A game so on brand, it was almost meta.
Max Johnson hit Jaray Jenkins for the game-winning score with 20 seconds remaining as LSU avoided its first losing season since 1999 with a 27-24 thriller in Death Valley over 15th-ranked Texas A&M.
A&M quarterback Zach Calzada fell to the ground on the game’s final play, unable to get a throw off under pressure, and the madness began.
The crowd of more than 102,000 erupted as Ed Orgeron and his players stormed the field in celebration.
It was an amazing, insane, heart-stopping, rollercoaster of a game, fully befitting the final game of Orgeron’s tenure as head coach of his beloved Tigers.
I guess LSU fans wouldn’t have recognized anything else, after watching the rise of the kid from LaRose, La. who grew up dreaming of being a Tiger, and ended up leading the program to its greatest season, and one of the greatest in college football history.
On the other sideline was Jimbo Fisher, the man whom many in Purple & Gold had longed for since Nick Saban left for South Florida back in 2005. Fisher, like Orgeron, has a national championship. Fisher, like Orgeron, has struggled to get back to that rarified air since winning his title at Florida State in 2013.
It was fitting that these two men, linked for nearly two decades by one job, faced off one more time, in this situation, and in that setting.
LSU avoided the slow start that had plagued them as of late, getting off to a 10-0 lead on the strength of Cade York’s 50 yard field goal in the first quarter, followed by Jenkins’ first touchdown of the night.
Facing third and short, Johnson connected with the junior wideout with a perfectly thrown ball that dropped over Jenkins’ right shoulder and right into his waiting hands. Jenkins beat a pair of defenders to the pylon for the score.
After the Aggies responded with a touchdown of their own to close to within three, LSU found another big play.
Trey Palmer took a quick screen, and weaved his way through the A&M secondary for a 61-yard score that gave the Tigers a 17-7 advantage at the half.
On the defensive side of the ball, Damone Clark and the Tiger defense remained stout. When the Aggies tried to run, they found nothing.
When Calzada tried to find his receivers, more often than not he found himself under pressure.
After exchanging field goals in the third quarter, the game entered the dramatic final stanza with LSU on top, 20-10.
Calzada, who finished with 242 yards and three touchdowns, took the Aggies down the field for a pair of touchdowns to put A&M in front for the first time at 24-20 with 7:33 remaining.
Michael Clemons and the A&M defense had dialed up the pressure, and LSU’s defense broke down in the fourth.
That is, until that final drive.
One minute and 57 seconds stood between LSU and the storybook ending many had been hoping for all week.
Johnson completed five-of-seven passes on an 85 yard march that ended with Jenkins’ TD.
He ended the night with 306 yards and three touchdowns, with his top target catching eight passes for 169 yards and two TD receptions.
Even the LSU rushing attack contributed, adding 106 yards on the ground. Ty Davis-Price topped all rushers with 84 yards on 19 attempts.
Now what?
We’ll see if the Tigers choose to go to a bowl game. If so, does Orgeron coach? And, the million dollar question looms above all…who will be the next head coach at LSU?
Until then, LSU is many things, but a losing team isn’t one of them.