Second Chance

"Last year all we heard was, ' Ohio State's going to kill 'em,'" says Boone. "You hear that for a month, you start thinking, Maybe we are going to kill 'em. Yeah—that's right! We'll kill 'em!

"This year, all we're hearing is how we don't deserve to be here. You hear that long enough, you start getting ticked. You start thinking, No one is going to talk that way about my teammates, my coaches, my family."

Now he's rolling. It doesn't even matter to him that the game in New Orleans is essentially a home game for LSU. "We're going to be outnumbered, they're going to be throwing stuff, who cares?" says Boone. "Let's keep it loud. We like loud. We want them as jacked up as possible.

"This isn't a game anymore. It's war. It's on! This is for everyone's livelihood at Ohio State. We lose this game, and we'll never hear the end of it for the rest of our lives.

"On the other hand," he says, flashing that grin, "it's just football."