The Day the NFL Took Over Alabama

On November 5, 2011, No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Alabama met in a defensive battle billed as college football's ‘Game of the Century.’ B/R Mag talks to the players who were there

By Lars Anderson

November 3, 2016

Bleacher Report

Everything looked and felt different on that cool autumn night in Alabama five years ago.

There was LeBron James striding through the darkened corridors of Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, trying to find his seat in the moments before No. 1 LSU played No. 2 Alabama on November 5, 2011. High above the field, Condoleezza Rice, the former secretary of state, settled into her private box to watch the college football matchup billed as the latest “Game of the Century.”

On the sidelines during pregame warm-ups, Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots, shook hands and posed for pictures. So did seven-time NBA champion Robert Horry, an Alabama alum, and former Tampa Bay Buccaneers great Hugh Green.

Outside the stadium, as the 7 p.m. CT kickoff approached, more than 60,000 fans without tickets sat in the darkness of the campus quad, hoping to simply hear the rise and fall of the crowd noise. In the long history of SEC football, which began play in 1933, there had never been a hotter ticket.

LSU head coach Les Miles leads his team out before a game against Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium on November 5, 2011, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (Getty Images)

But only now, five years later and with top-ranked Alabama facing 13th-ranked LSU on Saturday in Baton Rouge, can we understand the significance of that perfect fall night in T-Town. The game featured 60 future NFL players on the two sidelines—five dozen players who, collectively, have so far earned more than $295 million in pro football. The game also became a key historical marker in the evolution of the sport, as it hastened the demise of the BCS and fostered the dawn of the College Football Playoff.

I was there that starry November evening—along with 600 other credentialed media members, well above the 350 who usually cover a Crimson Tide home game. The sheer talent on the field lured to Bryant-Denny a record number of NFL scouts (nearly every team was represented) to check out the likes of LSU’s Tyrann Mathieu, Odell Beckham Jr., Eric Reid and Morris Claiborne as well as Alabama’s Trent Richardson, Mark Barron, AJ McCarron and Dont’a Hightower.

And when the teams ran onto the field before kickoff, a roar rolled like thunder from the stadium crowd of 101,821. LSU head coach Les Miles only made it a few feet out of the tunnel before he was stampeded by one of his own players—fullback J.C. Copeland—and tumbled onto the grassy field.

“I knew my guys were ready to play when I got run over even before the game started,” Miles told me a few weeks after the game. “It was the start of maybe the most physical game I’ve ever seen.”

What follows are the recollections of those who were there on the night the top two ranked defenses in the nation and an awe-inspiring collection of NFL-bound talent played a historic and unforgettable game.


CHAPTER 1: THE BUILDUP

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Eric Reid gets the fans excited during a game against the Oregon Ducks at Cowboys Stadium on September 3, 2011, in Arlington, Texas. (Getty Images)

Eric Reid
LSU safety and San Francisco 49ers first-round pick

We knew the game was going to be physical. Just looking at both of our rosters, it was easy to see that there was going to be a lot of NFL talent on the field. We expected that it would be a low-scoring game.


Damion Square
Alabama defensive end now with the San Diego Chargers

LSU could match us up front physically. We knew it was going to be like two bullies meeting in the schoolyard.


Brad Wing
LSU punter now with the New York Giants

People had been talking about the game for weeks on ESPN. When we got off the bus, it was just a crazy, electric atmosphere around Bryant-Denny Stadium. There were so many people, and you knew thousands wouldn’t even make it inside. You couldn’t be on a bigger stage in college football.


Dre Kirkpatrick
Alabama cornerback and Cincinnati Bengals first-round pick

Practices during the week were chippy. We were really scrapping with each other. We wanted to protect our perfect season.


Cade Foster
Alabama kicker now attending law school

Everyone was telling me that it might come down to a field goal, and I let that get to me. I over-trained that week. I must have kicked 200-300 balls instead of my normal 50. So by the time the game started, my legs were almost dead.

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Josh Chapman gets a drink on the sideline during a game against Penn State at Beaver Stadium on September 10, 2011, in State College, Pennsylvania. (Getty Images)

Josh Chapman
Alabama nose tackle and Indianapolis Colts fifth-round pick

When we were heading over to the stadium, none of us could get cell service. That was the first and only time in Tuscaloosa that ever happened. The cell towers were overwhelmed.


Kevin Minter
LSU linebacker and Arizona Cardinals second-round pick

I’ve been in the NFL for four years, and I still haven’t played in a game that was this big. I think the only way to top it would be to play in the Super Bowl. That’s it.


Chandler Rome
who became the editor-in-chief of the Daily Reveille, the LSU student newspaper, and is now a reporter at the Lake Charles American Press

I was in my first semester of college, and I wasn’t yet working for the newspaper. I didn’t have a ticket, but I went because I wanted to be able to say I was in Tuscaloosa for the game. It seemed like every student at LSU wanted to be able to say that.


Marc Torrence
a reporter for the Crimson White, the Alabama student newspaper

Before the game, Les Miles walked around the field, and the only fans in the stands were the Alabama students. The students booed him and stuck their middle fingers out at Les. But then Les walked toward the student section and took off his hat and saluted all of us. It was classic Les Miles.

"I've been in the NFL for four years, and I still haven't played in a game that was this big. I think the only way to top it would be to play in the Super Bowl."

—KEVIN MINTER, ARIZONA CARDINALS LINEBACKER


Phil Savage
former Cleveland Browns general manager and now an Alabama radio color analyst

During pregame, I walked around on the field, and the sidelines were more crowded than I’d ever seen them. Celebrities were everywhere. It felt like this wasn’t just a college football game; this was an NFL JV game.


Chandler Rome
LSU student reporter

I was going to watch the game at the Sigma Nu chapter at Alabama—it was the fraternity I had pledged at LSU—but everyone was having so much fun in the fraternity they couldn’t find the TV remote. The TV was on ESPN, and the game was on CBS.

So I left the frat with a friend, and we walked around the stadium. We saw a guy in LSU clothes, and he asked if we needed tickets. We told him we did. He told us to go to a certain gate and to tell a guy his name. We did and we paid $60 apiece for two tickets. We ended up sitting two rows in back of Les Miles’ wife [Kathy].

Cade Foster runs off the field after missing a field goal during the first quarter against the LSU Tigers at Bryant-Denny Stadium on November 5, 2011, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (Getty Images)

CHAPTER 2: THE GAME

The first quarter was a defensive struggle. Foster missed 44- and 50-yard field goals, and the first 15 minutes ended 0-0.

 

Cade Foster
Alabama

Coach [Nick] Saban always told us not to put too much pressure on ourselves, but I didn’t do that for this game. I felt like I had to try harder because my leg was weaker. Those kicks I would have made on any given day, but I was trying too hard.


Barrett Jones
Alabama left tackle and St. Louis Rams fourth-round pick

It was frustrating for us on offense because we were moving the ball, but then we would stall out on about the 30. We put Cade in tough positions. The game flow all night was weird.


Eric Reid
LSU

At one point in the first quarter, Trent Richardson was running down the sideline, and I hit him hard. He didn’t fall down. Another time, I tried to tackle Eddie Lacy in the open field and it was like I just had to hold on for dear life and wait for my teammates to come and help me. Man, those guys were hard to tackle. It was like hitting a brick wall.


The defensive battle continued in the second quarter. With 3:53 left in the first half, Jeremy Shelley—the Crimson Tide kicker on shorter field goals—drilled a 34-yard attempt to give Alabama a 3-0 lead. Then on the final play of the second quarter, LSU kicker Drew Alleman connected on a 19-yard field goal to tie the game. The Tigers’ most valuable player in the half was punter Brad Wing, who twice pinned Alabama inside its 5-yard line.

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Brad Wing punts during a game against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Bryant-Denny Stadium on November 5, 2011, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (Getty Images)

Brad Wing
LSU

The coaches told me that week during practice that field position was going to be more important than ever against Alabama. We needed every yard we could get.


Josh Chapman
Alabama

This game was a straight-out brawl on every play. Those LSU guys were tanks, man.


Kevin Minter
LSU

At one point I hit [Alabama guard] Chance Warmack. I was like, “Whoa.” It was like hitting a truck. Then I had to take on [tackle] D.J. Fluker. And he was just a wall of a man. Even Alabama’s tight ends were huge.


D.J. Fluker
Alabama tackle and San Diego Chargers first-round pick

We were so close on so many offensive plays. If we had just made a block here or a block there, we could have had several big runs. But LSU was so athletic that they were able to make the stops when they had to.


Phil Savage
Alabama radio color analyst

It was a human tug of war right there on the logo at the 50-yard line. Virtually all of the players on the field were going to have a shot of playing in the NFL, and the tackling by the two defenses was really special. Every yard was challenged. There was little room to run and little room to complete passes. Both offenses got a little conservative, because they sensed one mistake could cost them the game.

Midway through the third quarter, Foster hit his first field goal of the night, connecting from 46 yards to give Alabama a 6-3 lead.


Cade Foster
Alabama

It was a big relief to make that kick. I felt like maybe Alabama fans weren’t going to run me out of town.


Josh Chapman
Alabama

In the third quarter, Mark Barron intercepted a pass and returned it to the LSU [3]-yard line. It could have changed the game. But I was called for an illegal block in the back. It was a 50-50 call that could have gone either way. But man, I got the ass-chewing of my life when I got to the sideline. Coach Saban really let me have it.


With just over 11 minutes to play in regulation and the score 6-6, Alabama attempted a trick play deep in LSU territory. Wide receiver Marquis Maze lined up in the Wildcat formation and threw a pass to tight end Michael Williams. The Tigers’ Eric Reid wrestled the ball away from Williams for an interception as the two fell to the ground at LSU’s 1-yard line.

"Virtually all of the players on the field were going to have a shot of playing in the NFL."

— PHIL SAVAGE, ALABAMA RADIO COLOR ANALYST


Eric Reid
LSU

They had lined up that receiver [Maze] before in the Wildcat formation. [Defensive coordinator John] Chavis alerted us in practice that [Maze] was a kid who had played quarterback in high school, and he thought he might throw the ball. So I was waiting on it. The tight end he was throwing to wasn’t even my guy. I just made a play on the ball.


Brad Wing
LSU

After Eric Reid’s pick, we were really backed up, and we had to punt. Our defense was tired. Coach Miles grabbed me before I ran out onto the field. He told me to have fun. I said, “Don’t worry, Coach, I got your back.” I had a lot of confidence. I’d been kicking a long time. I’m from Australia, and as soon as you can walk as a kid you’re kicking a football—as opposed to throwing it like American kids do. So I just went out there and did my job. I ended up with a 73-yard punt.


Kevin Minter
LSU

The crowd was crazy in the second half. I made the defensive calls for our defense, and guys right in front of me couldn’t hear me. I’m yelling at the top of my lungs, and guys three feet away have no clue what I’m saying. By the end of the game, my voice was hoarse. That had never happened before.  


Dre Kirkpatrick
Alabama

On a punt in the fourth quarter I got hit pretty good by Tyrann Mathieu. They were punting to us, and I was going back to block. Tyrann got me. I landed on the back of my head and got a concussion. At the time, that hit was personal to me. But we later had a great conversation and put all that behind us. I ended up going to the hospital. I don’t remember riding in the ambulance. But once we got to the hospital, I remember seeing my mom. The first thing I asked her was if we won.


Regulation ended with the scored tied 6-6. LSU won the coin toss and elected to play defense. After three plays, Foster missed a 52-yard field-goal attempt—his third missed field goal of the night. On the next possession, the Tigers won on Alleman’s 25-yard field goal.


Brad Wing
LSU

I was the holder on the field goals. Drew told me before the final kick just to catch it and put it down. He said not to worry about where the laces were because Alabama was going to be coming hard. So I caught the snap and just put it down, like Drew said. The laces were back, which is not what you want as a holder, but I felt like I didn’t have time to move them out of the way.

Drew Alleman (No. 30) celebrates after kicking the game-winning field goal in overtime to defeat Alabama 9-6 during their game at Bryant-Denny Stadium on November 5, 2011, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (Getty Images)

CHAPTER 3: THE AFTERMATH

Kevin Minter
LSU

Once we won, I remember running out onto the field. I lost my mind. I’ve never heard 100,000 people become so silent so fast. The adrenaline was carrying me. But then I very quickly started not feeling so good. I was limping, my legs were heavy and my shoulders started killing me. From top to bottom, I think everyone who played in that game was hurting.


Chandler Rome
LSU student reporter

When we made that final field goal, I ended up flat on my back. I got knocked down in a mosh pit of fans. When I finally made my way outside the stadium, I remember that the Alabama fans didn’t seem that pissed. I think everyone realized they had seen an epic game that would never be replicated.


Eric Reid
LSU

In the locker room, there was nothing but extreme joy. We knew we now had a shot at the national championship. But once I got on the plane, my body really started to hurt. I was very uncomfortable. I had ice packs all over me, I was so sore. My shoulders and back were killing me from all the hitting that took place on that field.


Chandler Rome
LSU student reporter

ESPN [College] GameDay was outside of Bryant-Denny filming postgame, and Les Miles was up there. No one was around. I ended up standing in the front row. It became my profile picture on Facebook.


Damion Square
Alabama

I walked up to Cade and put my arm around his back. He got sent out onto the field in some tough situations, and I reminded him that we still needed him. He couldn’t redo anything, and I know he wished he could have.


Cade Foster
Alabama

After the game, I wanted to be alone. I went to my dorm room and saw Kirk Herbstreit and the guys on ESPN saying I should have made those kicks. My parents came over and tried to be uplifting. We ended up turning off the television.


Marc Torrence
Alabama student reporter

After the game, there was a sense that this thing wasn’t over yet. It was as close to a draw as you can have in college football.

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Dre Kirkpatrick lies on the ground after a punt during a game against the LSU Tigers at Bryant-Denny Stadium on November 5, 2011, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (Getty Images)

Dre Kirkpatrick
Alabama

We wanted another shot at them. We were the better team. We knew it. We weren’t done playing that game. We clearly were the two best teams in the nation that year, so it made sense for us to play again for the national championship.


Barrett Jones
Alabama

We were really disappointed in the locker room. We thought we’d lost our chance at the national title. But coach Saban then gave one of his great speeches and told us how proud he was of us and that you never know what can happen. We walked out of that locker room with a little bit of hope.


Cade Foster
Alabama

Most of my teammates were supportive of me. There were a few rotten eggs, but the leaders of the team—guys like Mark Barron and [linebacker] Courtney Upshaw—had my back. They said it shouldn’t have come down to my kicks. I got some Facebook messages from people saying they wanted to break my legs and that they wished I’d gotten sucked up in the tornado that had gone through Tuscaloosa [that spring]. I got off social media.


Marc Torrence
Alabama student reporter

On Monday after the game, I talked to some Alabama players for a piece in the Crimson White. They said the regular platitudes, but you could still see a path to how Alabama could make it to the national title game for a rematch.

Alabama head coach Nick Saban and his team walk out to the field to play against the LSU Tigers at Bryant-Denny Stadium on November 5, 2011, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (Getty Images)

CHAPTER 4: THE REMATCH

Alabama dropped from second to third in the BCS rankings after the loss. Most analysts believed for the Crimson Tide to have a shot at a rematch, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Oklahoma and Stanford would all have to lose a game in the last month of the regular season—which is precisely what happened. The most unlikely upset occurred November 18, when 27-point underdog Iowa State beat No. 2 Oklahoma State 37-31 in double overtime.


Marc Torrence
Alabama student reporter

I watched the Iowa State game at Buffalo Wild Wings in Tuscaloosa, and people cheered like it was an Alabama game. Then I went to the Strip, and every single bar was playing “Cyclone” in honor of Iowa State.


Josh Chapman
Alabama

We were in the Hotel Capstone [in Tuscaloosa], staying the night before our game against Georgia Southern, when we found out that Iowa State had beaten Oklahoma State. The whole place erupted. People were yelling and pounding on walls. Players were running up and down the halls. It was a crazy scene.


Cade Foster
Alabama

I was winding down in my room in the hotel when I heard the guys running around. When I found out what had happened, I just felt a huge sense of relief. I didn’t blame myself for losing that LSU game, but I still felt disappointed in myself for not helping my team win the game.


When the final regular-season BCS rankings were released in early December, it became official: Alabama would play LSU in the Superdome for the national championship. In the rankings, the Crimson Tide narrowly edged Oklahoma State, the Big 12 champions who finished second in the majority of the computer rankings.

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Eric Reid reacts after an interception against the Alabama Crimson Tide during a game at Bryant-Denny Stadium on November 5, 2011, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (Getty Images)

Eric Reid
LSU

When we found out we had to play Alabama again, I was pissed. We had already beat them. Alabama didn’t even make it to the conference championship game, and now they get to play us again for the national title? I’ll be upset about that forever.


Damion Square
Alabama

When we learned that we were playing LSU again, there was no doubt in our minds we were going to beat the hell out of them. They had escaped death once before, and it wasn’t going to happen again. I had never been so ready to put my hand in the dirt and destroy whatever was in front of me.


Brad Wing
LSU

Alabama didn’t deserve to be in the national championship game. We certainly weren’t thrilled about playing them again. It’s hard to beat anyone twice. We knew we were going to have our hands full.


Josh Chapman
Alabama

We definitely felt we deserved to be in the national title game. We played by the rules, and polls and computers put us there. We showed a lot of character winning our final games of the season after losing to LSU to put us in the position where we still could play for the national title.

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Jeremy Shelley celebrates with the trophy after defeating LSU in the 2012 BCS National Championship Game at the Superdome on January 9, 2012, in New Orleans. (Getty Images)

On January 9, 2012, in the Superdome, Alabama beat LSU 21-0. It was the first time in the BCS's history that teams from the same conference faced each other in the championship game. On offense, LSU advanced past the Crimson Tide’s 50-yard line only once. The game earned a paltry 14.0 rating on ESPN, which was the third-lowest for a title game in the BCS era. Two years later, beginning with the 2014 season, the BCS was replaced by the College Football Playoff.  


Kevin Minter
LSU

I think us playing again for the national title was the straw that broke the camel’s back of the BCS system. It wasn’t fair that they got another shot at us, and I think the rest of the country knew that.


Barrett Jones
Alabama

The old system worked perfectly for us, but the other conferences weren’t happy that it was two SEC teams that had played for the title. It was clear the system needed to change. We needed a playoff.


Phil Savage
Alabama radio analyst

There was a lot of pushback from the other conferences about the rematch. People realized that to keep the interest of everyone in the nation for the final game, you needed to make sure that teams from all conferences had a chance to play for the national title. And I don’t think it’s a coincidence that in the playoff system we have now, it’s going to be very difficult for two teams from the same conference to make the final four.


Brad Wing
LSU

The fact that Alabama was given a second chance showed the flaws in the BCS system. I think that’s when people really realized that a playoff would be better than computers and polls determining who played for the national title. Alabama was awarded a chance they shouldn’t have had. I talk to Odell all the time about those two games. We had a chance to be considered one of the best teams of all time, but we just didn’t get that last one done.

Lars Anderson is a senior writer at B/R Mag. A 20-year veteran of Sports Illustrated, Anderson is the New York Times best-selling author of seven books, including The Mannings, The Storm and the Tide, and Carlisle vs. Army. Anderson, also an instructor of journalism at the University of Alabama, lives in Birmingham, Alabama, with his wife, April, and their son, Lincoln. Follow him on Twitter: @LarsAnderson71


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