Joseph Schiefelbein for Nov. 16

• By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Nov 16, 2008 - UPDATED: 1:03 a.m.

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You know who you are. The list isn’t that long. And this game, this 40-31 victory over Troy on Saturday night, the greatest comeback in the 115-year history of the program was for you.

You hung in there on a frigid night — some of you, holy mackerel, bare-shirted. You hung in there when LSU was down 28 points deep in the third quarter.

You hung in there even after Jarrett Lee threw his seventh interception returned for a touchdown this season. When Troy marched up and down the field with that spread offense. When so many of your neighbors split for the comforts of home. When Troy players cheered the boos.

And you left having heard Tiger Stadium announcer Dan Borné laud you with a heartfelt, “Thank you for sticking with it” after the final second rolled off the clock.

How much noise can Tiger Stadium make? Seven days removed from a record crowd of 93,039 on a gorgeous night for an anticipated game, the showcase venue was drained, after halftime, to maybe 30 percent full on this chilly night for a once-postponed game, as the naysayers hit the road and you true believers came alive.

“Someone woke LSU up,” Troy coach Larry Blakeney said. “Maybe it was all the fans who left at halftime. It shocked me when I came back out from the locker room and about half of the people had left.”

Those who remained began the comeback with a throaty, “L-S-U! L-S-U!” chant. Tried and true. The letters finally brought the place alive as if those remaining realized they were the only ones left who thought maybe, just maybe, there still was a chance and started to band together. This game belonged to the people who wanted it most for their team.

The letters came loud and heavy when those left could sense LSU had to make a move, then and there, deep in the third quarter, to even dream of besting what seemed an insurmountable deficit.

In answer, LSU went on a 13-play, 66-yard drive, with Jordan Jefferson running to the right pylon for a 3-yard touchdown on a fourth-and-goal with 1:26 left in the third quarter. That started a run of 37 points.

Until that cheer, there were only boos and disgust. Looking inept in all three phases, LSU botched a field-goal try to end the first half, releasing unbridled angst from many who left right then or as soon as Troy went up 31-3 four minutes into the second half.

LSU was careening, out of control, to the worst loss in school history, and there were plenty in an already limited crowd who didn’t want any part of seeing that.