GAINESVILLE, Fla. — To say LSU junior quarterback Jarrett Lee has come a long way since his “pick-six” days in 2008 would be an understatement.
 
Nearly a goat after throwing 16 interceptions two years ago, Lee has climbed his way to the top of LSU fans’ list of most adored players.
 
At least for the time being.
 
In what seems to be a reoccurring theme, Lee led a relentless group of Tigers to victory for the second-straight week.
 
With LSU down 29-26 and 3:21 to play in the fourth quarter, LSU coach Les Miles summoned Lee to orchestrate a game-winning drive just as he did during last week’s bizarre 16-14 victory against Tennessee.
 
Ten plays and 62 yards later, Lee answered the call, capped by a 3-yard touchdown toss to senior wide receiver Terrence Toliver with six seconds left.
 
“It tells you more about the man than the quarterback,” Miles said. “What he’s done is he’s competed like hell and he learns, and he’s looking for his opportunities stepping in to win games.”
 
Lee did the most with his opportunities, considering fellow junior quarterback Jordan Jefferson started in favor of Lee.
 
In five series, Lee finished the game with a sparkling stat line — 9-for-11 for 124 yards, two touchdowns and, more importantly, no interceptions, including the last-second touchdown to Toliver.
 
“Jarrett is our quarterback,” said junior running back Stevan Ridley. “I’ve said it all along since the beginning of the year that I had a lot of faith in Jarrett Lee.”
 
Lee’s ability to earn his teammates’ faith hasn’t come easy.
 
Saturday’s performance comes two years removed from a horrific first Southeastern Conference road start at the same Ben Hill Griffin Stadium during a 51-21 trouncing against the Gators.
 
Lee, a redshirt freshman at the time, threw for 209 yards and two interceptions against an unforgiving Florida defense, including one that was returned for a touchdown.
 
“Definitely [redemption],” he said. “Last time in the Swamp, I had a rough going, but it was exciting to get back out here and get some big time plays in. … It was great.”
 
Lee has made leaps and bounds since his 2008 campaign when he threw more interceptions than his 13 touchdowns.
 
In 11 games — including eight starts  — Lee threw seven interceptions that were returned for touchdowns including a string of four straight games in which he threw a pick-six.
 
National media and message boards alike took Lee’s season and ran with it. He quickly garnered the name “Pick-Six” and lost his starting job to Jefferson last season while only playing in mop up duty.
 
In his defense, he was thrown into the fire in 2008 because of an injury to former quarterback Andrew Hatch.
 
“That’s part of it,” he said. “Sometimes you’re going to struggle. It’s about how you come back. … I knew my opportunity would come again.”
 
And that’s exactly what happened.
 
Lee saw minimal action in LSU’s first three games, but in an ironic turn of events, fans cried for Lee’s presence when Jefferson strung together three straight games with less than 100 yards passing and no touchdowns.
 
Lee finally saw significant time on the field last week against Tennessee and made Miles look like a genius with two key conversions to Toliver — a 14-yard pass on third-and-13 and a 20-yard hookup on fourth-and-14.
 
It wasn’t any different for a calm, cool and collected Lee on Saturday. Right off the bat on LSU’s final drive, he zipped a slant pass to Toliver, which resulted in an 18-yard gain. Six plays later, he fired a laser to Toliver on another slant for a 28-yard gain to bring LSU to the 3-yard line.
 
“Jarrett Lee is going to be something special,” Miles said. “Guys that have been through what he’s been through, they grow up to lead things.”
 
LSU fans will most likely cry out again for Lee, but this time in favor of him to start. As of now, Miles still plans to use both Jefferson and Lee in the same respect as the last two games.
 
Lee understands people want him to receive most of the snaps because of his recent performance but at the same time realizes it’s out of his hands.
 
“A young guy, you would think, in the back of your mind, you always want to play,” Lee said. “But it’s all about trying to help the team win.”
 
 
 
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Contact Sean Isabella at [email protected]