A season to remember: Tigers live up to the preseason hype
    If the 2001 LSU football season, by some miracle of modern science and technology, acquired legs and walked into a doctor’s office, it might have to get fitted for a straight jacket. That’s just how crazy it was.
It was a season that began with high expectations – favorites in the Southeastern Conference Western Division, a Top 25 ranking, a possible berth in a New Year’s Day bowl and in contention for the SEC Championship.
And it was a season that ended even better – with just a few detours and bumps along the way.
If one thing is for sure, Nick Saban and the LSU coaching staff aren’t any younger after all the close calls in this crazy season and may not have as much hair as they used to. On the other hand, they’ve probably never been more proud of a team for showing heart, pride and overcoming adversity.
LSU began the 2001 season ranked No. 14 in the Associated Press Poll and No. 17 in the ESPN/USA Today poll. Early on, Saban warned his team that preseason predictions did not mean much and that they needed to focus more on becoming a better football team.
“We need to make sure our players understand relative to all the predictions going into this season that predictions are done according to performance relative to having success,” Saban said in August. “Predictions are no substitute for performance.”
Instead of focusing on meaningless predictions, Saban and the Tigers began to “climb the mountain” of success, one of Saban’s trademark analogies. And it wasn’t an easy climb.
A tough climb
Saban’s theoretical “top of the mountain” represented the SEC championship – a place he said that this group wasn’t ready to reach yet. In order to reach it, steps must be taken one at a time, not one big giant leap, he said.
Perhaps the Tigers were caught looking at the top a little too early. After starting the season 2-0 with lop-sided victories over Tulane and Utah State, LSU lost at Tennessee 26-18 and were crushed at home by Florida 44-15, wiping them out of the Top 25 and in an 0-2 hole in SEC games.
“We have to take the games we have moving forward one game at a time,” Saban said after the loss to the Gators. “We need to play better and find out what we’re made of. I think it’s time for everybody to look in the mirror and say this is what I need to do to get better and get it done.”
Limping back up the mountain, the Tigers won back to back games at Kentucky 29-25 and at Mississippi State 42-0 and were seemingly in control of the situation at 4-2.
“It is always tough to go on the road in the SEC and win,” Saban said. “I feel like this team made a recommitment to LSU football after the Kentucky game. We had a different attitude today. Team chemistry is very good right now.”
Avalanche
Sunday morning of Oct. 28, 2001 was not a very blissful time around Baton Rouge. Not as it was expected to be the night before. The previous night, a sellout crowd in Tiger Stadium watched LSU lose a 35-24 heartbreaker to the Ole Miss Rebels, dropping its record to a mediocre 4-3 and an even worse 2-3 Southeastern Conference record.
The season was on the brink with four tough games remaining. LSU had seemingly blown its chance at an SEC Western Division crown, much less a shot at the SEC. It was in that week that Saban would challenge the heart and pride of this underachieving LSU squad to get back on the mountain and, once again, take it one step at a time.
“This is going to be a real character check as to the kind of pride they have for the rest of the season,” Saban said after the loss. “We’re just going to have to re-tool and re-load. We’ve got the players that we’ve got, and we have good enough players to play a lot better than we did today, and we’re going to do everything we can to get it that way.”
Standing 4-3, and 2-3 in SEC, LSU had about as much chance of winning the SEC West as they did the Louisiana state lottery.
Air Show at Alabama
The Tigers approached the remaining four games on a mission to take care of their own business and let things fall into place on their own.
Step One: Alabama – Rohan Davey and Josh Reed put on a show in Bryant Denny Stadium at Alabama, Davey completing 35-of-44 passes for 528 yards and Josh Reed catching 19 passes for 293 yards. LSU won convincingly, 35-21.
LSU won the next week as well, outscoring a potent Middle Tennessee team 30-14 to improve to 6-3, with two games remaining.
During the next weekend, the Tigers got back into the middle of the SEC West race, even though they didn’t even play a game. Alabama blew away division leader Auburn in the Iron Bowl, and second-place Ole Miss lost at home to Georgia, giving LSU control of its own destiny in the division race with two games remaining. The top of the mountain was back in site, and this time the players knew what they had to do.
“My answer has been rehearsed,” said linebacker Bradie James. “We have to take it one game at a time. If we don’t take care of our business, we can’t control anything.”
How the West was won
LSU won the SEC Western Division and earned a trip to the SEC championship against Tennessee after huge wins over Arkansas, 41-38, and Auburn, 27-14, finishing the season at 8-3, with a 5-3 conference record. LaBrandon Toefield was huge in those games, rushing for 173 yards against the Razorbacks and 120 against Auburn. Josh Reed – the winner of the Fred Biletnikoff award given annually to the best wide receiver in the country – was unstoppable, hauling in 183 yards receiving against Arkansas and 186 against Auburn.
“The game tonight was an opportunity to make a lot of memories for themselves,” Saban said of his players after the Auburn win. “That’s the happiest I’ve ever seen them. They’ll remember this game for the rest of their lives.”
One more step to the top of the mountain
LSU had one final step to take to get to the top of the mountain, beating No. 2 Tennessee. Easier said than done, especially after Davey and Toefield were knocked out of the game with injuries. Enter backup quarterback Matt Mauck and tailback Domanick Davis.
Using a series of quarterback draws, the speedy Mauck ran for two touchdowns, and Davis ran for another touchdown as LSU rebounded from a 17-7 deficit to win 31-20. LSU captured the SEC championship in dramatic fashion and in the oddest of ways, scaled to the top of the mountain.
“This SEC championship is for LSU, for our supporters, and I am so happy and proud of our team,” Saban said.
Sweet Sugar
The Tigers’ reward for winning the SEC championship was a trip to the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans to face Big Ten champs Illinois.
From the opening kick to the final gun, LSU dominated the Illini 47-34, behind Davey’s 444 yards passing, Reed’s 239 yards receiving and Davis’ 122 yards rushing and four touchdowns.
“This was a great year for this team,” Saban said days after the Sugar Bowl win as departing quarterback Rohan Davey sat beside him. “It gave this program a lot of exposure. It gave a lot of the players in the program a lot of exposure. This doesn’t mean we’re going to win more games next year. We lose some good, good football players, and one of them is sitting next to me.”
Remembering
There are a lot of things to remember about the 2001 season. There is the final No. 7 and No. 8 rankings in the AP and USA Today polls, respectively, that the Tigers earned. There are the setbacks during the season: Sept. 11, losing to Tennessee, Florida and Ole Miss. There also are moments of joy: Josh Reed becoming LSU’s all time leading receiver and winning the Biletnikoff award, Rohan Davey becoming the first LSU quarterback to throw for 3000+ yards, the record-setting performances at Alabama, the SEC Championship, the Sugar Bowl … the list is endless.
Lastly, when thinking about the 2001 LSU football season, it is important to remember how this team never gave up, even when all the odds were against it. Remember how this team fought against adversity, and beat the odds, how Nick Saban and his boys took it one step at a time and climbed the impossible mountain.