To see a video about the Tigers’ defeat of Troy, click here.
Not many fans stuck around Saturday for LSU’s entire matchup with Troy this weekend.”It shocked me when I came back out from the locker room and about half of the people had left,” said Troy coach Larry Blakeney.But those who stuck around won’t soon forget it, and LSU coach Les Miles said Sunday the Tigers’ 40-31 come-from-behind win won’t be something the Tigers put out of their minds anytime soon.”Let’s stay pointed. Let’s stay task-oriented. Let’s get after this next club,” Miles said. “Let’s take this game as a reminder of the downs and the ups. Let’s use this to stay focused.”Troy came into Baton Rouge as almost a gift for LSU.The Tigers were celebrating homecoming against a team from the Sun Belt Conference – a league against which LSU held a 32-0 all-time record.But the Trojans seemed to mimic the tricks the Greeks used against their mascot in Greek mythology, as they snuck into the gates of Tiger Stadium and were on their way to handing LSU its first homecoming defeat since 2000 when the Tigers fell to UAB.”Out of all the games this year, you’ll never picture being down this bad to Troy,” said junior wide receiver Brandon LaFell.Troy led 24-3 at halftime, but the Tigers instead rallied in the second half to create their own legend, scoring 37 points to earn the largest come-from-behind victory in LSU history to improve to 7-3 on the season and move up one spot to No. 18 in the BCS Standings.   “We weren’t able to close the book on it and get that last nail in there,” Blakeney said.Miles said he understood fans leaving Tiger Stadium early, but he was touched by those that stayed to weather the cold and cheer the Tigers on to history.”I was absolutely estatic with the people that remained,” Miles said on Sunday. “Those people were studs. When they roared, it was loud.”The Tigers’ offense and defense both struggled in the first half. Troy gained 255 yards in the half while the Tigers only mustered 63 total yards. LSU coach Les Miles said he blamed himself for the Tigers’ poor offense in the first half.”We didn’t show confidence in our quarterbacks,” Miles said. “We tried to hamstring them, and we played really into our opponent’s strengths.”The Trojans’ defense allowed only 16 passing yards in the first half and held the Tigers to 47 rushing yards.Troy struck first with a 7-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Levi Brown to junior wide receiver Patrick Cherry to cap an 88-yard drive.Brown finished the game 34-for-72 with two touchdowns and one interception.The Trojans’ offense scored three more times in the half.LSU redshirt freshman quarterback Jarrett Lee threw his seventh interception returned for a touchdown midway through the second quarter when Troy senior defensive back Terence Moore returned a pass intended for Richard Dickson 22 yards to set the score to 24-3.”I can tell you he was sicker than a dog after he threw it to them,” Miles said. “His teammates were always with him.”   True freshman Jordan Jefferson finished the half at quarterback, but the Tigers missed an opportunity to chip into Troy’s lead as senior punter Brady Dalfrey mishandled a snap on an LSU field goal attempt to close the half.Troy opened the second half with a 79-yard touchdown drive completed by a Brown touchdown pass to sophomore running back DuJuan Harris. Harris finished with 94 total yards.The Tigers began to rally when Lee led the Tigers on a 66-yard drive capped by a 3-yard touchdown run by Jefferson to close the gap to 31-10 near the end of the third quarter.  Miles said he told Lee he was the Tigers’ best chance to win.”We turned to him, and we said, ‘OK, let’s do this,’ and he responds and has a great second half,” Miles said.The Tigers scored 30 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. Lee finished the game completing 20 of 34 passes with a touchdown and an interception.LaFell credited the Tigers taking deep shots down the field for the offense’s better play.”We started seeing them drop an extra guy in the box, and coach saw that,” LaFell said. “At halftime he said ‘every time they roll down we’re going to try to take a shot,’ and I guess we did it.”LSU junior running back Charles Scott gave the Tigers a 33-31 lead on a 4-yard touchdown run to cap a 20-yard drive with 4:50 left on the clock. “I’ve never been part of a comeback that big,” Lee said. “That shows you a lot about our team tonight. We played hard and fought back.”Senior kicker Colt David ended his streak of 104 consecutive extra points made when he failed to convert the extra point. “It looked like he missed [The ball],” Miles said Sunday. “Looked like he kicked the ground. He’ll never do it again; that’ll be the last time he does it.”Scott finished with 90 yards and a touchdown to surpass 1,000 rushing yards on the season during this game. He became the 12th LSU running back to accomplish the feat.LSU senior fullback Quinn Johnson sealed the victory with his second touchdown run of the day with 1:40 left in the game.”The game was a tale of basically two halves for us,” Blakeney said. “We had our way in the first half and the first drive of the third quarter and had 31-3. Someone woke [LSU] up.”—-Contact Amos Morale at [email protected]