Dear LSU:
It’s time.
Don’t give me that “time for what?”
You know what. In fact, you know it’s past time. You know it better than anyone else.
It’s time for this streak against Alabama to end. It’s past time.
Seven in a row.
When’s the last time LSU lost seven straight to somebody, anybody? Never mind. We don’t want to know.
And we really don’t want it to become eight in a row.
Saturday night in Tiger Stadium. Yeah, Alabama is undefeated and No. 1, but you’re once-beaten and, according to the new College Football Playoff rankings, No. 3. And you’ve played a bunch of teams that were actually ranked when you played them. The Crimson Tide haven’t.
You can do this.
It seems so much longer, but it was just seven years ago that you went into Tuscaloosa for that version of the Game of the Century.
You were No. 1 and they were No. 2.
It was brutal. Couldn’t be decided in a mere 60 minutes. You went into overtime and Drew Alleman kicked that field goal. You won 9-6.
Man, that was LSU-Alabama at its best, especially for LSU fans.
But this series, and LSU in particular, haven’t been the same since.
Yeah, you might have gotten a raw deal when the BCS made you play them again later that season. You already had proven you were the better team, right? You shouldn’t have to play them again, right? The loser of a tight first meeting always has an advantage in a rematch, right?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But come on. You two were the two best teams and in the country that year and thanks to Iowa State taking care of Oklahoma State you were set up again in the Superdome. For the crystal ball.
I know. We don’t have to remind you of what happened: Alabama 21, LSU 0.
And it’s been all Alabama ever since.
It’s been long enough. Too long, in fact.
You’ve been close before. Real close. Especially in Tiger Stadium. And with teams not as good as this one.
In 2012 you were beating the Tide late in the fourth quarter and you gave up a touchdown in the final minutes. A lousy 51 seconds. That’s how far away you were from a victory and putting an end to this nonsense before it became so nonsensical.
Back to Tiger Stadium in 2014 and you got them into overtime again. But Alabama won, 20-13. Heck. If you could have gone back to the old days and let the game end in a tie after 60 minutes we probably would have taken it.
Then came 2016 in Tiger Stadium. Ed Orgeron’s first crack at those guys. And Dave Aranda’s. Damn, that defense was a thing of beauty. It was like 2011 but moreso. Scoreless after three quarters. But Bama didn’t stay scoreless and escaped with a 10-0 win.
Sure, you haven’t come close in Tuscaloosa since that 2011 game – losing 38-17 in 2013, 30-16 in 2015 and 24-10 last season.
But now you’re back in Tiger Stadium. It’s Orgeron’s best team, maybe the best LSU team since the last one to beat Bama.
Aranda has that defense rolling again, even without Devin White for a half. When these things are in Tiger Stadium they don’t get decided until the second half anyway. Sometimes later.
The offense is good enough. No, there’s no Leonard Fournette or Derrius Guice, but how many times did those guys beat Bama?
Joe Burrow isn’t the savior, but he gives you the best quarterback for this game that you’ve had since this streak began. The last time you won you started with Jarrett Lee and you ended with Jordan Jefferson. Yeah, Burrow’s good enough.
Then there’s Cole Tracy.
If he has a chance to kick a winning field goal in this one, no one’s going to remember Drew Alleman.
Yeah, Alabama is a two-touchdown favorite. They’ve rolled over everybody they’ve played.
So what?
You remember Georgia, right? It was No. 2, unbeaten, had rolled everybody.
Then it came into Tiger Stadium and LSU routed the Dawgs 36-16.
That was just three weeks ago.
And that was in the afternoon.
It’s Tiger Stadium. It’s Saturday night.
It’s time.
Les East is a New Orleans-based football writer who covers LSU for SaturdayDownSouth.com. Follow him on Twitter @Les_East.
