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| Alabama head coach Nick Saban would get revenge on his former team as he lead the Tide to a win over LSU in Baton Rouge. |
However, the LSU-Alabama rivalry would intensify beginning in 2007 when former LSU head coach Nick Saban, who had led the Tigers to a share of the national championship in 2003, came back to college football after two years in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins, to become the Crimson Tide's next coach.
Saban becoming the head coach in Tuscaloosa was seen as an act of betrayal in the minds of LSU fans and Saban became public enemy #1 in Tigers Nation.
LSU would get a matter of revenge when the Tigers traveled to Tuscaloosa to face off with the Crimson Tide on November 3, 2007 where the Tigers pulled out a 41-34 win as LSU would go on to win the national title that year.
While that game was emotional, it would be tenfold for when the two teams met on November 8, 2008 as the Crimson Tide traveled to Baton Rouge, the first time Saban had been to Baton Rouge since his depature following the 2004 season.
The Tide entered the game as the #1 team in the country as they had stormed to a 9-0 record behind senior quarterback John Parker Wilson, senior running back Glen Coffee, and freshman sensation wide receiver Julio Jones.
With a win over LSU, the Tide would clinch the SEC West Division title and earn an trip to the SEC Championship Game for the first time since 1999.
Meanwhile, the Tigers entered the game ranked #10 with a 7-2 record, but were had issues at quarterback as redshirt frehsman Jarrett Lee had threw only 12 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions, with five of those interceptions being returned for touchdowns for the opposing team.
If LSU was going to knock off Bama, Lee was going to have play turnover-free football in hopes of leading the Tigers to an upset.
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| Alabama running back Glen Coffee would carry the ball 26 times for 126 yards and score one touchdown. |
The Tide got the ball to start the game as they begin their opening drive from their 27-yard-line and were in LSU territory after the second play from scrimmage when running back Glen Coffee ran for 31 yards to the Tigers' 42-yard-line.
It appeared Bama was going score a touchdown when on 3rd & 6 from the LSU 26-yard-line, Wilson hit Earl Alexander in stride for an apparent touchdown, only to have Tigers defensive back Chad Jones knock the ball loose at the one-yard-line, leading to LSU recovering the football in the end zone for a touchback and giving their offense the ball at the 20-yard-line.
But on 3rd & 17, Lee was intercepted by Bama free safety Rashad Johnson whose 10-yard return set up the Tide at the LSU 15-yard-line.
A 14-yard-run by Coffee gave the Tide a 1st & goal at the one-yard-line where it took them three plays to finally get into the end zone when Wilson snuck it in for the touchdown to give Bama a 7-0 lead with 8:23 left in the first quarter.
LSU would respond with a 31-yard kickoff return by Keiland Williams to put the Tigers at their 46-yard-line to begin their ensuing possession.
After it took the Tigers six plays to travel 24 yards to the Bama 30-yard-line, Lee fired a 30-yard touchdown pass to Demetrius Byrd that tied the game at 7 with 6:21 to play in the opening quarter.
Then on the ensuing kickoff, Bama returner Javier Arenas lost the football when he was hit by LSU defensive back Ron Brooks to force a fumble that was recovered by the LSU kicker, Josh Jasper, at the Tide 30-yard-line.
Following an incomplete pass on 1st down, Lee handed the ball off to Charles Scott who ran in for the 30-yard touchdown to give LSU their second touchdown in just 24 seconds and a 14-7 lead with 5:57 to go in the first quarter.
The score remained 14-7 as the second quarter began as Wilson was picked off by LSU cornerback Patrick Peterson on the first play of the quarter at the LSU 14-yard-line.
The Tide defense forced a three-and-out to get the ball back at their 48-yard-line and were immediately in LSU territory after Wilson hit Jones for a 26-yard pass on the first play of the drive.
However, the LSU defense stiffened and only one yard on the next three plays, forcing a 42-yard field goal attempt by Leigh Tiffin.
But Tiffin's kick was wide left, keeping the score at 14-7 in favor of LSU with 11:37 left in the second quarter.
After an exchange of punts, the Tigers got the ball back at their 34-yard-line when on 3rd & 8, Lee was picked off again by Johnson, who this time ran all the way back for a 46-yard touchdown that tied the game at 14 with 4:33 left in the first half.
After another exchange of punts, LSU got the ball at their 21-yard-line with 2:19 left in the half and two timouts in their pocket.
Following a two-yard run by Williams on 1st down, Lee hit tight end Richard Dickson for 22 yards and a 1st down at the Tigers' 45-yard-line.
Then after an incomplete pass, Williams would carry the ball on the next two plays; first, picking up six yards, then running for 25 yards to put LSU at the Bama 24-yard-line.
But that is where the drive stalled as Williams was stopped for no gain on 1st down, which was folowed by two straight incomplete passes, forcing Miles to call on Colt David to attempt a 41-yard field goal with 25 seconds left before halftime.
But David's kick sailed wide left and after Wilson took a knee to run out the clock, the two teams went into the locker room still tied 14-14 after 30 minutes of play.
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| Alabama wide receiver Julio Jones caught seven passes for 128 yards in the 2008 "Saban Bowl". |
Three minutes and 34 seconds into the second half, the Tide got the ball at their 31-yard-line when they called on Coffee to carry them to the end zone.
Coffee touched the ball on six of the seven plays on the drive with five carries for 39 yards and one catch for 11 yards.
Appropriately, Coffee scored the touchdown, a three-yard run that put Bama back in front 21-14 with 8:14 left in the third quarter.
Following the ensuing kickoff, the Tigers got the ball at their 17-yard-line when Lee got hot and hit three of his next four passes, all to Brandon LaFell, for a total of 50 yards to set up a 2nd & 3 from the Bama 33-yard-line.
But after two straight runs gained only two yards, the Tigers were faced with a 4th & 1 at the Tide 31-yard-line.
That is when "The Mad Hatter" decided to go for it on 4th down and was rewarded with a one-yard run by Quinn Johnson for a LSU 1st down.
However on 3rd & 9 from the Tide 29-yard-line, Lee was intercepted for the third time in the game, this time by Bama linebacker Rolando McClain who returned it to the Tigers' 46-yard-line.
The Tide could not do anything with the interception as they went three-and-out and after LSU punted again on their ensuing possession, the third quarter came to an end with Bama out in front 21-14.
With 12:14 left in the 4th quarter, the Tigers would get the ball at their 26-yard-line with a chance to drive for the game-tying touchdown.
It seemed the Tigers were going to go three-and-out until Lee hit Terrance Tolliver for 13 yards on 3rd & 11 to give LSU a 1st down at their 38-yard-line.
Then after a one-yard run by Scott, Lee connected with Tolliver again, this time for 10 yards and another 1st down.
Lee would then hit Tolliver for 24 yards to put LSU at the Crimson Tide 25-yard-line.
After a two-yard run by Scott, Lee came out of the game for one play, replaced by Richard Murphy, who ran for nine yards to set up 1st & 10 from the Bama 14-yard-line.
Lee came back into the game and was promptly sacked by Bama defensive end Bobby Greenwood for a three-yard loss by came back with a 11-yard pass to Tolliver to set up 3rd & 2 from the Crimson Tide six-yard-line.
That is when Lee handed the ball off to Quinn Johnson, who ran for five yards to set up 1st & goal at the one-yard-line.
Scott would punch it for the one-yard touchdown that with David's extra point tied the game at 21 with 6:12 left in regulation.
Both teams would punt on their ensuing possesions setting up a potential game-winning drive for the Crimson Tide as they took over at the LSU 41-yard-line with 1:58 to go after a 23-yard punt return by Arenas.
Coffee would carry the ball three straight times for 11 yards, which was followed by a eight-yard pass from Wilson to Julio Jones to set up 2nd & 2 where Coffee was apparently stopped for a two-yard-loss, only to have LSU linebacker Kelvin Sheppard get called for a face mask penalty, giving the Tide a 1st down at the Tigers' 12-yard-line.
From there, the Tide simply ran down the clock and make it easier for Tiffin to kick would what would be the game-winning field goal from 29 yards out with three seconds to go.
But LSU defensive tackle Ricky Jean-Francois saved the Tigers when he blocked Tiffin's kick to send the game into overtime with the game tied at 21.
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| LSU quarterback Jarrett Lee would have another tough day as he threw four interceptions, including another pick-six, on 13-of-34 passing. |
LSU got the ball first but came away with zero point as Lee threw his fourth interception of the game as Rashad Johnson picked off Lee in the end zone, meaning the Tide needed only a field goal to win the game.
The Tide almost won the game on the first play of their overtime possesion as Wilson hit Jones for 24 yards, setting up a 1st & goal at the LSU one-yard-line.
After Coffee was stopped for no gain on 1st down, Wilson snuck it in for the game-winning touchdown to give the Tide a 27-21 overtime win to remain undefeated and punching their ticket to the SEC Championship Game.
The Tigers would drop their last two games of the regular season, forcing them to play in the Peach Bowl where they would rout Georgia Tech 38-3 to finish the season 8-5.
Lee would usallly play in garbage time over the next two seasons until his senior season in 2011 when he started the first four games of the season after incumbant starter Jordan Jefferson was suspened.
Lee won all four of his all starts before being replaced by Jefferson who helped lead the Tigers to the BCS National Championship Game where they ironically lost to Alabama 21-0.
As for Bama
The Tide ended up in the Sugar Bowl where they were shocked by the Utah Utes out of the Mountain West Conference(they joined the Pac-12 in 2011) 31-17 to finish the season with a 12-2 record.
However, the Tide would come back the next year by winning the first of five national championships under the tenure of Nick Saban.
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