The 2005 LSU football season was unlike any other in the program’s 112-year history as the team began and ended the season in a fight against hurricanes.
In one of the strangest seasons in college football history, it took the Tigers three attempts just to play their first home game.
The originally scheduled season opener against North Texas on Sep. 3 was pushed back because of conditions caused by Hurricane Katrina.
Then, the rescheduled season opener against Arizona State University was moved to Tempe, Ariz., as the recovery efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina continued in and around the Baton Rouge area.
Concerns regarding Hurricane Rita forced the Tigers to push back their third scheduled season opener two days, to Monday, Sept. 26.
In the first home game of the season, LSU played in its first-ever Monday night football game against Tennessee, which lead to the Tigers’ first loss of the season.
The team blew a 21-point halftime lead before losing 30-27 in overtime.
“I think we got complacent when we came out of halftime, and thought maybe they would lay down,” said Kyle Williams, former defensive tackle.
But the Tigers and first-year coach Les Miles quickly recovered with wins in the next two games, against Mississippi State and Vanderbilt, by a combined score of 71-13.
LSU then reeled off four consecutive victories, including close wins over Florida and Auburn, before heading into a showdown with the No. 4-ranked undefeated Alabama Crimson Tide.
The Tigers used an 11-yard touchdown pass in overtime from quarterback JaMarcus Russell to Dwayne Bowe to seal the 13-10 victory and grabbed first place in the Southeastern Conference Western Division.
LSU closed out the regular season with a win over Ole Miss before squeaking past Arkansas to earn a spot in the SEC Championship game.
There, the wear and tear of an emotional season of 11 consecutive games finally caught up to the Tigers as they were beaten by Georgia, 34-14, in Atlanta.
The team also saw Russell suffer a season-ending shoulder injury in the loss.
The Tigers returned to Atlanta for the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl with Matt Flynn as the starter and left the Georgia Dome feeling much better than they had four weeks earlier.
After going down 3-0 early in the first quarter, the Tigers reeled off 40 unanswered points on eight consecutive drives en route to a 40-3 victory, in which Flynn was named the MVP.
Not only did the Tigers beat Miami on the field, but a post-game brawl ended with two Hurricane players being sent to the hospital.
“That was just a bunch of craziness,” said Andrew Whitworth, offensive lineman, to ESPN after the game.
That statement could have held true about the entire season as well.
Contact Jeff Martin at [email protected]