Jasper gets his kicks this time

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Field goals propel LSU into overtime, then to victory

By  CARL DUBOIS
Tiger Rag Associate Editor

Josh Jasper waited a week earlier for the chance that never came. This time, with the clock winding down and LSU needing a field goal to extend the game, he took advantage of his opportunity.

Then, with the scoreboard clock turned off for overtime and Jasper faced with another kick — this one for the lead and, he hoped, victory — he was true again.

Jasper’s 41-yard field goal with 4 seconds left in regulation Saturday night tied the score at 30. His 36-yard field goal on the first possession of overtime gave LSU a 33-30 lead that turned into the final score against Arkansas.

A week earlier, LSU picked up a first down at the Ole Miss 32-yard line with a little more than a minute left and the Tigers trailing the Rebels 25-23. LSU played its way out of field goal range and out of time, losing in a manner that became an embarrassment for the program and an albatross the following week.

Jasper excitedly practiced his kicks on the sideline at Ole Miss after the Tigers reached the 32, but he wouldn’t get the chance to kick a potential game-winner that evening.

Things were different a week later against Arkansas.

With nine seconds left — the same number on the clock before LSU’s last play at Ole Miss — Les Miles sent Jasper onto the field, and he drove through the 41-yarder to tie the score.

Jasper said he perked up as the Tigers drove downfield to give him the opportunity.

“I was real pumped up at that point in time,” he said, “because that’s what we live for as kickers — especially to help out our team in the very end of the game like that. So when I realized I was going to get a chance to go on and send it to overtime, I just knew I had to pull through.”

The previous week featured a lot of questions from friends. They wondered how the week would have been different for Jasper had he attempted and missed a last-second field goal in defeat at Ole Miss.

“Some people say, ‘What if you had missed?’ Well, I would have loved the opportunity to miss, you know, because it would have given us a chance, but stuff like that happens, and you’ve just got to move forward,” he said. “To bounce back and have a game like this for our program is really exciting.”

Arkansas defeated LSU in triple overtime in 2007 in Tiger Stadium and defeated the Tigers to end the 2008 regular season in Little Rock. The Golden Boot, the trophy in the shape of the states of Arkansas and Louisiana, came to Tiger Stadium in the possession of the Razorbacks.

“I wanted to get the Boot back for this program,” Jasper said, “and also send these seniors out with a win on their last game in Tiger Stadium.”

He did.

While most held their breath as they waited to see if his field goal near the end of regulation would split the uprights, Jasper said he knew.

“Some people don’t know,” he said. “They’re not inside a kicker’s mind. We know right when we hit it if it’s going. Some people, they can’t see that. I think I was a lot more confident than anybody else.”

A few minutes later …

“The one in overtime: routine,” he said. “I knew if I didn’t make it we weren’t going to necessarily lose, but at the same time I had a feeling that it might come down to them kicking a field goal too, so I knew it was pretty important that we put at least three on the board.”

He was right. A 36-yard attempt by Alex Tejada of Arkansas sailed wide right, and the game was over.

“I thought it was good, but I looked down and saw those refs saying ‘No good,’ and I just started celebrating,” Jasper said.

Tejada kicked field goals of 47, 35 and 40 yards, but it’s the one he missed that people will remember.

“I feel kind of bad for him, but at the same time I can’t really feel bad for him because I was put in the same situation, and that’s our job,” Jasper said. “The quarterback’s job is to complete passes, move the offense down the field — the O-line, to block for him. Our job is to put three points on the board when we’re called upon.”

Jasper kicked two 47-yard field goals before the two he made late in the game.

Arkansas took a 30-27 lead on a 14-yard pass from Ryan Mallett to Joe Adams with 1:18 left, so it wasn’t certain Jasper would even get a chance to try another field goal.

“When they scored on that fourth down, I was wondering how much time we had left,” Jasper said. “I just told our offense, ‘Get me down in range.’ They obviously heard that, they did their job, got me down in range. I didn’t really think about it. Just another kick. Went out there and put it through.”

There was little movement by the flags atop the uprights in the south end zone, although flags higher in the stadium whipped around as the wind swirled inside Tiger Stadium.

“That wind in there is always crazy,” Jasper said. “It can be different wind speed down here, and at the top of the flag poles it can be in a completely different direction, so you’ve just got to do the best you can and judge it the best you can.”

Carl Dubois has covered LSU athletics since 1999. Contact him at carl@tigerrag.com.