LIKE A CHAMP: LSU Plays To Win, Not Lose, the Championship

Sometimes the reason why one team is better than another is so thin, so blurred, that it’s hard to notice. The reason why LSU beat Florida 28-24 Saturday night is because Jacob Hester always gave the Tigers an extra yard or two when stopped in the hole.

Why is that so important? Well, for several reasons. One, with Early Doucet injured for the game, the Tigers didn’t have any real big play receiver to attack the Gators deep, or even to break short receptions into big gainers. That meant that LSU’s scoring drives had to be methodical ones that took lots of patience.

And methodical drives don’t work if you’re getting stopped for one yard on first down. Instead, Hester would get hit and fall forward for three or four. Same thing on second and third downs. And when the Gator defense would hold strong and force a fourth down, there was Hester getting stopped behind the line, but continuing to move his feet forward so he could pick up enough inches to end up with a first down.

With one final two yard surge from Hester with 1:09 on the clock, LSU had come from 10 points down to survive the Gators.

Five times LSU went for it on fourth downs. Five times they were successful. The fact that they went for it on five separate fourth downs shows considerable confidence by Les Miles in his players, a confidence that brings out tremendous energy and effort out of them. How can you not bring all you have for a coach that believes you can succeed in every tough situation. And the fact that they converted all five shows that the Tigers are a team that executes perfectly in do-or-die situations. All those intangibles are reasons why the Tigers are the #1 team in the land.
Of course it didn’t hurt to get a fumble recovery after a Kestahn Moore cough up, or a gift interception after a Tim Tebow pass attempt hit Cornelius Ingram in the head and bounced into the arms of Kirston Pittman.

In fact, until those two turnovers, the Gators actually controlled the game. Tim Tebow dictated the tempo with his running and short passing. The Gator offensive line controlled the Tigers front four, especially Jim Tartt locking up All-American Glenn Dorsey. A more experienced Gator team would’ve known how to finish the game off with a win.

But the Tigers were the ones making big plays in the second half, the Tigers were the ones playing with transcending confidence, and the Tigers were the ones gaining the extra yards they needed to pull away with a win.

—E. Blasco