It was a play that will be remembered for a long time, particularly because it worked.
After Alabama drove in for a touchdown on the opening possession of OT, it only took one play for Jayden Daniels to charge in for a score of his own. But that's where the game was going to end, either way. Brian Kelly made sure of it.
After a timeout and some confusion by Alabama, Jayden Daniels sprinted out and found freshman Mason Taylor for the final, exhilarating 2-point conversion that determined the result. LSU won 32-31 and Alabama was stunned.
“It just felt like the right time," Kelly said on the field after the game. "Our guys, they played so hard and with emotion. I just loved the way our guys competed and I didn’t want to keep going in overtime. It just felt like it was the right time to go and win the game.”
Kelly elaborated that it was a decision in the moment, and he knew his offense had a play they hadn't shown and felt confident in.
"Before this game if you had asked me: 'Hey, I'm going to give you one play, and if you're successful on that one play, you beat Alabama.' I'd have taken that 100 times out of 100," Kelly said. "And that's kind of how it hit me in that moment."
It wasn't a hugely dissimilar scenario to what the Tigers faced in Week 1 when they drove the field for what appeared to be a game-tying score against Florida State in the final seconds. In that instance Kelly said he never really considered doing anything but tying the game. The PAT was blocked and the game was lost.
That game was at the Caesars Superdome. This one was at Tiger Stadium in front of a crowd that very much deserved the ending it got.
Next up is Arkansas on the road atop the SEC West and in the catbird seat to potentially get to the SEC Championship and even the College Football Playoff if all things worked out perfectly. One way or another the pride is back, and Kelly is as thrilled as anyone to see it.
“To come here and restore the pride and tradition of this program," Kelly said, "it just means so much."