Believe it or not, some of us are old enough to remember when LSU’s only chance to make any noise in Omaha this year was going to be staying in the winners bracket. You know, bashing your way through the thing while keeping the Tigers’ bullpen out of sight and out of mind and hopefully hidden.

Maybe that was the plan — what was it, about a month ago when the LSU bullpen looked like a disaster?

But suddenly this is looking more and more like those best and most likable of LSU’s Omaha teams that just get things done without explanation.

One way or another, just win.

Even If it takes an 11th-inning walk-off home run by Tommy White, a two-run bomb into the same wind that turned Charles Schwab Field into one of the great pitchers’ duels in Omaha history. So the first runs of the game gave LSU a 2-0 win and spot in the championship round.

It’s not always the easy way or the shortest path, not even the most logical means.

Florida, well rested with two fewer games under its belt after a far more efficient 3-0 route to the championship, will be no light touch.

But when LSU, 4-1 in Omaha, gets on an Omaha roll like this, sometimes you just step out of the way and wait for whatever hijinks the Tigers have in store.

Could be anything.

This time LSU played three consecutive games with no margin for error — lose and go home — the last two against the No. 1 seed, Wake Forest. But winning Thursday night against the Demon Deacons, at the least, was like getting off baseball’s Death Row.

Few teams would even try such a foolhardy stunt.

But this is LSU. And this is looking more and more like vintage Omaha LSU.

The Tigers have four other walk-off wins in their Omaha history. That includes two of the three times a walk-off has ever won the national championship — you remember Warren Morris (1996) and Ryan Theriot (2000) back when Skip Bertman could make it look so preordained.

So after taking three must-win games, there is a little welcome wiggle room for LSU when it opens the best-of-three championship round against Florida.

By the way, this may sound like a series matchup that gets played about twice a month, but in fact LSU and the Gators never got around to playing in the crowded SEC this season.

The Tigers themselves even made it out to the famed Henry Doorly Zoo Friday.

The LSU fans, who’ve done their usual friendly takeover and occupation of Omaha, can exhale too, if only for a moment.

They can give the Jell-O shots a rest, too, after pretty much turning the publicity stunt at Rocco’s (across from the CWS stadium) into a farce. It’s a new development since LSU was last here, but LSU fans quickly shattered Ole Miss’ record from a year ago for awful Jell-O shots consumed (or at least bought).

Probably harmless but Tigers fans, it would seem, would be above such contrived stunt drinking. Better to concentrate their merry-making on keggers and jambalaya out in the tailgate scene.

If they can keep the party going two more days they might be in for an unexpected surprise.

Head coach Jay Johnson is mum as ever about LSU pitching plans — he does say there’s a method to the madness of finding unlikely heroes — so who knows what’s in store?

The announcers Thursday night seemed convinced that Paul Skenes has pitched his last game at LSU.

No inside information from here, but that may be premature.

The Tigers, it says here, are looking to find a way to win one of the first two Florida games without Skenes on the mound.

Do that, and my guess is Florida will get an introductory dose of Skenes come Monday night in what would be a Game 3. The thought at least enters the conversation, the possible, maybe, why-not option of pitching Skenes in a third and deciding game on Monday on three days’ rest.

Nothing should surprise you at this point.

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Scooter Hobbs covers LSU athletics.Email him at scooter.hobbs@americanpress.com