re: How good was 1998 LSU?

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1998 and 2006 are the two most disappointing lsu teams in my memory. It helps that I'm only 32.

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06??

I understand the disappointment of the Fla clusterf###, but a BCS bowl rout win over ND and a final ranking of #3 equates to one of the most disappionting teams in your memory?

Dang, but you are a lucky fan cause 06 isn't a pimple on my butt of disappointing LSU seasons, but each to our own.

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Didn't everybody hate Baldwin?

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He got the players ear because got Kelly on his side too on Davey vs. Rohan. It got ugly on that staff.

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How good was 1998 LSU?

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Most disappointing season of my life.

Our DC let one position on the field, the infamous "drop linebacker", ruin our season.

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UGA and a young QB Quincy Carter beat us and game really wasn't as close the score

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Huh? The game was every bit as close as the score. It was neck-and-neck the whole night. Down 28-24 in the 4th, we had first and goal at the 5 and had a false start. We settled for the FG to cut it to 28-27, then Carter converted a 3rd and about 15 with Anthony McFarland inches away from his face on the ensuing possession to keep the ball and run out the clock.

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OM was Halloween weekend and we came just inches short of goal line in OT!

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We were about 4 yards short, not inches. In this game, we came back from a 31-10 deficit in the fourth quarter, sending the game to OT with a TD with 2 seconds left. Ole Miss got the ball first in OT and scored a TD, but we blocked the XP. We drove to their 4, had Tyler throw to the EZ on 4th down, but Foster was pretty well covered and couldn't make the catch.

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Gumps
Could have won this, Booty had long pass in his hands in EZ at the final gun, he dropped!

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No he didn't. He had one stripped from his hands for an apparent "interception" in the end zone early in the 4th quarter, but on the final drive after they took the lead we didn't come close to scoring. Still, with a 16-7 lead AND the ball with 3 minutes left, it was inexcusable that we lost that game.

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Ark was a debacle in miserable conditions in LR!

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The conditions were fine that day. It was sunny, warm and clear. What was miserable was the way our team played.

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A truly frustrating season!

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Yep. With any kind of defense at all, that team could have been a NC contender. Instead, it was a 4-7 disaster. It's hard to imagine how one assistant coach could make that much difference, but Lou Tepper found a way.

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No he didn't. He had one stripped from his hands for an apparent "interception" in the end zone early in the 4th quarter, but on the final drive after they took the lead we didn't come close to scoring. Still, with a 16-7 lead AND the ball with 3 minutes left, it was inexcusable that we lost that game.

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I was at the 1998 Bama game but I've never seen a replay of anything. I seem to recall bzma converting TWO onside kicks late in the game. Tell me I'm remembering wrong?

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We had the ball near midfield mid to late 4th qtr. down 27-21. Cecil Collins was unstobbable, but we decided to play off that on a 3rd and 2 and run a bootleg with Herb that failed.

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You're combining memories of different games. That was the 1997 Auburn game when Cecil was on fire and we did the bootleg with Herb on 3rd and 2. Cecil wasn't even on the 1998 team, after being arrested during the summer.

And it was 28-21 (at one point) vs. Georgia, not 27-21. After we kicked a FG to cut it to 28-24, we had the ball again, but we didn't punt. We drove to the 5 yard line, but had to kick another FG to make it 28-27.

That's when this happened...

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on a 3rd and 4 Booger came through and hit Carter in the mouth right as he released the ball. To Carter's credit he threw a sideline pass to a pretty well-covered receiver to keep the drive alive and the Dawgs then ran out the clock.

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Only it was longer than 3rd and 4. It was 3rd and about 10 or more, I think.

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But to the original question, we were the best team in the West, but internal dissension on the coaching staff, combined with Dinardo's paranoia doomed that team after that excruciating loss

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Yes, that was the first of several that year. It was surreal watching an LSU head coach descend into psychosis right before our eyes over the course of a couple of years.

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LSU-31 Auburn-19 (at Auburn)

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That game should have been the one to let DiNardo know Tepper's defense wasn't going to work in the SEC.After we got up 13-0 (remember how extra points were an adventure that year ? ), Auburn came right back and scored with ease making 19-17 at halftime. We pretty much went to just a basic 4-3 in the second half and shut theme down.

The day of that Auburn game was the night Tennessee beat Florida in OT. LSU was ranked a spot ahead of Tennessee who went on to win the NC.

To tell you how good MacFarland was as bad as that defense was he made first team All-American. Tepper's "defense" and DiNardo's refusal to scrap it killed that season.

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What they had two of that was so damned lucky was deflected TD passes. One at the end of the first half and one at the end of the game, the winning TD.

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Oh I can still see that ridiculous game winning TD completion.
Until Tenn 2005 this was my most bitter loss.

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I can still see that ridiculous game winning TD completion.
Until Tenn 2005 this was my most bitter loss.

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No doubt it was a horrible one, but my "most bitter loss" award was permanently retired with the 1994 Auburn game, which took the title away from the 1982 Tulane game.

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How good was 1998 LSU?

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One "fun" stat that got a lot of mention that year was that, in its entire football history up to that point, there had been only three or four games in which LSU scored over 30 points and lost. It happened three times in 1998, 39-36 to Kentucky, 37-31 to Ole Miss and 39-36 to Notre Dame.

The only ones I remember before that were 55-31 to Miss. St. in 1980, 40-35 to Florida State in 1983 and 36-33 to Ohio State in 1988, although there might have been others.