Countdown to Showdown: 10 Days

• By JOE MACALUSO AND JAY MARTIN
• Advocate staff
• Published: Dec 28, 2007

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Even though his running back mates tease him about being “vanilla,” there’s nothing vanilla about Jacob Hester, not the way he runs anyway.

That’s because he’s given opponents lots of “strawberries” and, at times, has added the whipped cream to the stuff he dished out this season.

Ask running back Keiland Williams.

“When he made that hit on that guy (Tennessee’s Jonathan Hefney), we came unglued. We (running backs) were all (in) a group sitting there watching that play and we came unglued. He told us that’s how it’s going to be the rest of the night,” Williams said.

That’s how it’s been most of the season for LSU’s only senior running back. Shawn Jordan, the other senior who lines up behind senior quarterback Matt Flynn, plays fullback.

Hester plowed over Hefney for 14 yards on LSU’s first offensive play in what turned out to be LSU’s 21-14 SEC Championship win.

It was his late-in-the-game 20-yard run that iced the win and gave him his best one-game numbers — 23 carries, 120 yards.

Hester cleared the 1,000-yard hurdle for the season on that run — he finished with 204 carries for 1,107 yards and 11 TDs — and became LSU’s first RB to roll up a “grand” since Justin Vincent hit 1,001 in 2003, LSU’s national championship season.

The icing on Hester’s cake came four weeks before the SEC title matchup against Tennessee.

LSU was up 30-7 on Louisiana Tech in the second half, when the Tigers took possession of the ball on their 13 yard line.

On the first play, LSU’s left side opened one of those “drive a Mack Truck through it” holes. Hester broke into a Tech secondary overly occupied by LSU’s spread formation, and when he looked around, nary a defensive back was around: 87 yards later he’d staked himself to what was then his biggest rushing night, 11 carries, 115 yards and that 1 TD.

“When I saw a hole that big between the tackles, I knew I had to hit a second gear. It’s fun to have a run like that in my career,” Hester said.

The LSU sidelines erupted: Seems no one there knew Hester had a second gear.

It was Nov. 10 and the 58-10 win was headlined by the Tigers’ 40 rushes for 321 yards, the most by an LSU team in three seasons.

That same day top-ranked Ohio State was beaten 28-21 by Illinois to open another hole the Tigers ran through to reclaim the No. 1 spot in the polls.

“I thought they (Ohio State) were going to run the table,” Hester said. “It was definitely a shocker when I heard they lost.”

Advocate sportswriters have selected 20 memorable moments from LSU’s march to the BCS Championship Game, from the 45-0 win over Mississippi State through the 21-14 SEC Championship Game victory over Tennessee. This series will run through Jan. 1 when readers will be able to go to The Advocate’s Web site — http://www.2theadvocate.com — and vote on their most memorable moment of the season. The voting results will be run in Jan. 7 Advocate Sports’ BCS Game Day Special.

The list so far:

2theadvocate.com's Countdown to the Showdown Archive

TODAY’S QUESTION: Who holds the BCS Championship Game record for all-purpose yards — rushing, receiving, returns?

THURSDAY’S QUESTION: Who holds the BCS bowl games single-game pass receiving record?

Josh Reed, LSU, 239 yards, 14 receptions. LSU 47, Illinois 34 in 2002 Sugar Bowl.

NOTEBOOK

Firsts & Lasts

This BCS Championship Game matchup assures college fans of a first — either LSU or Ohio State will be the first two-time champion since the 1998 inception of the Bowl Championship Series. Going into this showdown, both teams have lots of firsts and lasts.

LSU

• Les Miles’ first win at his first head coaching job came Sept. 8, 2001 — Oklahoma State 30, Louisiana Tech 23. Miles is 61-27 at Okie State and LSU.

• The last time LSU defeated a No. 1-ranked team was in 1997’s 28-21 win over Florida in Tiger Stadium.

• Miles’ first win at LSU was the Hurricane Katrina-moved “home” game at Arizona State, a 35-31 last-minute victory.

• The last lost fumble by an LSU running back was also the first lost fumble by a running back this season: Trindon Holliday fumbled in the third quarter against Tennessee in the SEC Championship Game.

• LSU is first on the most-wins list in the SEC since 2001. LSU is 73-17 since the turn of the century.

• The last time senior running back Jacob Hester lost a fumble was in the first carry in his first game of his freshman season, 342 carries ago.

• Colt David is first in LSU’s record books for single season field goals with 25, in single-season scoring with 139 points and first in single-season PATs with 58.

• LSU’s last two-time All-America was cornerback Corey Webster (2003-04)

• LSU’s 2007 first-team All-SEC players are defensive end Glenn Dorsey, linebacker Darry Beckwith, kicker Colt David, punter Patrick Fisher, linebacker Ali Highsmith, cornerback Chevis Jackson, offensive guard Herman Johnson and safety Craig Steltz.

OHIO STATE

• Jim Tressel’s first head coaching win came in Youngstown State’s 30-6 victory over Tennessee Tech, Oct. 11, 1986.

• In their last game, the Buckeyes whipped arch-rival Michigan 14-3 and, in miserable weather conditions, outgained the Wolverines 279-91 yards.

• Tressel’s first win at Ohio State came over Akron (28-14) on Sept. 8, 2001. It was his 136th career coaching win.

• The last time Ohio State didn’t punt in a game was Oct. 27 this year in a 37-17 win over Penn State.

• The last time the Buckeyes had three interceptions was Oct. 28, 2006 against Minnesota.

• In his first season at Ohio State, Tressel had three first-team All Big 10 selections — center LeCharles Bentley, safety Mike Doss and offensive tackle Tyson Walter.

• The last time Ohio State returned a kickoff for a TD was in the most recent BCS Championship Game, a 41-14 loss to Florida. Ted Ginn Jr. returned the opening kickoff 93 yards.

• The first two-time All-America in Tressel’s OSU years was A.J. Hawk, who was a three-time (2003-05) All-Big 10 linebacker.

• Ohio State’s first-team All-Big Ten players this year are linebacker James Laurinaitis, defensive end Vernon Gholston, quarterback Todd Boeckman, offensive tackle Kirk Barton, running back “Beanie” Wells and cornerback Malcolm Jenkins.

TYSON JACKSON

6-5, 291, Jr.

Edgard

Played in every game since 2005 redshirt freshman season, 39 straight … started 12 games in 2006 with 37 tackles, 10 for losses, 8 1/2 sacks, 1 interception … second-team All-SEC last season … 35 tackles in 13 starts this season with 10 passes broken up and 15 quarterback “hurries” … sacks and tackles for losses totaling 119 yards in 3 seasons … big game 8 tackles vs. Kentucky … played through injuries this year.

CAREER: 85 tackles, 15 1/2 tackles for losses, 13 sacks

 “We saw him last year, just kind of as a puppy scratching the surface of what he can do.”

Kirk Herbstreit, ESPN

CAMERON HEYWARD

6-6, 282, Fr.

Suwanee, Ga.

Played in all 12 games in true freshman season … shares spot with 6-5, 294, sophomore Bob Rose … in on 30 tackles, 9 for losses and 2 1/2 sacks … broke up 2 passes and forced a fumble … big game 5 tackles vs. Penn State … Georgia 5A Defensive Player of the Year last season … turned 18 May 6 … plans to play basketball … son of former NFL running back Craig ‘Ironhead’ Heyward.

 “He has worked very hard this season to successfully adjust to the demands of college football.”

Jim Heacock, assistant coach