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RED BATON, La. – People were everywhere. They were on each other's backs. They slid in the mud, crossed 4-foot barriers and collapsed on hard concrete. They were furiously waving their arms and singing wild things, most wearing water-soaked shirts and soil-stained pants. They were scathing and fingers. They were getting closer to the main event and moving away from each other – a stifling drunken fight.
It smelled of sweat and alcohol, the smell of any street in the French Quarter on Mardi Gras. The music filled the air, its notes rooting deeper than the thousands of oak roots digging in the marshes of Louisiana. They sang loudly and they sang proudly.
Mardi Gras mambo, mambo, mambo
Party fat mambo, mambo, mambo
Mambo Mambo
Down in New Orleans
Mardi Gras was moved to a Saturday in October and was transferred to a university football cathedral in Baton Rouge. The reason was still topical on the giant video card of this program long after the conclusion of the event: LSU 36, Georgia 16. The Tigers made the nation's second-ranked team what the Cajuns made their famous red gumbo: whipped. Their fans celebrated the victory by storming the field at Tiger Stadium for the first time in four years, parading at a festive holiday for the most popular vacation in this state. "It was crazy," said linebacker Michael Divinity, stuck in purple and gold madness like so many LSU football players.
The 12th-ranked Tigers dropped the Bulldogs in front of a packed crowd of more than 102,000 spectators, their first win at home against a No. 1 or No. 2 team since winning over Steve Spurrier. The United States ranked in Florida in 1997. They took a 16-0 lead and when the situation tightened (UGA 19-9 at the end of the third quarter) they finished with 17-0. points. They outclassed Kirby Smart's defense, totaling 275 yards, bringing 59 and 47 yards and hitting 50 and 37 more passes. Defender-coordinator Dave Aranda's defense has scrambled Georgia and quarterback Jake Fromm's positions, keeping the Bulldogs at 322 yards and eliminating Fromm twice.
The Tigers attack did it brilliantly: his head coach, Ed Orgeron, decided to try four goals in the fourth and his team and all converted. "Pissot" against himself, he said, for missing his fourth late-game attempt in a loss to Florida last week, Orgeron lost a week of frustration for the national title finalist In title. "We went there as hard as we could. Throw the kitchen sink, man, said Orgeron. "All week we talked about being aggressive."
At a weekly team meeting on Monday (they are known here under the acronym LSU as "The Mondays of Truth"), Orgeron stood in front of the room, expressing his regret for the match of the previous week and making a promise to his Tigers. "He told us," LSU, we did not back down for nothing, we're going to take pictures, we got the fourth, blitzes, "says linebacker Devin White. said the Monday of the truth.He told the truth and he did it.
"He said," We're going to be LSU this week, "recalls Foster Moreau. "A few times last week we were not LSU. "If it's fourth place, we're going there."
Just three kilometers from the nearest Mississippi casino, Orgeron played at the casino on Saturday at Tiger Stadium. Three of the calls took place in the second quarter and two on the same drive. The Tigers hit quarterback Joe Burrow and scored a first goal on defenseman Clyde Edwards-Helaire, a 16-yard defeat, but before that, the riskiest of them: a fourth and a clean LSU 38 that Burrow converted with another stealth.
The risky calls led some players to defend their coach afterwards. Do not judge him on the basis of his past transgressions, the losses he suffered as a head coach at Ole Miss or that exceptionally serious voice, they say. "He knows what he's doing," said Moreau. "He makes these decisions. He made all the right decisions tonight. He has a long time ago. … The best way to defend our head coach is to win football games. We love it. We are fighting for him.
Then Orgeron's face twitched like a rough orange when a journalist asked him, "Are you going to the casino tonight?" The LSU head coach is only one of the few. a player in the field, and not only. And all his family could see their family support knock out the Bulldogs with his risk taking. His twin sons, both McNeese State players, had a break this week. They watched from the pitch as Mom Kelly watched the rest of the coach's suite as her husband passed some of the biggest calls of his life in the victory of his signature. His answer to the fourth tests? "Let's go!" She said afterwards. Moreau, the undisputed top leader of this team, was on the field at each of four attempts. "You must go there. It's a play, "he said. This is what you call a power play. It's you face to face against him. "
It was the fourth most important descent since the historic Tigers victory in 2007 over a historic victory against Florida in 2007, when Jacob Hester beat the Gators in line with what many see as Les's biggest win. Miles to Tigerland. Is that for his replacement? It was an emotional affair. One of the biggest players in the program, back Jimmy Taylor, died earlier in the day, just months after the death of Heisman's only winner, Billy Cannon. "It's hard, but our family is recovering," said Orgeron, born and raised about 90 km southwest of New Orleans. "We are hard. Here in Louisiana, we have hurricanes, adversity and we are working on it. This is the kind of people we are and we are proud of it. "
Jonathan Bachman / Getty Images
His team's offensive offensive line was under heavy pressure all day long, his quarterback played smart and his defense was strong, all coming a week after the 27-19 loss to Gainesville, which made LSU difficult . They also overcame more adversity. Burrow called it the worst session of the season, which spoiled the trip for more than 15,000 spectators in Georgia.
A wild student section celebrated before the final ring slogans "We want Bama!", Then they rallied against a black iron gate guarding the field in the final seconds, thundering on when Burrow took his last picture. Mardi Gras then follows. LSU support staff and law enforcement officers were needed to guide the players into the madness and bring them back to the locker room. While moving through the crowd, Orgeron hugged his wife Kelly against him, both smiling broadly as the officers cleared their way to the tunnel.
A few minutes ago, while the last seconds counted, Michael Bonnette, director of LSU's sporting information, had long been on the ground, his son Max at his side. "I've seen people go over the wall," recalls Bonnette, "and I told Max:" Run! »»
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