LSU hoping to follow in footsteps of title run of 2003

05.10.2007 14:02 Sport and Travel - Source: USA Today

"Every time I see you, you're always on crutches," people would say, making him feel even worse. "Is he still on the team?" others would ask.

After Pittman spent most of 2005 and 2006 on crutches or in a walking cast after two major injuries, after all the lonely hours spent in the weight room and training room while his teammates were practicing, after two seasons of watching home games from the stands and away games on TV, many assumed his football career was over.

Now Pittman is one of college football's more compelling comeback stories. He leads the top-ranked defense in tackles for loss with 5½, he's tied for second on the team in total tackles with 26 and has two sacks.

Defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey had a comeback of a different sort. The first-team All-American in 2006 turned down a chance to be a first-round NFL pick and returned for his senior season in large part to win a national championship.

Now that the No. 2 Tigers are 5-0 (and ranked No. 1 by the Associated Press) heading into Saturday's game against No. 7 Florida in Baton Rouge, Dorsey's gamble seems to be paying off. His NFL stock has risen just like his team's fortunes.

It all starts up front, as the football adage goes. "That's one of the reasons why we're good on defense," LSU defensive coordinator Bo Pelini says of his unit, which also leads the nation in rushing defense and pass efficiency.

If it all starts up front, the Tigers' success story might well begin with comebacks of different stripes.

Heisman to defense?

The trials of Dorsey's childhood have now become part of LSU lore.

At 3, Dorsey was so bow-legged he was fitted with leg braces, which he wore for a year. As he saw the other kids play in the neighborhood, he longed to run with them. Now he runs over players.

His mother, Sandra, thinks his determination and drive were shaped by his experience as a toddler. Dorsey says he developed his work ethic from his mom, who works with special-needs children, and his dad, Glenn, a hydroblaster, which sounds a little like what his son does to offensive linemen.

"I'm not sure what a hydroblaster really is. All I know, he comes home covered in black stuff and he's always working," Dorsey says of his father, who presumably operates a heavy-duty pressure washer.

Truth be told, the most intimidating defensive lineman in the game listens to 1980s soft rock. Dorsey's favorite pregame song: Phil Collins' In the Air Tonight. When he stretches and gets taped, Dorsey cues it up on his iPhone: "I like to get in my own little zone before each game. 'I can feel it coming in the air tonight.' " Besides, the lyrics to Sussudio don't quite fit.

Once the game begins, Dorsey says he's double-teamed 75%-80% of the time. Still, he has three sacks, 41/2 tackles for loss and 25 overall this year. He starts at left tackle, but he will switch to the right side or play nose tackle or end.

With his combination of power and athleticism, Dorsey is widely considered the best defensive lineman in the country. "He's the total package," Pelini says.

The 6-2, 303-pound senior is listed on just about every postseason awards watch list (Outland Trophy, Nagurski Trophy, Bednarik Trophy, Lott Trophy, Lombardi Award and Walter Camp Player of the Year Award) and has been mentioned as a Heisman Trophy hopeful. Only one defensive player has won the Heisman (Michigan defensive back Charles Woodson in 1997). Dorsey could be the first defensive tackle to contend since Miami (Fla.)'s Warren Sapp placed sixth in 1994.

Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville, who coached Sapp while at Miami, says if he had a Heisman vote, Dorsey would be in his top five. "He's a little bigger and stronger than Warren," Tuberville says. "Dorsey's got tremendous explosion and plays hard. He's a good pass rusher, plays the run well, uses his hands well. I wish he would have gone to the NFL last year."

Dorsey decided to return to school for his senior season for several reasons. He was dealing with a nagging stress fracture in his right shin last season. He also wanted to complete his degree. Dorsey is a frequent speaker at his local YMCA and one of his messages is, "Stay in school and dream big."

"Coming from a small little town (Gonzales, La., population 7,003), kids feel they can't do big things because of where they're from," Dorsey says. "I thought about that also when I made my decision."

Plus, he didn't want to leave LSU without winning a national title. He grew up 60 miles from New Orleans; the three other starters on the line were raised within 40 miles of the stadium. "That would be tremendous," Dorsey says of the possibility of ending his college career in the Superdome, site of the Bowl Championship Series title game. "That's like the ultimate."

Unwilling to give up

Just ask Pittman, one of three remaining Tigers who played during LSU's 2003 national championship season, which ended in a win against Oklahoma in the Superdome. For Pittman, that game seems like a career ago.

Pittman played in 13 games as a freshman during the Tigers' 2003 season and 12 games as a sophomore, which made it difficult to even watch his teammates practice during the two seasons he was injured. "I felt like an outcast for a while. I couldn't watch because the pain of not being on the field hurt so much," says the 6-4, 254-pound senior from Garyville, La.

In 2005 he was diagnosed with a cyst in his left ankle that was so deep his doctor had to drill into his bone to remove it. After a fine spring camp in 2006, his right Achilles' tendon popped during the first day of summer conditioning. Because he didn't want to believe another season, and maybe his career, was over, Pittman trained for the next month until a magnetic resonance imaging exam revealed a ruptured Achilles' tendon.

"It was a struggle day in and day out," says Pittman, who relied heavily on his faith and his parents, Emma and Thomas, and four brothers, including Thomas, a former Florida defensive lineman.

"There's a lot of guys who would have said after the second one, 'This wasn't meant to be, it's time to do something else,' " Pelini says. "But he came back and worked hard."

Former LSU safety LaRon Landry, now a rookie with the Washington Redskins, was in Baton Rouge last week when he turned to Pittman and said, "It feels like 2003. Everything's going the same way."

Pittman nodded.

"Now the only thing differently we have to do is not lose to Florida," Pittman says, recounting the conversation. "We have to change the outcome," which, that year in Baton Rouge, meant Florida dealing the Tigers their only loss.

"A lot of the guys talk about it," he says of similarities between 2003 and now. "We have a great defense, and our offense is putting up points and moving the ball. There's the exact same feeling."

In 2003, the Tigers had a steady quarterback with little flash, Matt Mauck, who waited patiently for his chance to start. Their defense was No. 1 in the nation, and their defensive line was the best.

Now the Tigers have a steady quarterback with little flash, Matt Flynn, who redshirted that 2003 season and waited the last two years behind JaMarcus Russell, the recent No. 1 NFL draft pick. LSU also boasts the No. 1 defense in the country, led by its dominant defensive line. The theme sounds as familiar as the first four notes from Hold That Tiger.

So what if LSU's season does end as it did in 2003?

"If we get to a bowl game, if we win a national championship, this season will mean a lot to me," Pittman says. "But this season already means a lot to me because I've been able to overcome adversity and defy the odds. Anything from here, it's just extra credit."

  Add comment

Name:
E-Mail:
Comment:
Enter code: