Rabalais: Twisting road to N.O.

• By SCOTT RABALAIS
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Jan 3, 2008

• Print
• Email
• Save
• Reprints
• Twitter
• Share

• Del.icio.us
• Digg
• Facebook
• Reddit
• 

It’s 80 miles straight down I-10 from Baton Rouge to New Orleans, but 100 miles or so if you take the River Road, following the snaking Mississippi River down through its many bends and turns.

LSU’s trip to the Allstate BCS National Championship Game hardly resembled that straight shot on mostly smooth interstate (there is that stretch near Gramercy where my suspension wants to bottom out). It was more like that left, right, left trip down the River Road, so full of twists and turns it was hard to envision what was coming around the next bend.

When you think about it, LSU’s trip to this season’s championship game really started long before this season began. That’s how many kind hops and fortunate bounces it took for LSU to get to a place that turned out to be so close but at times seemed so far away.

2004: Virginia Tech, seeking to play a preseason classic against Southern California, begs out of its game scheduled for Sept. 4 at LSU. The game is moved to 2007. If Virginia Tech, which finished No. 1 in the BCS computers, had played at LSU in 2004 and beat up on some rent-a-win on Sept. 8 instead of being routed 48-7 in Tiger Stadium, it’s entirely likely the Hokies would be in the BCS championship game.

Sept. 29: Shortly after No. 2-ranked LSU struggled to subdue Tulane 34-9 in the Superdome, the first chinks appear in the USC armor when the No. 1 Trojans have to work for an unimpressive 27-24 victory at Washington. A day later, LSU slips past USC into the No. 1 spot in the AP poll — the first time since the Tigers were No. 1 in the AP poll since November, 1959. While LSU hardly looked like a No. 1 team against Tulane, nine of the top 25 lost that weekend, seven to unranked teams. Among the season-ending contenders who suffered their first losses: No. 3 Oklahoma and No. 6 West Virginia.

Oct. 6: While LSU comes back from 10 down in the fourth quarter to beat visiting Florida 28-24 in a pulsating prime-time showdown on CBS, one of the night’s biggest cheers goes up when it’s announced USC has fallen to Stanford 24-23 in the other L.A. By season’s end, many would be saying USC was again the nation’s best team, but the Trojans would never live down this upset for the ages against a 41-point underdog. Meanwhile, No. 12 Georgia completes an erratic first half of the season 4-2 with a 35-14 hammering at Tennessee. The Bulldogs wouldn’t lose again, but would never regain the driver’s seat in the SEC East.

Oct. 13: LSU falls 43-37 at Kentucky in triple OT, but it turns out to be one of the least painful losses in school history. The Tigers debut at No. 4 in the season’s first BCS standings. LSU goes to No. 5 in all three human polls but fall no farther, in part because No. 2 California drops to No. 12 after a loss to Oregon State. No. 1 Ohio State looks solid, but it appears LSU will merely have to wait for No. 2 South Florida and No. 3 Boston College to falter.

Oct. 20: LSU rallies again in the fourth, this time to beat Auburn 30-24. Once and for all, Matt Flynn DID NOT throw the game-winning touchdown to Demetrius Byrd with :01 remaining.

Oct. 25: With LSU idle, all eyes turn to a Thursday night showdown between No. 2 Boston College and No. 8 Virginia Tech. It looks like LSU needs the Hokies to beat BC. It seems they will, until BC rallies from 10-0 down in the final 2:11 to win 14-10. At the time, the 8-0 Eagles look like a team of destiny. In fact, they would lose three of their last five. Again, if Virginia Tech holds on to beat BC in October and wins the rest, the Hokies are probably playing for the BCS crystal ball.

Oct. 27: Oregon moves to 7-1 by knocking No. 9 USC back down 24-17, the Trojans’ second defeat.

Nov. 3: The comeback Tigers beat Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide 41-34. Meanwhile, two contenders unwittingly hurt each other. No. 4 Oregon beats unbeaten No. 6 Arizona State to go to 8-1. But Oregon quarterback Dennis Dixon suffers a knee injury that will knock him out for good five days later at Arizona, the first of the Ducks’ three straight losses to end the season. Quack, quack, quack. The Tigers go to No. 2 in the BCS when Florida State clocks Boston College 27-17.