Death Valley: Where opponents’ dreams come to die
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“That was Death Valley. That was the place where opponents’ dreams come to die.”
Les Miles said that after beating Ole Miss at home in 2014, but the statement still holds true in 2022. Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide came into Tiger Stadium with dreams of winning the SEC West once again and getting a rematch with Georgia in the title game as well as having dreams of going to the playoffs once again.
Those dreams died under the lights in Baton Rouge as Mason Taylor scored on a two-point conversion in overtime to win the biggest game of the year for LSU. Now the Tigers control their own destiny in the SEC. LSU could possibly clinch the SEC West next week with a win over Arkansas and an Alabama win over Ole Miss.
As our writer Will Rosenblatt wrote, the Tigers had everything to gain and nothing to lose on Saturday night. This is Brian Kelly’s first season at LSU, the Tigers were supposed to be rebuilding.
LSU was projected to be the seventh-best team in the SEC this year by Sports Illustrated, and it was projected to finish fifth in the SEC West in the preseason SEC media poll.
No one outside the LSU program believed this team would be as good as they are this year, but that doesn’t matter. When the Tigers leave their locker room and hit the WIN bar before heading out onto the field, all that matters is that they believe in themselves and their brothers that they go to war with.
Kelly knew these guys could win this game. There were 102,000 fans packed into Tiger Stadium last night and most of them were there because they believed LSU would win. Every time the Tigers play at home, the fans bring it. They come to the stadium early on gameday and stay even later after the game ends.
There isn’t an atmosphere in college football that can come close to Tiger Stadium on a Saturday Night. It is special. When Taylor stretched the ball over the goal line in overtime, the only people that were surprised it happened are people that haven’t been watching this team all season long.
These guys have worked hard to get better every week. Jayden Daniels has become one of the best quarterbacks in the country. All of the transfers in the secondary are settling in on defense and playing great.
On Saturday night in Tiger Stadium, Alabama’s dreams died, but LSU’s dreams are just getting started.
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