For the first time since Les Miles has been the coach of the Bayou Bengals, LSU suffers a loss in their season opener to Wisconsin in heartbreaking fashion by the score of 16-14.
“These two teams played their hearts out.” Said head coach Les Miles after the loss, “It’s hard for me to realize how close we came with guys like this. They made a difference.”
The game started off slow with neither team getting on the board in the first quarter and Wisconsin got on the board late in the second quarter with a 30-yarder from Rafael Gaglianone. Lightning struck twice with only a minute left in the half with another field goal, this time from 48 yards out to head into the locker room with a 6-0 lead.
The Badgers continued to score early in the third quarter with a five yard touchdown run from Corey Clement to make it 13-0. After that touchdown, things began to look a lot like 2014.
With 5:28 left in the fourth quarter, Tre’Davious White intercepted Bart Houston and took it to the house to cut the lead to six points. Four plays later, the Tigers scored thanks to a fumble recovery from White which led to a pass from Brandon Harris to Travin Dural to tie the game up before a Colby Delahoussaye extra point gave them a one-point edge.
But the Badgers would take the lead back after an eight play drive that resulted in another three points off the foot of Gaglianone to get a two-point lead.
The Tigers tried to get within field goal range and got to the Wisconsin 30 yard line, but an errant pass from Harris led to an interception from D’Cota Dixon that sealed the fate of LSU in the season opener in Lambeau Field.
Les discussed the performance of his junior quarterback and said that “There was difficulty getting plays in. It’s more than a quarterback. It’s a team issue.”
The Tigers (0-1) will return to Baton Rouge for a Saturday night matchup against Jacksonville State (1-0) with kickoff set for 6:30 pm.
-Clint Domingue