In one of the best college football games of last season, LSU beat Alabama in overtime in Baton Rouge, 32-31. Brian Kelly went all in for the win after the Tigers scored a touchdown in the first OT, electing to go for two points. It paid off as Jayden Daniels found Mason Taylor for the walk-off conversion.
LSU has now won two of its last four against Alabama after an eight-game winning streak in the series by the Tide. The latest chapter in the rivalry is Saturday night in Tuscaloosa.
And Tom Hanks – the actor who once played the role of a gifted Alabama kick returner in an Oscar-winning performance – thinks LSU might be able to win again.
On Friday in New Orleans, Hanks was speaking at the opening ceremony for the National World War II Museum’s third expansion. About 40 surviving WWII veterans attended the event, according to AL.com. Hanks’ speech hinged on the theme of where “hope and faith” can lead people.
And then, perhaps knowing he was standing atop Louisiana soil, he said:
“Hope and faith and collective effort may even lead to LSU beating Alabama tomorrow. And if that can happen, ladies and gentlemen, we can accomplish anything to which we set our minds.”
Tom Hanks, who famously played fictional Alabama football player Forrest Gump, makes a brief comment about LSU’s upcoming game against the Crimson Tide during a speech at a World War II museum in New Orleans. pic.twitter.com/RbAgv7zON7
— Alabama Crimson Tide | AL.com (@aldotcomTide) November 3, 2023
Will hope and faith lead the No. 14 Tigers to again spoiling any hope of reaching the College Football Playoff for the No. 8 Tide? We’ll see. Some are hoping that’ll be just enough to cover a 3-point spread.