Motivation wasn’t hard to come by Saturday night in Death Valley. The Tigers knew what was at stake.
Win and continue pursuing their preseason goal of reaching the BCS National Championship or lose for the second time in two weeks and watch dreams of playing in Miami, Fla., in January go down the drain.
LSU chose the former.
Having their backs against the wall was the best thing that could have happened to the Tigers. Playing loose and with a chip on their shoulder showed a completely different team than it did earlier this season.
“Maybe we needed a loss to get that hunger back, knowing that everything doesn’t come so easily,” LSU said defensive end Sam Montgomery after the game. “This team has been like a sleeping giant.”
Consider this giant awoken.
The Tigers’ confidence was taken from them against the Gators. The offense couldn’t stay on the field, the defense couldn’t get off of it and being in a hostile environment with nowhere to turn for support finally caught up to them in the loss column after 19 regular season wins.
It was the exact opposite vibe in Tiger Stadium on Saturday.
For the first time all season, 92,734 fans dressed in gold came out in force. No one left at halftime, nobody booed the Tigers. The fans knew after being at the lowest of lows coming back from The Swamp last weekend, it was their job to make sure the Tigers felt back at home in one of the loudest venues in the country.
“That was Death Valley. That was the place where opponents’ dreams come to die. It started early, and it ended late,” coach Les Miles said after the 23-21 victory against South Carolina.
Playing on the road in the Southeastern Conference is a daunting task for any of the 14 teams in the league. But getting a chance to play in front of a home crowd a week after being exposed on the road couldn’t have been a more welcome sign for the Tigers.
Raucous support from the Tiger Stadium stands wasn’t the only source of off-the-field inspiration for LSU on Saturday.
The 2011 LSU defense’s trademark was big plays. Just when it seemed like momentum was slipping out of the Tigers’ fingers, it was usually the defense that was able to flip the switch and put the game out of reach.
Tyrann Mathieu was the guy who flipped that switch last season. Through their first six games in 2012, the Tigers looked like they were still trying to find someone to be that spark on defense. They didn’t find a Mathieu clone, and they never will.
But collectively, the big play defense is back.
“We kind of took a page out of Tyrann’s book tonight,” said junior linebacker Lamin Barrow. “People say we miss him and of course we do, but we had a couple turnovers tonight and we played a great game.”
With the offense struggling in the red zone, junior safety Eric Reid’s interception in the fourth quarter was the biggest play the defense has made since Reid ripped the ball out of Alabama tight end Michael Williams’ grasp against the Crimson Tide on Nov. 5, 2011.
It’s clear despite wanting to get a win at home or hush the critics that wrote them off last week, the Tigers had to get a win for Montgomery. The junior defensive end, the lone LSU player on the roster who hails from the Palmetto State, has been waiting for this game since he set foot on campus.
Montgomery came to LSU to buck the trend and show the rest of the country South Carolina natives didn’t just succeed collegiately at South Carolina or Clemson.
“Sam’s the emotional leader on our team,” Barrow said. “Him coming from South Carolina playing against his hometown team, it meant a lot for him. It felt great to get a win for him.”
For the Tigers, it had to feel good to get a win, period. A decisive victory against a top-five team is an even better morale boost.
LSU has regained its hunger. The rest of the country should take notice.
