NEW ORLEANS — The first meeting between Alabama and LSU did not present any difficult fourth-down decisions for coaches Nick Saban and Les Miles, but will tonight be different?
In the BCS title game two years ago between Alabama and Texas, Saban gambled early and failed when the Longhorns intercepted a fourth-and-23 pass from punter P.J. Fitzgerald from the Crimson Tide’s 20-yard line. Saban said Sunday that was a “bad deal all the way around,” but his most memorable risk may have been in 2001, when he was at LSU and faced Tennessee in the SEC championship.
Phillip Fulmer’s second-ranked Volunteers had scored two quick touchdowns in the second quarter to take a 14-7 lead, and a third-and-1 carry by Tigers tailback Domanick Davis was stuffed for no gain at the LSU 22.
“They had [Albert] Haynesworth and some big guys playing in the middle,” Saban said, “so I said we’re going to go for it on fourth and an inch. We got stuffed, but we sacked them and they kicked a field goal to go ahead 17-7.
“For the next five minutes I was in la-la land. ‘Why did you do that? That’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever done.’ My wife even told me that was the dumbest call she had seen me make since I had been a head coach.”