Batman
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- Joined
- Jul 8, 2006
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That's one of those randomly pivotal games in college football history.
Saban inherited Josh Booty at quarterback his first season at LSU. Booty had been tabbed the savior of LSU football years earlier, went to play minor league baseball instead, washed out, and then came back to play at LSU. He kinda sucked, and so did LSU when he was the starter in 1999 and the first few games of 2000. Booty was so bad against UAB, though, that it finally let Saban pull the plug without remorse or backlash.
Rohan Davey started the next week and LSU beat Tennessee in overtime to give a jolt to the entire program. LSU won six of its last eight games and made the Peach Bowl that year, won the SEC championship in 2001 with Davey smashing school passing records, and it was off and running. They won the national championship in 2003 and became a true national power after decades of either playing second fiddle to Alabama or underachieving. And, of course, it was the season where Nick Saban started to become Nick Freaking Saban, no longer a mid-level coach but a national championship-caliber coach.
Sept. 23, 2000. UAB 13, LSU 10 in Tiger Stadium. It was a rock bottom moment for LSU football, but also one of the most important, pivotal games in its history.
If LSU grinded out an ugly 17-13 win, or if they muddle through to a mundane 24-13 win in a body bag game, who knows if Saban sticks with Josh Booty a while longer? They probably get blown out by Tennessee and Florida the next two weeks (they lost 41-9 to Florida as it was), and maybe the season spirals out of control and the Saban era quickly becomes a bust.
Instead, the loss to UAB was the clear end of one shirtty era and the start of a much better one that has continued for 20+ years. You can probably say the same for Saban's career.
