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Throwback Thursday: Les Miles’ gutsy calls too much for Tebow and the Gators
By Pat Donohue
Published:
As former NFL coach Herm Edwards would say, “You play to win the game!”
LSU coach Les Miles shares that philosophy and has proven it by making risky play calls with the game on the line throughout his career.
Miles’ willingness to roll the dice was on display Oct. 6, 2007, when No. 9-ranked Florida traveled to Baton Rouge to play No. 1-ranked LSU.
An early Gators field goal and a 2-yard touchdown pass from Tim Tebow to Kestahn Moore allowed Florida to jump out to a 10-0 lead over the top-ranked Tigers. That was one of three 10-point leads that Florida would hold over LSU in that game.
But the LSU offense, led by quarterback Matt Flynn, responded on the ensuing drive. After going 80 yards in 15 plays, the Tigers found themselves in a 4th-down situation on the opposing 1-yard line. In his first go-for-broke move of the night, Miles decided to go for the touchdown rather than the field goal and called backup quarterback Ryan Perrilloux’s number on the 16th play of the drive. Perrilloux plunged through the pile for the touchdown to make the score 10-7.
Once Florida got the ball back, Tebow struck again and finished off a 10-play drive by running for a 9-yard touchdown. The teams went into halftime with the score at 17-7, but they traded touchdowns early in the second half to make it a 10-point game once again by way of a 24-14 Gators lead.
But LSU’s touchdown on the opening drive of the second half was also the result of Miles extending the possession by going for it on fourth down. On fourth-and-5 from the Gators’ 25, Miles’ bold move to go for it worked out for the Tigers again as Flynn scampered for 8 yards and the first down, which helped set up a Keiland Williams 4-yard rushing touchdown four plays later.
Then the fourth quarter started and the real fun began.
On LSU’s third fourth-down conversion of the game, Flynn connected with wide receiver Demetrius Byrd on a 4-yard touchdown pass to pull LSU within three points. After forcing Florida to punt with a 24-21 lead, the Tigers got the ball back at just over the 9-minute mark with a chance to tie or win the game.
Seeing as how going for it on fourth down already worked out three times for the Tigers in this game and LSU kicker Colt David had already missed two field goals against the Gators, Miles decided to gamble a few more times.
On their final drive, the Tigers faced fourth-and-1 in their own territory and converted with a Jacob Hester 2-yard run. Just a few minutes later, LSU faced another fourth-and-1, but this time from inside Florida’s 10-yard line. Miles opted to give the ball to Hester again, who, again, picked up the 1st down with a 2-yard run, converting the Tigers’ fifth fourth down of the day.
By now, the LSU offense found itself with first-and-goal on the Gators’ 5-yard line. But rather than play for the 24-24 tie, Miles decided to let his team go for the win. A Flynn incompletion on first down was followed up with two more runs by Hester. Hester’s first run went for 3 yards and the second resulted in a 2-yard touchdown to give the Tigers a 28-24 lead with 1:09 left in the game.
However, Tebow had one more shot to lead Florida to victory. A 21-yard run by Tebow on third-and-10 brought the ball across midfield for the Gators, which set up a last-second Hail Mary attempt. Tebow’s long pass was batted down in the end zone, and LSU hung on to win the game 28-24 and remain the nation’s top team.
Pat Donohue is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers Ole Miss and Mississippi State. Follow him on Twitter @SportsDownPat.
