TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — They strolled toward each other in the center of Bryant-Denny Stadium, the former coach at LSU and the guy who replaced him. After a quick handshake and a few obligatory words, Nick Saban and Les Miles headed off in opposite directions.
Maybe now, the folks at LSU can get over Saban and be content with what they have: a living-on-the-edge team and a cardiac coach who keeps finding ways to win.
The third-ranked Tigers (8-1, 5-1 SEC) did it again Saturday night, scoring two touchdowns in the final three minutes to stay in the thick of the national championship race with a heart-stopping 41-34 win over No. 17 Alabama (6-3, 4-2).
“When our backs are against the wall, we play our best,” said Glenn Dorsey, LSU’s defensive star. “When we need to make plays, we make them.”
This one will surely play well in Cajun Country, where they got to relish the sight of Saban, dressed in a white shirt with crimson trim, going over to congratulate the gold-and-purple-clad players he left behind two years ago.
Saban coached a couple of seasons in the NFL, then stunned the LSU faithful by returning to the college game — at Alabama, of all places, a rival school in the Southeastern Conference.
This was payback, no matter how much Saban tried to protest.
“It ain’t got nothing to do with me,” he said in a fiery post-game news conference that bordered at times on a lecture. “I don’t coach LSU anymore. I coach Alabama.”
At the very least, it was about his successor at LSU. Miles has faced persistent criticism that he’s not that great a coach, that he’s simply winning with the enormous talent Saban left behind.
In the locker room, the players presented Miles with the game ball.
“It’s good to get this game behind us,” said quarterback Matt Flynn, “and let coach Miles know this is his team.”
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