The last home game of the season bid farewell to 11 seniors who have spent their college years with the LSU football team. These seniors came out of the game with a 27-24 win over the Ole Miss Rebels in their final game in Tiger Stadium.
After the game, LSU coach Nick Saban said he was happy the seniors won their last game.
“I think it meant a lot to our guys who have done a lot to contribute to the success of this program in the four years or the five years that they’ve been here,” Saban said. “Not only in the way they played on the field and the victories they got for this team but also for the way they represented LSU.”
The seniors were recognized before the game when they were announced one-by-one and were met at midfield by Saban and family members. The crowd gave the seniors a memorable farewell with each receiving massive cheers from the students as well as fans.
“I was very humble that people understand that players come here and they work hard for four years and to show the type of appreciation they do, it really touches you in a way that no one can understand,” said senior defensive end Marcus Spears. “I think that is the thing I have enjoyed so much about running out on to the field and the passion they look at me with and the excitement they had when they called my name out.”
The seniors captured the fans’ attention before the game, but the underclassmen seemed to have stole the spotlight throughout the game. Redshirt freshman quarterback JaMarcus Russell started the game and saw more time on the field than senior quarterback Marcus Randall.
Saban said the initial plan was to start Randall in the second half but did not want to lose the momentum Russell had created. With the exception of one interception, Russell completed 6-of-9 passes for 66 yards including a 23-yard pass to sophomore wide receiver Craig Davis.
“One of the things coach talked about was telling us that even though we are young guys to play the seniors,” Russell said. “Go out there and give it our all for those guys — put it all on the line for all the years that they’ve been here and go out with a bang.”
The performance of the night came from sophomore running back Alley Broussard who broke a single game record when he ran for a total of 250 yards on 26 carries. Broussard had three touchdowns on the night including a 7 yard run into the endzone to put the Tigers up 27-24 to seal the win.
“The seniors were hyped up before the game saying this was their last game so I just put myself in their shoes and played like it was my last game,” Broussard said. “So I went out there and gave an extra effort. I’m going to do that every game now.”
On defense, sophomore defensive back Jessie Daniels intercepted two passes, his first multi-interception game of his career. Both interceptions came in the final minutes of the game dashing any of Ole Miss’ hopes for a comeback. The interception effectively sealed one last home victory for the seniors, giving the team its first undefeated home record since 1972.
“We were doing it for the seniors. They told us not to do it for them, do it for ourselves, but regardless of how we played we went out and worked hard and a win is a win,” said junior wide receiver Skyler Green. “We wanted to leave a farewell to them with a great winning season at home no one has came in here and beat us this year and that’s what we wanted to do.”