Before 2019, LSU Had Another Perfect Team — We Just Don't Talk About How It Ended
Updated: 3 days ago
The mind has a funny way of burying painful memories. LSU fans seem to have done the same thing with the 2011 football season.
Eight years before Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson and the 15-0 Tigers produced LSU's perfect 2019 season, another LSU team stood one win from immortality.
Quick answer
Before Joe Burrow's 2019 perfection, LSU reached the 2011 BCS Championship 13-0 after one of the greatest regular seasons in program history. One night changed how fans remember it.
LSU entered the BCS National Championship Game 13-0. It was the first 13-0 start in program history, the Tigers had completed their first undefeated regular season since 1958, won the SEC Championship and beaten eight Top-25 opponents.
The LSU team history remembers backward
Mention 2019 and LSU fans remember Burrow, Alabama, the SEC title, Oklahoma, Clemson and 15-0. Mention 2011 and many fans jump immediately to January 9, 2012: Alabama 21, LSU 0. The Game We Don't Speak Of.
That one night has obscured how extraordinary everything before it was.
LSU was perfect before that night
The 2011 Tigers spent 11 consecutive weeks ranked No. 1 and defeated a schedule that included Oregon, West Virginia, Florida, Auburn, Alabama, Arkansas and Georgia. LSU won 12 of its first 13 games by double digits. The lone exception was Alabama.
LSU had already beaten Alabama
On November 5, 2011, No. 1 LSU went into Tuscaloosa and beat No. 2 Alabama 9-6 in overtime. It was the first regular-season SEC meeting of teams ranked No. 1 and No. 2.
That victory should have been one of the crowning moments of LSU's march toward a championship. Instead, it became the source of the most painful question of the season: why did LSU have to beat Alabama twice to become champion when Alabama only had to beat LSU once?
One night changed the memory of thirteen wins
Alabama won the rematch 21-0 in New Orleans. LSU finished 13-1. The loss counts. Alabama was the national champion. But the ending should not erase the rest of the evidence.
LSU beat eight ranked opponents. LSU went undefeated in the SEC regular season. LSU won the conference championship. LSU beat Alabama in Alabama. LSU reached No. 1 and stayed there for eleven straight weeks.
2019 finished the story. 2011 had the story taken away from it.
Maybe we've remembered 2011 unfairly
If the final game had gone differently, the 2011 Tigers would almost certainly sit beside 2019 in every conversation about the greatest LSU teams ever assembled. Instead, one game became the lens through which thirteen victories were viewed.
The 2019 Tigers gave LSU fans the perfect ending. The 2011 Tigers showed how brutally thin the line between immortality and heartbreak can be. One game should not erase thirteen.
FAQ
Was LSU undefeated entering the 2012 BCS Championship? Yes. LSU entered 13-0 and SEC champion.
How many ranked teams did LSU beat in 2011? LSU recorded eight victories over Top-25 opponents during its 13-0 start.
Did LSU beat Alabama during the regular season? Yes. LSU won 9-6 in overtime in Tuscaloosa.
Sources: LSU Athletics 2011 season archive and official football records.
Comments