Sports Blog: 'Waaahhh-hoooooo!!!!'
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NEW ORLEANS -- LSU head coach Les Miles stepped to the podium, praised Ohio State, cited "divine intervention and grace," and lauded his team for overcoming obstacles as he made his opening remarks of the postgame news conference.
Then Miles expressed his true feelings.
"Waaahhh-hoooooo!!!!" Miles yelled. "Just had to do that."
Ricky Jean-Francois could have been forgiven for doing the same thing after missing the regular season with academic issues. His block of a 38-yard Ohio State field-goal attempt early in the second quarter helped LSU find a calm stretch after a rocky start.
Jean-Francois wasn't bashful in analyzing his block.
"It changed the momentum of the game," Jean-Francois said. "Any fourth down (from there), they just had to keep going for it."
LSU kept pushing forward despite falling in a 10-0 hole. Quarterback Matt Flynn had a simple explanation.
"We're real stubborn," Flynn said. "We got in rhythm, and we stayed in it."
Once the players left the interview podium, Miles was asked immediately if he had a message for anyone who dared to dispute LSU's claim to the national title.
"I can only thank college football for the opportunity for the two teams to square off and have a definitive champion," Miles said. "I'm sure there may be some debate, but I think the national champion has been crowned tonight."
RECORDS ROOM: The following BCS records were set tonight by the following players (provided by BCS media relations):
Tackles: Ohio State's James Laurinaitis (18 tackles)
Rushing: Ohio State's Chris "Beanie" Wells (65-yard touchdown run, longest from scrimmage in BCS title game history)
Punting: Ohio State's A.J. Trapasso (63 yards, second quarter, broke previous record by LSU's Patrick Fisher, 62 yards, first quarter). Also, Fisher, 56.7-yard punting average.
Kickoff returns: Ohio State's Ray Small (five, tied with two other players)
First downs: LSU (four via penalty, tied with four other teams for most in a BCS game)
Scoring drives: LSU (two scoring drives of 14 plays each, broke previous record of 13 by Oklahoma against USC in the 2005 FedEx Orange Bowl.
Posted at 11:20 p.m., Monday, Jan. 8, 2008
NEW ORLEANS -- LSU and Ohio State both had flashbacks in repeating history.
For the Tigers' accomplishment of winning second BCS title in five seasons, it was a championship-clinching, 38-24 victory in LSU's dome away from home, the Louisiana Superdome. LSU's win was familiar to its ever-present fan base, which watched the Tigers claim the 2003 season crown with a 21-14 victory against Oklahoma in the same building.
For the Buckeyes, it was another decisive loss in the final college football game of the season, against another Southeastern Conference opponent.
Last year, Ohio State ran the opening kickoff back for a touchdown, then suffered a meltdown in a 41-14 loss to Florida.
This time around, the Buckeye collapse didn't occur until the second quarter. But when the roof caved in, Ohio State couldn't recover in time to prevent a runaway LSU victory.
The Buckeyes committed five personal-foul penalties in the middle two quarters of the game. Throw in a blocked field goal and a turnover, and you wonder if Ohio State didn't suffer from a syndrome that dogged the National Football League's Buffalo Bills in four consecutive Super Bowls.
In that quartet of defeats in the early 1990s, each Bills loss got uglier until the last one. In the fourth Super Bowl, Buffalo actually led 13-6 at halftime, only to fall apart in the second half of a 30-13 loss to Dallas.
Of course, LSU had something to do with Ohio State's struggles. The Tigers overcame a near-disastrous early stretch that could have buried them the way the Buckeyes eventually fell.
Matt Flynn steadied LSU on offense and Ricky Jean-Francois and Harry Coleman made game-changing plays on defense. Jean-Francois, who missed the regular season because of academic problems, blocked a field goal and was named the game's Most Outstanding Defensive Player. Coleman, filling in for injured safety Craig Steltz, forced an interception on a safety blitz and recovered a fumble in the fourth quarter that thwarted the Buckeyes' last serious threat.
Posted at 6:22 p.m., Monday, Jan. 7, 2008
The first swell of crowd noise just came through, a welcomed jolt to the air otherwise filled with the strains of "Soul Man," a 1960s tune by Sam and Dave.
In case you were wondering, I don't think there has been a song from the last 20 years played yet during warm-ups. Maybe the music department here discovered a K-Tel's greatest hits record the other day.
LSU's special teams unit, including starting quarterback/holder Matt Flynn, took the field and a roar and an "L-S-U" chant went up among the Tiger fans.
Not to be outdone, the Ohio State contingent, most of whom are located in the north-northwest side of the stadium, countered with an "O-H-I-O" chant.
LSU's other quarterbacks came out, tossing the ball back and forth in the south end zone, which has "L-S-U" painted in it. And some of the Tiger offensive players joined their teammates on the field about five minutes later.
Most notably, Flynn made several passes from 10 and 15 yards, then extended those throws to 25 and 30 yards. In all, Flynn did not appear to favor his right shoulder. An injury to that arm kept Flynn out of the SEC title game in December.
Ohio State's entire team has now made it out onto the field, to the delight of the scarlet-clad Buckeye fans. The rest of the LSU football team followed suit at about 6:22 p.m., and they ran over to the LSU students located in the south end zone.
Unless there is some other significant happening before kickoff, this will be my last blog entry until after the game. NCAA rules prevent us from doing live coverage during the game. Enjoy the festivities, everyone.
P.S.: And now I stand corrected on my earlier music reference: Will Smith's 1998 hit "Gettin' Jiggy With It" brought the Dome's music rotation into last decade of the 20th century. Thankfully, the Ohio State band began a drum line about a minute after that, killing the canned tunes.
Posted at 5:10 p.m., Monday, Jan. 7, 2008
NEW ORLEANS -- The recorded portion of the pregame music began with "Take on Me" from that noted 1980s band A-ha, a song with one of the strangest videos of all time.
Posted at 3:05 p.m., Monday, Jan. 7, 2008
NEW ORLEANS -- Written just after the LSU band practiced a "Tigers" formation with a super-sized "T" on the floor of the Superdome...
As fans and the media across the country size up this game, there seem to be two storylines that stand out among the multitude of items you could have dissected in the 36 days since the LSU-Ohio State matchup became official:
1. The Tigers finally have everybody healthy. Those who think LSU will take the national title tonight (and the Tigers themselves) point to the one-month layoff that has allowed some of the Tigers' central figures to regain some health. Certainly, LSU was a banged-up group, replete with backup quarterback Ryan Perrilloux in a starting role, when it beat Tennessee for the SEC title in December.
2. The Buckeyes are tired of hearing about how slow they are. Florida's speed overwhelmed Ohio State in a 41-14 Buckeyes loss in the BCS title game last January. And for 12 months, people across the country (especially in the southern parts) have focused on a perceived lack of speed for the Buckeyes. The loss and the year's worth of ridicule that has followed is Ohio State's extra motivation, in case playing for a national title isn't enough.
The buildups to championship games are always far too long and filled with way too much talk. There's so much conversation, print to fill and air time to kill that people can start to contradict themselves within a matter of days. One national radio show host predicted last Thursday that LSU would win, saying "People are overthinking this. LSU is the better team." Just four days later, the same host cited a bunch of reasons why Ohio State could win the game before reluctantly staying with his LSU pick.
Ultimately, health, motivation and talk will only go so far. LSU's health won't mean much if the Tigers put themselves in a bind with sloppiness and breakdowns on both sides of the ball. Ohio State's motivation will be meaningless if the Buckeyes don't execute better than they did in last year's beatdown by Florida.
The time for talking is almost done. Thank goodness that the 36-day wait to kickoff is down to approximately four hours.
Posted at 1:10 p.m., Monday, Jan. 7, 2008
NEW ORLEANS -- The mid-morning drive from Baton Rouge to New Orleans was easy, with the exception of the inevitable slowdowns at the Causeway and Bonnabel exits of Interstate 10 in Metairie.
Once into downtown, it was pretty calm on the streets nearest the Superdome with a smattering of LSU and Ohio State fans milling around Poydras Street.
The one notable exception was on the outside plaza-level concourse of the Dome, where the LSU will call window was scheduled to open at noon.
A line, consisting mainly of LSU students, stretched from the will-call window at the middle of one side of the Superdome to the middle of another side of the massive facility. Around 11 a.m., a chant near the front of the line went up "We want tickets!" (clap, clap, clap...clap...clap) "We want tickets!! (clap, clap, clap...clap...clap).
Now inside the Louisiana Superdome, there's not much fanfare with the exception of the Ohio State and LSU bands performing some final tune-ups a mere 6 1/2 hours before kickoff. Included in the practice was a performance of "The Final Countdown", a late-1980s tune performed by big-hair band Europe.
And I was preparing to post this, three groups of flames went straight up in three or four separate launches from the far sideline. Evidently, fire will be part of the entertainment festivities at some point tonight.
Otherwise, the only activity inside the Dome is the behind-the-scenes work done by concessionaires, broadcast technicians, media relations people and security people. The humming of the jumbo-sized golf-cart security vehicles is more prevalent than human voices or other natural noise on the concourses and in the bowels of thie Superdome.
Fans don't usually get to see all the work put forth by workers of any sporting event. It always goes on a lot earlier than most people realize. But there's a certain peace to those few hours before the gates open, a calm before the storm that you tend to appreciate when you stop and take a look.
And believe me, the storm is coming, especially with a national championship game pitting tradition-rich Ohio State against the in-state school just an hour or so up the road from New Orleans.
Then Miles expressed his true feelings.
"Waaahhh-hoooooo!!!!" Miles yelled. "Just had to do that."
Ricky Jean-Francois could have been forgiven for doing the same thing after missing the regular season with academic issues. His block of a 38-yard Ohio State field-goal attempt early in the second quarter helped LSU find a calm stretch after a rocky start.
Jean-Francois wasn't bashful in analyzing his block.
"It changed the momentum of the game," Jean-Francois said. "Any fourth down (from there), they just had to keep going for it."
LSU kept pushing forward despite falling in a 10-0 hole. Quarterback Matt Flynn had a simple explanation.
"We're real stubborn," Flynn said. "We got in rhythm, and we stayed in it."
Once the players left the interview podium, Miles was asked immediately if he had a message for anyone who dared to dispute LSU's claim to the national title.
"I can only thank college football for the opportunity for the two teams to square off and have a definitive champion," Miles said. "I'm sure there may be some debate, but I think the national champion has been crowned tonight."
RECORDS ROOM: The following BCS records were set tonight by the following players (provided by BCS media relations):
Tackles: Ohio State's James Laurinaitis (18 tackles)
Rushing: Ohio State's Chris "Beanie" Wells (65-yard touchdown run, longest from scrimmage in BCS title game history)
Punting: Ohio State's A.J. Trapasso (63 yards, second quarter, broke previous record by LSU's Patrick Fisher, 62 yards, first quarter). Also, Fisher, 56.7-yard punting average.
Kickoff returns: Ohio State's Ray Small (five, tied with two other players)
First downs: LSU (four via penalty, tied with four other teams for most in a BCS game)
Scoring drives: LSU (two scoring drives of 14 plays each, broke previous record of 13 by Oklahoma against USC in the 2005 FedEx Orange Bowl.
Posted at 11:20 p.m., Monday, Jan. 8, 2008
NEW ORLEANS -- LSU and Ohio State both had flashbacks in repeating history.
For the Tigers' accomplishment of winning second BCS title in five seasons, it was a championship-clinching, 38-24 victory in LSU's dome away from home, the Louisiana Superdome. LSU's win was familiar to its ever-present fan base, which watched the Tigers claim the 2003 season crown with a 21-14 victory against Oklahoma in the same building.
For the Buckeyes, it was another decisive loss in the final college football game of the season, against another Southeastern Conference opponent.
Last year, Ohio State ran the opening kickoff back for a touchdown, then suffered a meltdown in a 41-14 loss to Florida.
This time around, the Buckeye collapse didn't occur until the second quarter. But when the roof caved in, Ohio State couldn't recover in time to prevent a runaway LSU victory.
The Buckeyes committed five personal-foul penalties in the middle two quarters of the game. Throw in a blocked field goal and a turnover, and you wonder if Ohio State didn't suffer from a syndrome that dogged the National Football League's Buffalo Bills in four consecutive Super Bowls.
In that quartet of defeats in the early 1990s, each Bills loss got uglier until the last one. In the fourth Super Bowl, Buffalo actually led 13-6 at halftime, only to fall apart in the second half of a 30-13 loss to Dallas.
Of course, LSU had something to do with Ohio State's struggles. The Tigers overcame a near-disastrous early stretch that could have buried them the way the Buckeyes eventually fell.
Matt Flynn steadied LSU on offense and Ricky Jean-Francois and Harry Coleman made game-changing plays on defense. Jean-Francois, who missed the regular season because of academic problems, blocked a field goal and was named the game's Most Outstanding Defensive Player. Coleman, filling in for injured safety Craig Steltz, forced an interception on a safety blitz and recovered a fumble in the fourth quarter that thwarted the Buckeyes' last serious threat.
Posted at 6:22 p.m., Monday, Jan. 7, 2008
The first swell of crowd noise just came through, a welcomed jolt to the air otherwise filled with the strains of "Soul Man," a 1960s tune by Sam and Dave.
In case you were wondering, I don't think there has been a song from the last 20 years played yet during warm-ups. Maybe the music department here discovered a K-Tel's greatest hits record the other day.
LSU's special teams unit, including starting quarterback/holder Matt Flynn, took the field and a roar and an "L-S-U" chant went up among the Tiger fans.
Not to be outdone, the Ohio State contingent, most of whom are located in the north-northwest side of the stadium, countered with an "O-H-I-O" chant.
LSU's other quarterbacks came out, tossing the ball back and forth in the south end zone, which has "L-S-U" painted in it. And some of the Tiger offensive players joined their teammates on the field about five minutes later.
Most notably, Flynn made several passes from 10 and 15 yards, then extended those throws to 25 and 30 yards. In all, Flynn did not appear to favor his right shoulder. An injury to that arm kept Flynn out of the SEC title game in December.
Ohio State's entire team has now made it out onto the field, to the delight of the scarlet-clad Buckeye fans. The rest of the LSU football team followed suit at about 6:22 p.m., and they ran over to the LSU students located in the south end zone.
Unless there is some other significant happening before kickoff, this will be my last blog entry until after the game. NCAA rules prevent us from doing live coverage during the game. Enjoy the festivities, everyone.
P.S.: And now I stand corrected on my earlier music reference: Will Smith's 1998 hit "Gettin' Jiggy With It" brought the Dome's music rotation into last decade of the 20th century. Thankfully, the Ohio State band began a drum line about a minute after that, killing the canned tunes.
Posted at 5:10 p.m., Monday, Jan. 7, 2008
NEW ORLEANS -- The recorded portion of the pregame music began with "Take on Me" from that noted 1980s band A-ha, a song with one of the strangest videos of all time.
Meanwhile, a smattering of LSU and Ohio State players, including both teams' kickers, are warming up on the Superdome field. LSU head coach Les Miles, dressed in a dark suit, spent a few minutes talking with Jordy Hultberg and Patrick Wright of the LSU Sports Network on about the 40-yard line. Then Miles took some more time to talk with some other folks dressed in suits and appeared to be smiling and engaging in casual conversation.
Outside of that, the scene between the lines on the Dome's playing surface is your typical two hours-before-kickoff setting.
Up in the press box, longtime Superdome public address announcer Jerry Romig went over some names with Brian Miller of LSU's sports information department. "Rickee Jee-nn Fran-swah!" "Ra-him, Ah-lim," Romig repeated in that distinctive voice so familiar to frequent visitors to the Dome. I kept waiting for a "Deuuucceee Mc-All-i-ster" to roll off Romig's tongue.
Now some fans have begun to trickle in on the floor of the Dome, which is a whole lot more interesting than telling you about the chicken jamabalya and pasta dish that was available in the media food room.
Yes, kickoff can't get here soon enough.
Posted at 3:05 p.m., Monday, Jan. 7, 2008
NEW ORLEANS -- Written just after the LSU band practiced a "Tigers" formation with a super-sized "T" on the floor of the Superdome...
As fans and the media across the country size up this game, there seem to be two storylines that stand out among the multitude of items you could have dissected in the 36 days since the LSU-Ohio State matchup became official:
1. The Tigers finally have everybody healthy. Those who think LSU will take the national title tonight (and the Tigers themselves) point to the one-month layoff that has allowed some of the Tigers' central figures to regain some health. Certainly, LSU was a banged-up group, replete with backup quarterback Ryan Perrilloux in a starting role, when it beat Tennessee for the SEC title in December.
2. The Buckeyes are tired of hearing about how slow they are. Florida's speed overwhelmed Ohio State in a 41-14 Buckeyes loss in the BCS title game last January. And for 12 months, people across the country (especially in the southern parts) have focused on a perceived lack of speed for the Buckeyes. The loss and the year's worth of ridicule that has followed is Ohio State's extra motivation, in case playing for a national title isn't enough.
The buildups to championship games are always far too long and filled with way too much talk. There's so much conversation, print to fill and air time to kill that people can start to contradict themselves within a matter of days. One national radio show host predicted last Thursday that LSU would win, saying "People are overthinking this. LSU is the better team." Just four days later, the same host cited a bunch of reasons why Ohio State could win the game before reluctantly staying with his LSU pick.
Ultimately, health, motivation and talk will only go so far. LSU's health won't mean much if the Tigers put themselves in a bind with sloppiness and breakdowns on both sides of the ball. Ohio State's motivation will be meaningless if the Buckeyes don't execute better than they did in last year's beatdown by Florida.
The time for talking is almost done. Thank goodness that the 36-day wait to kickoff is down to approximately four hours.
Posted at 1:10 p.m., Monday, Jan. 7, 2008
NEW ORLEANS -- The mid-morning drive from Baton Rouge to New Orleans was easy, with the exception of the inevitable slowdowns at the Causeway and Bonnabel exits of Interstate 10 in Metairie.
Once into downtown, it was pretty calm on the streets nearest the Superdome with a smattering of LSU and Ohio State fans milling around Poydras Street.
The one notable exception was on the outside plaza-level concourse of the Dome, where the LSU will call window was scheduled to open at noon.
A line, consisting mainly of LSU students, stretched from the will-call window at the middle of one side of the Superdome to the middle of another side of the massive facility. Around 11 a.m., a chant near the front of the line went up "We want tickets!" (clap, clap, clap...clap...clap) "We want tickets!! (clap, clap, clap...clap...clap).
Now inside the Louisiana Superdome, there's not much fanfare with the exception of the Ohio State and LSU bands performing some final tune-ups a mere 6 1/2 hours before kickoff. Included in the practice was a performance of "The Final Countdown", a late-1980s tune performed by big-hair band Europe.
And I was preparing to post this, three groups of flames went straight up in three or four separate launches from the far sideline. Evidently, fire will be part of the entertainment festivities at some point tonight.
Otherwise, the only activity inside the Dome is the behind-the-scenes work done by concessionaires, broadcast technicians, media relations people and security people. The humming of the jumbo-sized golf-cart security vehicles is more prevalent than human voices or other natural noise on the concourses and in the bowels of thie Superdome.
Fans don't usually get to see all the work put forth by workers of any sporting event. It always goes on a lot earlier than most people realize. But there's a certain peace to those few hours before the gates open, a calm before the storm that you tend to appreciate when you stop and take a look.
And believe me, the storm is coming, especially with a national championship game pitting tradition-rich Ohio State against the in-state school just an hour or so up the road from New Orleans.
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