When 6-foot-4-inch, 297-pound Louisiana State defensive end Marcus Spears lumbered 20 yards on the second play of the second half following an interception, the index finger that shot up upon his arrival in the end zone signified so much more than its usual generic celebration.
And if the Southern Cal Trojans want to argue, they’re going to have to hop a flight to the Big Easy and take it up with Spears, his LSU football team and the Tiger-crazed state of Louisiana intoxicated by their first national championship in 45 years.
The Tigers imposed their very stubborn defensive will on what was once considered one of the most potent offenses in college football history and wrapped up the 2003 Heisman Trophy winner in the process, defeating the Oklahoma Sooners 21-14 Sunday night in the Sugar Bowl for the BCS national championship.
The Tigers danced off the Superdome carpet with the grandest prize of all, the $30,000 Waterford crystal football that says quite plainly “National Champions,” a fact that players and coaches on both LSU and Oklahoma spent most of their week pointing out.
The first split championship since 1997 when Michigan and Nebraska were both recognized was assured when Rose Bowl winner USC remained atop the Associated Press rankings. LSU was No. 2 and Oklahoma No. 3.
But LSU’s No. 1 standing in the BCS was secure because of an agreement between the American Football Coaches Association and the universities that sponsor the BCS, which crowned the Sugar Bowl winner national champions.
“All I know is the BCS selected us to come here,” said LSU quarterback Matt Mauck. “I don’t know how you possibly could not consider us national champions.”
No doubt, the debate will continue. But in a college football season that ends under the specter of controversy, there was no doubt as to which was the better football team in New Orleans.
Oklahoma came in feeding off one of the oldest forms of motivation. The No. 1 team in the country a record-tying 15 straight weeks until dropping a 35-7 shocker to Kansas State in the Big 12 championship game, the Sooners’ place in the Sugar Bowl was widely disputed after dropping to No. 3 in the AP poll.
And they kept the Tigers honest by narrowing LSU’s lead to 21-14 with 11:01 remaining in the game, following a 1-yard touchdown run by Kejuan Jones. The touchdown was set up by an interception and 49-yard return by Brodney Pool to the Tigers’ 31-yard line.
The Sooners had a chance to tie with two drives in the final 5:45, the first of which had them in a first-and-10 on the LSU 12 after a Tigers’ pass interference.
But Oklahoma quarterback Jason White finished the game with eight straight incompletions, including one that slipped through the fingers of Mark Clayton in the end zone, and LSU middle linebacker Lionel Turner delivered the final indignation with the fifth sack of the Heisman winner with 18 seconds left.
And in the end, the Sooners, going after their second national title in four years and their eighth in school history, could not defeat an entire state.
“You win 12 games and that’s extremely hard to do nowadays in college football and you have nothing to show for it,” said White, who finished with just 102 yards passing and two interceptions. “It’s disappointing.”
Playing just 80 miles from their campus in Baton Rouge, 79,342 purple and gold crazies, the largest crowd to witness a sporting event in the Louisiana Superdome, the Tigers appeared to settle one of the game’s major issues by halftime.
The question? Which would give–LSU’s No. 1-ranked scoring defense (10.8 points allowed per game) or Oklahoma’s No. 1 scoring offense (45.2 points per game).
And through three quarters, the Tigers clearly had the edge, holding the Sooners to 18 yards on the ground on 21 attempts and 61 yards passing along with four sacks.
It took a blocked punt by Oklahoma’s Brandon Shelby midway through the second quarter, recovered by Russell Dennison at the LSU 2, to get the Sooners going. They tied the score at 7-all on a 1-yard plunge by Jones four plays later.
LSU answered with an 18-yard scamper by Justin Vincent to take a 14-7 lead. Vincent, one of several LSU true freshmen to have made an impact under Saban, was named Sugar Bowl MVP with 118 yards on 10 carries in the first half, including a 64-yard run on the first play of the game. He finished with 117 yards on 16 carries.
One of the best one-on-one battles going in figured to be between Oklahoma wide receiver Clayton and LSU cornerback Corey Webster. Forced into man coverage with LSU’s incessant blitzing, Webster, who had a team-leading six interceptions during the regular season, intercepted White at midfield on Oklahoma’s first possession and returned it 18 yards to set up LSU’s first touchdown, a 24-yard end around by split end Skyler Green.
A slew of penalties marred the game–19 combined for 135 total yards.
The Tigers’ victory punctuates one of college football’s most dramatic turnarounds authored by one of its most celebrated coaches in Nick Saban.
The Saban four-year totals: 39 victories, four bowls (three, traditional New Year’s Day contests), two Southeastern Conference titles and one national title.
“This was a great team effort, guys having each other’s backs,” said Spears.
“We saw at the beginning of the season that our coaches believed in what we could do. Something special has been brewing in the state of Louisiana around our team and we saw it today.”
