 |
| Kentucky players celebrate while LSU tight end Richard Dickson sits on the field following the Wildcats' upset over #1 LSU in 2007. |
The 2007 college football season is considered to be perhaps the most chaotic season of all time as it seemed every week that was a huge upset.
During the season, 13 times a top 5 ranked team lost to an unranked team and the #2 team would lose six times during the regular season.
Needless to say, it was not safe to be ranked in top 5 in 2007 which LSU found out when traveled to Lexington, Kentucky to take on the Wildcats on October 13th.
The Tigers entered the game ranked #1 with a 6-0 record under second-year head coach Les Miles, who had come from Oklahoma State to take over for Nick Saban, who had left to coach the Miami Dolphins in the NFL.
The week before LSU defeated Florida 28-24 in an memorable game where the Tigers converted on 5 4th down situations helping them to their #1 ranking.
Now, the Tigers had to go on the road to take one of the biggest surprise teams in 2007 in the #17 ranked Kentucky Wildcats, who came into the game with a 5-1 record after having started the season 5-0 which was their best start since 1984.
The Wildcats were led by head coach Rich Brooks, who was in his fifth season in Lexington, and quarterback Andre Woodson, who had become a Heisman Trophy candidate up to this point in the season as he had thrown for 1, 522 yards, 18 touchdowns and just two interceptions.
But if the Wildcats were going to pull off the upset they would have to do it without leading rusher Rafael Little who missed the game with a bruised thigh.
Also, the Wildcats had revenge in their mind since it was the first time LSU had traveled to Kentucky since the infamous "Bluegrass Miracle" when Kentucky fans stormed the field while the Kentucky players splashed then head coach Guy Moriss with Gatorade before Tigers quarterback Marcus Randall threw a 74-yard touchdown pass to Devery Henderson as time expired to give LSU an improbable 33-30 win.
After both teams traded punts to start the game, the Wildcats got the ball at the LSU 49-yard-line following a 20-yard-punt by Patrick Fisher.
It would take the Wildcats 12 plays to get into the end zone as Big Blue went 4-for-4 on 3rd down conversions which included a two-yard touchdown pass from Woodson to tight end T.C. Drake, which was tipped in the air by LSU strong safety Craig Steltz before landing in the arms of Drake, to give Kentucky a 7-0 lead with 2:49 left in the first quarter.
The Tigers would get the ball at their 21-yard-line to begin their next possession as a 55-yard run by running back Charles Scott to end the first quarter gave LSU a 1st & goal at the Kentucky one-yard-line.
The break between quarters gave Scott enough time to catch his breath as he would punch it in for the one-yard touchdown to start the second quarter and help tie the game 7-7.
The LSU defense would force the Wildcats to punt on their ensuing possession to give their offense the ball back at their 19-yard-line.
The next three plays would gain 21 yards for the Tigers until quarterback Matt Flynn completed a 48-yard pass to Terrance Tolliver, only to have it called back because of a pass interference penalty on Tolliver, pushing the Tigers back 15 yards to their 25-yard-line.
Following a two-yard-loss on 2nd down, the Tigers had 3rd & 18 from the 23-yard-line when Flynn scrambled for 22 yards to pick up the 1st down which became a 37-yard play as Kentucky cornerback Paul Warford was called for a late hit to put LSU at the Wildcats 40-yard-line.
A 17-yard-run by Scott helped set up a 31-yard field goal by Colt David to give LSU a 10-7 lead with 5:42 remaining in the second quarter.
The Wildcats would have good field position to begin its next drive as a 29-yard return by Keenan Burton gave Big Blue the ball at its own 40-yard-line, only to give right back to the Tigers as Woodson was intercepted by LSU cornerback Chevis Jackson to give the Tigers the ball at the Kentucky 46-yard-line.
The Tigers would make one 1st down until they were faced with a 4th & 6 at the 30-yard-line when "The Mad Hatter" decided to go for it as Flynn's pass for Brandon LaFell fell incomplete, only to have Kentucky cornerback Trevard Lindley be called for pass interference to give LSU a 1st down at Wildcats 21-yard-line.
After two runs gained eight yards, Scott got the ball and run 13 yards for the touchdown to push the LSU lead to double digits as the Tigers held a 17-7 lead with just 1:48 left in the second quarter.
 |
| LSU running back Charles Scott would carry the ball only seven times but would gained 94 yards and scored two touchdowns. |
The Wildcats would get the ball back at their 22-yard-line with 1:41 left before halftime and two timeouts in their pocket with the hope that Kentucky could drive down the field and pick up some points before the end of the half.
Following an one-yard run by Tony Dixon to start the drive, Woodson completed a 14-yard pass to tight end Jacob Tamme, which was followed by a 51-yard completion to Steve Johnson to give Kentucky a 1st down at the LSU 12-yard-line.
After an incomplete pass on 1st down, Woodson would take it in himself as he ran for the 12-yard touchdown to cut the LSU lead to 17-14 with just 1:04 left in the first half.
Neither team would mount another scoring threat before the end of the first half as the two teams went into the locker room with the #1 ranked Tigers on top 17-14 and set to get the ball to start the second half.
A 44-yard kickoff return by Trenton Holliday gave the Tigers great field position as they would begin the second half from their 48-yard-line where three straight running plays picked up nine yards to set up 4th & 1 from the Kentucky 43-yard-line.
Once again, Miles would go for the 1st down as backup quarterback Ryan Perrilloux came in and ran two yards to pick up the 1st down.
Flynn would come back in at quarterback and after the next two plays lost three yards, he completed a 18-yard pass to LaFell to give LSU a 1st down at the Kentucky 26-yard-line, which was followed by a holding penalty on the Wildcats to give LSU another 1st down at the Kentucky 16-yard-line.
Four plays later, the Tigers were in the end zone as Flynn found tight end Richard Dickson in the end zone for a four-yard touchdown to push the Tigers' lead back to 10 points at 24-14 with 9:12 remaining in the third quarter.
The Wildcats would begin its next possession at their 24-yard-line but on 3rd & 8 from the 26-yard-line, Woodson was picked off again, this time by LSU defensive back Chad Jones to give the Tigers the ball at the LSU 49-yard-line with a chance to deliver the knockout punch with a touchdown.
The Tigers would drive to the Kentucky 13-yard-line where they faced a 3rd & 8 when Flynn fired a pass to toward the left corner of the end zone, intended for tight end Keith Zinger, only to have Zinger drop the sure touchdown.
If Zinger had caught it, the Wildcats would have been down 31-14 to make it a three-score game, so they were fortunate when David came in to kick a 30-yard field goal to increase LSU's lead to 27-14 with 3:49 left in the third quarter.
Following the ensuing kickoff, the Wildcats took over at their 18-yard-line when Dixon ran for 11 yards to start the drive which got an additional five yards added on as Stletz was called for a face mask penalty.
On the very next play, Woodson connected with Dixon for a 18-yard pass to give Kentucky a 1st down at the LSU 48-yard-line.
Derrick Locke would carry the ball on the next two plays, gaining 20 yards to the Tigers' 28-yard-line, which was followed by a 14-yard-pass from Woodson to Johnson.
Then after an LSU offsides penalty and an one-yard run by Locke, Woodson found Tamme in the back of the end zone for an eight-yard touchdown to bring the Wildcats to within a touchdown at 27-21 with 1:13 to go in the third quarter.
After forcing the Tigers to go three-and-out on their next possession, the Wildcats got the ball back at their 37-yard-line as the fourth quarter got underway.
The Tigers were poised to force an three-and-out until Steltz was called for pass interference to give Kentucky a 1st down at the LSU 49-yard-line.
From there, Locke would carry the ball five straight times for 30 yards to set up 3rd & 3 as Woodson completed a two-yard pass to Johnson to set up 4th & inches from the 17-yard-line when Brooks decided to go for the 1st down.
Kentucky would get the 1st down as Woodson ran for two yards, but the Wildcats would pick up zero yards on the next three plays, forcing them to settle for a 33-yard field goal by Lones Seiber to cut the LSU lead to 27-24 with 7:57 to go in regulation.
 |
| Kentucky quarterback Andre Woodson completed 21 of 38 passes for 250 yards and threw three touchdowns, plus ran for one touchdown. |
The Tigers would take over at their 20-yard-line but would gave it right back to the Wildcats as Flynn's deep pass intended for LaFell was intercepted by Lindley to give the Wildcats the ball at their 38-yard-line.
Following an incomplete pass on 1st down, Woodson would connect with Tamme for 11 yards, then hit Johnson for 37 yards to give the Wildcats a 1st down at the LSU 16-yard-line.
Two straight runs by Locke set up 3rd & 2 where he Locke got the ball again only to be dropped for an one-yard loss, forcing the Wildcats to settle for a 27-yard field goal by Seiber that tied the game at 27 with 4:21 left in the fourth quarter.
The Tigers would get the ball at their 16-yard-line as they converted three 3rd downs in a row to drive into Kentucky territory.
The first 3rd down conversion came on 3rd & 10 from the Tigers 16-yard-line as Flynn scrambled for 10 yards to pick up the 1st down.
Then, fullback Jacob Hester ran for 11 yards on 3rd & 1 to give LSU another 1st down at the Tigers' 46-yard-line and then followed by Flynn's 14-yard pass for running back Richard Murphy for another 1st down at the Kentucky 41-yard-line.
But after the next three plays picked up only one yard, the Tigers were faced with a 57-yard game-winning field goal attempt as LSU drained the clock to two seconds before calling timeout to make sure Kentucky would not get a chance to drive for a field goal or touchdown if David made the kick.
The Wildcats would call back-to-back timeouts in hopes of icing David before his 57-yard kick which fell short and no good to send the game into overtime.
LSU won the coin toss and elected to go on defense so they would know what type of score they would need after the Wildcats completed their overtime possession which would begin at the 30-yard-line following a false start penalty.
But the Wildcats would get a 1st down after LSU defensive end Tyson Jackson was called for roughing the passer after hitting Woodson too late after an incomplete pass to put Kentucky at the Tigers' 15-yard-line.
After two straight runs by Locke picked up two yards, Woodson found his favorite target Johnson for a 12-yard completion to give Kentucky 1st & goal at the LSU one-yard-line.
It would take the Wildcats two tries to get into the end zone as Locke was stopped for no gain on 1st down, but was able to punch it in on 2nd down to give Kentucky its first lead since the 1st quarter as they took a 34-27 lead, hoping their defense would keep the Tigers out of the end zone to complete the comeback from 13 points down.
However, the Tigers would respond like the #1 team should as Flynn connected with Murphy for an eight-yard pass on 1st down, then handed it off to Hester who ran for nine yards for a LSU 1st down, followed by a six-yard run by Murphy, and then wrapped up with a two-yard touchdown pass from Flynn to Dickson that with David's extra point tied the game at 34 to send the game into a second overtime.
The Tigers would get the ball to start the second overtime period as a 14-yard pass to Tolliver was nullified by the fact that Tolliver had stepped out of bounds before making the catch, making him ineligible for the catch and drawing a 10-yard penalty to the Tigers.
LSU would be forced to settle for a 38-yard field goal by David to give the Tigers a 37-34 lead, but gave the Wildcats a chance to win the game if they could score a touchdown.
However, Woodson would throw three straight incomplete passes, forcing the Wildcats to call on Seiber to attempt a 43-yard field goal in hopes of sending the game to a third overtime.
Seiber would come through as he successfully made the 43-yard field goal to tie the game at 37 as the game moved into a third overtime period.
Following an one-yard run by Locke to start the drive, Woodson would connect with Dicky Lyons for six yards, then for 12 yards to give the Wildcats a 1st & goal at the LSU six-yard-line.
But two straight incomplete passes would force 3rd & goal when Woodson threw another incomplete pass, only to have LSU free safety Curtis Taylor get called for holding, to move the Wildcats half the distance to the goal and an automatic 1st down at the LSU three-yard-line.
The next two plays would pick up only one yard which was followed by a delay of game penalty to push the Wildcats back to the LSU seven-yard-line for 3rd & goal when Woodson found Johnson wide open in the right corner of the end zone for a seven-yard touchdown to give Kentucky a 43-37 lead.
 |
| Steve Johnson catches would be the game-winning touchdown pass in third overtime period. |
With the game now in its third overtime, the Wildcats had to go for two which they failed as Woodson's pass fell incomplete keeping the score 43-37 as the Tigers began their next possession needing a touchdown and a two-point conversion to win the game.
Three straight runs by Scott gained eight yards to set up 4th & 2 when Scott, who hadn't carried the ball since the third quarter, took the handoff from Flynn and ran to his left, only to be stopped by Wildcats linebacker Braxton Kelly one yard short of the 1st down, meaning the Tigers had turned it over on downs to end the game with Kentucky on top 43-37, setting off a wild celebration at Commonwealth Stadium as fans stormed the field to celebrate the first Kentucky win over a #1 team since 1964 when they defeated the Ole Miss Rebels 27-21.
The win over LSU would be the highlight of the Kentucky football season as they would drop four of their last five regular season games to finish with a 7-5 record and earn a trip to the Music City Bowl for the second year in a row where they defeated the Florida State Seminoles 35-28 to finish with a 8-5 record.
As for the Tigers, they would recover from the triple overtime loss to Kentucky to win their next four games to reclaim the #1 ranking, only to lose it again following a 50-48 triple overtime loss to Arkansas in the regular season finale.
However, the Tigers play in the BCS National Championship Game after they jumped from #5 to #2 following a 21-14 win over Tennessee in the SEC Championship Game and losses by West Virginia and Missouri on the final Saturday of the regular season to earn a trip to the title game where LSU would defeat #1 Ohio State 38-24 for their second national title in five years.
No comments:
Post a Comment