Nick Saban, bruised in frustration, stood at the postgame podium knowing how far his team had to go. It was a valiant effort, but he nor the Alabama players were in a mood for moral victories. The LSU Tigers waited months for their shot at Saban on Nov. 3, 2007 — several months after he left the Miami Dolphins to return to college football — and a top-20 matchup in Bryant-Denny Stadium was the platform.
An underdog Alabama team dug itself into a 17-3 hole, eventually took the lead 34-27 midway through the fourth quarter, but then gave the game up. LSU scored on fourth-and-4 from the Alabama 32-yard line to tie it and then benefited from a sack and fumble to set up another last-minute touchdown and pull off a dramatic 41-34 victory.
“My hands are bruised from smacking them together when we did the wrong things and made mistakes,” Saban said. “You know what? Sometimes there’s no consequence until you do it against someone who’s as good or better than you. Prime-time players make plays at prime times of the game and we had our opportunity to do it.”…