Top 100 LSU Tigers of All Time: No. 91 Justin Vincent

Justin Vincent began the 2003 season as a backup. He ended it as the most valuable player of an SEC championship and a BCS national championship.

A true freshman from Lake Charles, Vincent took over at tailback in October after injuries to Joseph Addai and Shyrone Carey. He rushed for 1,001 yards and 10 touchdowns, breaking Dalton Hilliard’s LSU freshman rushing record of 901 yards, set in 1982.

He never again reached 500 rushing yards in a season.

For that championship run, Justin Vincent comes in at No. 91 among the Top 100 LSU Tigers of All Time.

A Louisiana Star at Barbe

Justin Daniel Vincent grew up in Lake Charles and starred at Barbe High School for coach Jimmy Shaver.

He was listed at 5 foot 10. As a senior he rushed for 2,050 yards and 30 touchdowns, made the Parade All America team and was named Louisiana’s Gatorade Player of the Year. He left Barbe as the school’s all-time leading rusher with 5,464 yards. Rivals.com ranked him the No. 3 running back in the country.

He signed with LSU in February 2002. He did not play that fall. He enrolled in Baton Rouge in the spring of 2003, worked some at defensive back in spring practice, then moved back to running back.

From Fifth String to Starter

Vincent began the 2003 season behind Addai and Carey. Nick Saban had even used him at defensive back during the spring because of the numbers at running back.

He was not the offense yet. In LSU’s only loss, a 19 to 7 defeat at Florida on Oct. 11, Vincent carried four times for 10 yards.

The next week, with Addai and Carey hurt, he started against South Carolina. He ran for 77 yards and two touchdowns in a 33 to 7 win. He did not lose the job.

Against Auburn on Oct. 25, Vincent rushed 14 times for 127 yards in a 31 to 7 victory. Carnell Williams had 61 yards on 20 carries.

He closed the regular season with 105 yards on 22 carries at Ole Miss and 112 yards and two touchdowns against Arkansas in a 55 to 24 win.

LSU was 8 and 0 in the games Vincent started.

201 Yards in Atlanta

LSU met Georgia in the SEC Championship Game on Dec. 6, 2003, at the Georgia Dome. Attendance was 74,913.

Georgia punted to the LSU 13. On first down, with 4:49 left in the first quarter, Vincent went 87 yards around the right side for a touchdown. The extra point was missed. The Tigers led 6 to 0.

He added a 62-yard run that set up a field goal. In the fourth quarter he scored from 3 yards out.

Vincent finished with 18 carries for 201 yards and two touchdowns. LSU won 34 to 13.

He was named the game’s most outstanding player, the first freshman to receive that award. The 87-yard score is still listed as the longest rushing touchdown in SEC Championship Game history. The 201 yards were a championship game record at the time. Tre Mason of Auburn broke it with 304 yards in 2013.

It was LSU’s first 200-yard rushing game since Kevin Faulk ran for 201 against Alabama in 1998.

Sugar Bowl MVP

On Jan. 4, 2004, LSU played Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl at the Louisiana Superdome for the BCS national championship. Attendance was 79,342. Oklahoma was a 6.5-point favorite.

Vincent took the first play from scrimmage 64 yards to the Oklahoma 16. Derrick Strait ran him down. The drive ended when Matt Mauck fumbled a snap near the goal line.

In the second quarter, after Oklahoma tied the game 7 to 7 on a blocked punt return, Vincent capped an 80-yard drive with runs of 12 yards and 18 yards. The 18-yard touchdown with 4:21 left in the half made it 14 to 7.

He finished with 16 carries for 117 yards. Marcus Spears returned an interception 20 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter. LSU won 21 to 14.

Vincent was named Sugar Bowl MVP. He had been held to minus 1 yard in the second half. The 64-yard run on the opening play pushed him past Hilliard’s 901 yards. He finished the night, and the season, with 1,001.

The Finest Freshman Season LSU Had Seen

Vincent ended 2003 with 154 carries for 1,001 yards, a 6.5-yard average, and 10 rushing touchdowns. He caught eight passes for 80 yards. He had five 100-yard games, including four in a row to close the year.

The Football Writers Association of America named him a first team Freshman All America. He made the Freshman All SEC team. The Louisiana Sports Writers Association named him Freshman of the Year.

He was the first LSU freshman to rush for 1,000 yards. Leonard Fournette later passed him with 1,034 yards in 2014.

A Crowded Backfield

The next three seasons did not look like the first.

In 2004, Vincent started the first four games and finished with 76 carries for 322 yards and two touchdowns. His only 100-yard game after his freshman year was 102 yards and two scores against Arkansas State. Alley Broussard rushed for 867 yards. Addai had 680. Vincent was third on the team. He made the SEC Academic Honor Roll.

In 2005 he shared the job with Addai after Broussard tore his ACL in fall camp. Addai rushed for 911 yards. Vincent had 121 carries for 488 yards and five touchdowns. He ran for 343 of those yards and all five scores in LSU’s last six regular season games, including a season high 89 yards against Appalachian State.

On Dec. 30, 2005, in the Peach Bowl against Miami, Vincent tore the ACL in his left knee covering a kickoff. LSU won 40 to 3.

He came back in 2006 as part of a five-man rotation with Jacob Hester, Broussard, Keiland Williams and Charles Scott. He had 57 carries for 210 yards and no touchdowns, the lowest yards per carry of the five. His best game was the Sugar Bowl against Notre Dame. He ran 12 times for 71 yards in a 41 to 14 win and went over 2,000 career rushing yards.

Career Totals

Vincent finished his LSU career with:

408 carries

2,021 rushing yards

17 rushing touchdowns

52 games played, 18 starts

6 career 100-yard games

28 special teams tackles

Five of those six 100-yard games came in 2003.

After LSU

Vincent went undrafted in 2007. He signed with the Atlanta Falcons as a free agent and was released at final cuts. He spent time on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ practice squad from 2007 through 2010. He did not appear in an NFL regular season game.

He later returned to LSU in player personnel and has worked with the Tiger Athletic Foundation.

Why Justin Vincent Is No. 91

LSU’s running back list is deep. Kevin Faulk, Charles Alexander, Dalton Hilliard, Leonard Fournette and Joseph Addai are all on it. Vincent rushed for 1,020 yards over his last three seasons combined. He was never first team or second team All SEC. His honors are a freshman All America selection and MVP awards from the SEC Championship Game and the Sugar Bowl.

That freshman season is the case for putting him here.

He took over a title team in October, ran for 201 yards in the SEC Championship Game, and was named MVP of a national championship night in New Orleans. He still owns the longest touchdown run in SEC Championship Game history. He also covered kickoffs for four years. That is how he tore the ACL.

That earns Justin Vincent the No. 91 spot among the Top 100 LSU Tigers of All Time.