached a boiling point regarding conservative play-calling and a porous defense in three early losses that season.
The criticism began to melt away for good with 35 flicks of senior quarterback Rohan Davey’s wrist and junior wide receiver Josh Reed’s legendary haul on a sunny Tuscaloosa day in a 35-21 LSU victory against a 3-4 Alabama squad.
“We had to decide right then what type of season we wanted to have,” Reed said. “Coach [Saban] and his staff were lighting into us at practice that week. We couldn’t let another one slip status.”
Davey completed 35-of-44 throws to set an LSU single-game passing record with 528 passing yards. His 540 total yards tied an SEC record set by former Ole Miss quarterback Archie Manning.
Even with Davey’s masterful lobs gracefully tracking Tiger receivers, it was his prime target, Reed, who lit up the Crimson Tide defense like none have before or since.
“They cannot stop Josh Reed,” said CBS announcer Verne Lundquist during the game’s telecast.
While Reed set SEC records for catches and yards in a game with 19 for 293 in the victory, he remembers his three fumbles — two lost — most vividly.
“I tell people every time they ask about that game that I remember those three crucial fumbles the most,” Reed said. “But thankfully, the coaches had the faith in me to still call my number when the game got tight. It was a long and frustrating day, believe it or day.”
An LSU offense that was already averaging 423 yards a game through five SEC games that fall exploded for 611 yards on the day, and Reed said he remembers former offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher being given the green light in the play calling.
“I know early in the year, we’d get a little a conservative in a tight game and let the defense go at it,” Reed recalled. “But I do remember seeing Coach [Saban] indicating, ‘You know what, Jimbo, call a big throw on long third downs because we need to keep the ball today.’ And Coach Fisher put us in the position to succeed all game later.”
 
____
Contact Chris Abshire at [email protected]