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The LSU football team wasn’t doing anything right for the first 37 minutes of Saturday night’s game against Wisconsin.
The team couldn’t stop the run, couldn’t open holes in the trenches offensively and neither quarterback in the team’s two-quarterback system looked like a guy capable of playing major conference college football.
The Tigers trailed 24-7 after Corey Clement’s two-yard third quarter scamper, and it seemed like that deficit was going to get worse before it ever got better.
But instead of wilting to the pressure, the Tigers fought back and thrived – staging a rally to cap arguably the most drama-filled game of the first week of the college football season.
From the 17-point hole, LSU fired back in the second half, scoring 21-straight points in the final 23 minutes of Saturday’s game to score a 28-24 victory over the Badgers.
The exclamation point in the win was a 28-yard run by senior halfback Kenny Hilliard – a score that put LSU ahead for the first time with 9:41 to go in the game.
From there, LSU’s defense was dominant and kept the Badgers away from taking back the lead, sealing the comeback 28-24 in a game that was the season opener for both teams.
“I’m very proud of this victory,” LSU coach Les Miles said. “I think we played sloppy, I think we did everything that we could have possibly done to the latest possible time to do it before we decided to play our best. The number of mistakes that were made by young players, the number of misfires that stopped us from really controlling a game and playing like we are capable will be addressed in very orderly fashion.”
Miles mentioned the mistakes.
The Tigers made a ton in the first half of Saturdy’s game.
Defensively, LSU had no early answer for the Badgers’ power running attack, yielding more than 200 yards rushing in the first half.
After an opening-drive punt from LSU, Wisconsin took the ball and stuffed it down the Tigers’ throat – a quick, six-play drive capped on a 45-yard touchdown by Reggie Love on a jet sweep play. A Rafael Gaglianone extra point put Wisconin up 7-0.
That lead jumped up to 10 points after a bad LSU punt set up the Badgers for a short, 28-yard drive capped by a 51-yard Gaglianone field goal.
LSU’s lone lightning strike in the first half came on an 80-yard bomb from starting quarterback Anthony Jennings to Travin Dural, who broke off his initial route and beat Wisconsin’s safeties down the field.
Jennings’ pass perfectly hit Dural in stride and sliced the Badgers’ lead to 10-7 with 4:47 to play in the first quarter.
But the final 20 minutes of the first half were owned by Wisconsin, as the Badgers took a 17-7 lead into halftime on a 14-yard scamper from All-American halfback Melvin Gordon, who had 140 yards in the game.
That drive was set up after LSU tight end Travis Dickson fumbled on a seven-yard reception – his lone catch in the game.
“I think the point was made that it’s time,” Miles said. “It’s time that we stop shooting ourselves in the foot. I can’t tell you the number of missed tackles. I can’t tell you the number of missed assignments.”
Out of halftime, it seemed like things were spiraling out of control when the lead jumped to 17 points after Gordon broke a 63-yard run to set up Clement’s short touchdown scamper.
But with their backs against the walls and a deep hole to climb out of, the rest of the game belonged to the Tigers.
LSU closed out the third quarter strong, cutting the lead to 24-13 on 30 and 47-yard field goals from kicker Colby Delahoussaye.
From there, LSU broke the floodgates open with a pair of touchdowns to cap the comeback and take the lead. The first came on a 36-yard third-and-long pass from Jennings to receiver John Diarse, who shuffled free from defenders and accelerated into the endzone. After a 2-point conversion pass from Jennings to true freshman Trey Quinn, Wisconsin’s lead was cut to 24-21.
After a Jalen Mills interception put LSU in prime field position, Hilliard gave the Tigers the go-ahead score with nine minutes to play, which served as the deciding blow in a fight that was a tale of two halves.
LSU’s defense stiffened in the second half of play and allowed just 32 yards in the Badgers’ final five drives, while forcing two interceptions.
That allowed LSU to control second-half time of possession, which sparked the win.
Jennings started the game for LSU and played all but three offensive snaps in the win. He was 9-of-21 for 239 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions.
True freshman backup Brandon Harris was a non-factor, rushing one time for a loss of yards.
Hillard was the only player in the Tigers’ stable of halfbacks to break free in the game, rushing for 110 yards on 18 carries.
Dural shined in his first game as the Tigers’ No. 1 receiver, snagging three passes for 151 yards.
Miles said there are a lot of lessons to be learned from the season-opening win, and he believes that LSU will be better in the coming weeks.
Are the Tigers more like the team that started the Wisconsin game or more like the team that finished it?
The answer to that question will likely define the rest of the season.
LSU opens their home schedule this Saturday against Sam Houston State – a game that will likely give the Tigers a chance to work on a lot of their weaknesses.
“The good news is our football team, there’s a resiliency and a competitiveness,” Miles said. “OK, we understand where we’re at, we dug ourselves into a nice little hole here, let’s get it done. This next week will be fun to correct and we’ll improve and we’ll go forward. There’s some quality teams we have to play and certainly next week will be no exception.”
Players agreed and said winning a close one is a welcome jump-start to the new season.
“I think our mind wasn’t in it during the first half,” Hilliard said. “Our senior and junior counselors got together, brought everyone up and told us to stay with it. That’s what we did. We came out in the second half and had a little bit more firepower with us.
“We didn’t put our heads down. We came back in the second half, talked amongst us and got our minds right. We were able to go out in the second half and make great plays.”
LSU football coach Les Miles holds back his troops who are eager to run out of the tunnel to kick off Saturday night’s game with Wisconsin. The Tigers fell behind 24-7 and were in great danger of falling below .500 in a season for the first time in Les Miles’ tenure in Baton Rouge. But LSU rallied and won 28-24 to score a solid opening-game win.
