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Throwback Thursday: Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide vs. Les Miles’ LSU Tigers

Ethan Levine

By Ethan Levine

Published:

Nick Saban is plenty familiar with the Alabama-LSU rivalry; after all, he’s coached both at both schools and won national championships with both programs. He left LSU after the 2004 season for the greener pastures of the NFL, then returned to the SEC two years later to coach the Alabama Crimson Tide.

In the meantime, Les Miles filled the vacancy left by Saban at LSU, and he, too, has won a national title with the Bayou Bengals. The two coaches have met eight times since Saban’s return to the SEC, and those eight games have amplified the significance of the rivalry within the conference and on a national stage.

Saban is 5-3 in those eight meetings with Miles, including a 21-0 victory in the national championship game two years ago. The two coaches will meet for a ninth time this weekend, as Alabama aims to stay alive in the College Football Playoff hunt, while the Tigers continue to play spoiler in the crowded SEC West.

In honor of “Throwback Thursday,” let’s take a look at some of the fantastic matchups these two coaches have produced at their current programs throughout the years:

All-time record: Saban leads 5-3

Current streak: Saban, won 3

Longest win streaks: Saban 3 (2012-13), Miles 2 (2010-11)

BIG MOMENTS IN THE SEC RIVALRY BETWEEN NICK SABAN AND LES MILES

2013

The undefeated Crimson Tide scored the final 21 points of the game in a 38-17 win over the Tigers last year in Tuscaloosa, improving its record to 9-0 in the process. Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron threw three touchdown passes and tailback T.J. Yeldon ran for 130 yards and two more touchdowns in the victory. LSU quarterback Zach Mettenberger completed more than 69 percent of his passes for 241 yards and a touchdown, but he was also sacked four times by a vicious Alabama defense.

The Tigers suffered their third loss of the season by game’s end, killing any chance of an SEC West title in 2013. Alabama would go on to improve its record all the way to 11-0 before Auburn spoiled the Tide’s perfect season with its miracle “Kick-Six” play to end the final game of the season.

2012

The last time Alabama visited Death Valley, Saban and Miles met in one of the most thrilling showdowns of their recent rivalry. The No. 1, undefeated Crimson Tide put its perfect record on the line against No. 5 LSU, which already had one loss in 2012 and couldn’t afford a second if it hoped to maintain a chance at a national title. The two college football titans clashed in a low-scoring affair, and LSU led 17-14 with less than a minute remaining in Baton Rouge.

Alabama had barely managed 300 yards for the game, and McCarron had completed less than 50 percent of his passes to that point, but when Alabama needed points most its quarterback delivered in a big way. McCarron found Yeldon on a screen pass in the face of heavy pressure, and Yeldon did the rest of the work running 28 yards for the go-ahead touchdown. The Tide held on to win 21-17, and would go on to win its second straight national title at season’s end.

2012

Saban and Miles met one other time in 2012, but that game fell in January at the conclusion of the 2011 season. The Tigers and the Tide met in an all-SEC national championship game, and once again Saban bested his former school with a convincing 21-0 title win.

The Alabama defense was unbeatable on that January night, limiting quarterback Jordan Jefferson and the LSU offense to just 92 total yards in the shutout victory. The win marked Alabama’s second national title in three years, and avenged Alabama’s only loss of the year, a 9-6 defeat at the hands of LSU earlier in the 2011 regular season.

Speaking of which…

2011

The 2011 meeting between Saban and Miles is easily the most memorable of their rivalry, as No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Alabama put their undefeated records on the line in Tuscaloosa in what many fans were referring to as The Game of the Century. The game itself exceeded the hype, as the Tigers and Tide engaged in one of the great defensive struggles in college football history.

Neither team reached the end zone or even amassed 300 yards of offense for the game, including an overtime period. Alabama ran for just 96 yards, and LSU threw for only 91 yards in a gritty, physical battle between the nation’s two best teams.

The Tigers won the game three field goals to two, but the story of the game was brilliant defense and missed opportunities by the Alabama special teams. LSU kicker Drew Alleman was a perfect 3 of 3 on field goals, including the eventual game-winner in overtime. Meanwhile, Alabama’s Cade Foster and Jeremy Shelley were a combined 2 of 6 on field goals, costing the Tide in a three-point loss.

The Game of the Century remains the second-lowest scoring game between No. 1 and No. 2 teams in college football history. The Tigers’ 2011 victory over Alabama is also Les Miles’ last win against Saban in their ongoing series.

2010

No. 5 Alabama and No. 12 LSU each entered the 2010 showdown in Baton Rouge with one loss apiece, both needing a win to keep pace with unbeaten Auburn and Cam Newton in the SEC West race. LSU trailed 14-13 in the fourth quarter, but Miles made a vintage Miles call to turn the tide of the game, eventually resulting in an LSU victory.

Trailing 14-13 and facing fourth and 1 from the Alabama 26 yard line midway through the final quarter of play, Miles elected to leave his offense on the field rather than kick a potential go-ahead field goal. Better yet, he called a reverse to Deangelo Peterson on the play, who ran 23 yards to set up a Stevan Ridley touchdown run two plays later. Rather than take a 16-14 lead with a field goal, LSU went up 21-14, and eventually extended the lead to 24-14 before holding on to a 24-21 victory.

Miles is best remembered for eating blades of grass off the field in Death Valley just before the fourth down play, later explaining is humbles him to feel one with the field and one with the game by eating grass. “I can tell you one thing: The grass in Tiger Stadium tastes best.” Miles mid-game snack and the Tigers win that followed remain one of the iconic moments in the Saban-Miles rivalry.

2009

The No. 3 Crimson Tide was at risk of suffering its first loss of the season when it trailed LSU 15-10 entering the fourth quarter of the 2009 meeting between the two teams in Tuscaloosa. That’s when Alabama’s Julio Jones came to the rescue.

Jones broke away from the LSU defense and scored a 73-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter as part of a 14-0 Alabama run to end the game with a 24-15 victory. Kicker Leigh Tiffin added two field goals in the quarter to help seal the nine-point win. The game was actually not as close as the score indicates, as Alabama out gained LSU by 199 yards, committed fewer penalties and owned an advantage in time of possession.

The Tide would go on to win its first national title under Nick Saban at the end of the 2009 season, while LSU finished the season with four losses including a loss to Penn State in the Capital One Bowl.

2008

In Nick Saban’s first game back in Death Valley since stepping down as LSU’s head coach, No. 1 Alabama blew a late lead but recovered in overtime to win 27-21 and improve to 10-0 on the season. LSU’s Charles Scott scored a touchdown with six minutes remaining to tie the game at 21-all, but Alabama had one last possession in regulation to try and win the game. The Tide moved the ball to the LSU 12 yard line and called timeout with three seconds left on the clock, but Tiffin missed the potential game-winner from 29 yards away, forcing overtime in Baton Rouge.

LSU, ranked No. 16 at the time, got the ball first in overtime but came away empty following quarterback Jarrett Lee’s interception. Alabama’s Rashad Johnson came down with the interception, his third of the game. Lee threw four picks in total on the day, but none more costly than his interception in overtime.

Alabama took over possession and marched right down to the LSU 1 yard line before quarterback John Parker Wilson scored on a touchdown run to win the game. The Tide would go on to win the SEC West crown in Saban’s second season on the job, but would lose to Tim Tebow and Florida in the SEC championship game.

2007

The first ever meeting between Miles and Saban as head coaches came in 2007, and the thriller their teams produced that season set a tone for the epic rivalry that would follow in the years to come.

LSU played inspired football in its first showdown with its former coach since his return from the NFL, outscoring Alabama 17-7 in the game’s final quarter to hang on to a critical seven-point victory. LSU trailed 34-27 late in the fourth quarter before scoring touchdowns on back to back drives in the final three minutes of play to win the game. Quarterback Matt Flynn found Early Doucett on a 32-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 34-all with 2:49 left on the clock, but that was just the beginning of the insanity in Tuscaloosa.

On the ensuing Alabama possession, LSU safety Chad Scott flew into the backfield and drilled Alabama quarterback John Parker Wilson, forcing a fumble that rolled all the way down to the Alabama 4 yard line before LSU recovered to regain possession. Two plays later, the Tigers’ Jacob Hester scored on a 1-yard touchdown run to put LSU ahead by seven. Wilson tried to rally Alabama on a game-tying drive, but instead he threw four straight incompletions to end the game.

LSU would go on to win the national championship that year despite losing two games along the way, marking the first and only national title of Miles’ career as of 2014. The 75 points scored between the Tide and the Tigers in ’07 remains the highest-scoring game in the Saban-Miles rivalry.

Ethan Levine

A former newspaper reporter who has roamed the southeastern United States for years covering football and eating way too many barbecue ribs, if there is such a thing.

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