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MEMORABLE MOMENTS FROM 2007
Penalty proves costly
Looking for an edge in the LSU vs. Ohio State matchup for the BCS Championship Game?
Look no farther than the officials, who’ve decided to adorn LSU’s season with lots of “gold” handkerchiefs in every one of the Tigers’ 13 games, most times to acknowledge big plays made by the Tigers’ offense and defense.
Wait a minute: Those handkerchiefs aren’t gold, they’re yellow.
And, they’re not handkerchiefs, they’re penalty flags.
The Tigers are near the top of the list of most penalized teams in major college football this season.
Oddly enough, the most disastrous penalty came in the game when, as a team, they had the fewest penalties called on them this season.
The score was tied at 21 in the middle of the fourth quarter in the final regular-season game against Arkansas. LSU was No. 1 with its 10-1 record and Arkansas was giving the Tigers all they could handle.
Matt Flynn found running back Jacob Hester in the left flat. Hester got terrific blocking and went 54 yards for the go-ahead score.
Flag! Ineligible receiver downfield.
In a game where the lead meant everything, a 5-yard penalty wiped out the chance to put the onus of tying the score on the visiting Razorbacks.
That series produced a punt. Arkansas went down and scored to go up 28-21 and forced the Tigers into a late-drive to tie the score. The entire college football world knows what happened in the three overtimes that followed.
That one game, when LSU was flagged four times for 35 yards in penalties, brought the issue to a head.
It was an issue Advocate sportswriter Carl Dubois addressed in a story nearly a month earlier when LSU held an 8-1 record, right after officials dropped 14 flags worth 130 yards on the Tigers in their dramatic 41-34 win over Alabama.
Dubois pointed out past BCS champion teams carried with them the burden of having to fight the penalty bug.
Florida, the 2006 national champs, ranked 118th our of 119 major college teams in penalties at 8.29 per game.
Les Miles took the heat in post-game comments, then confronted his team after the Alabama game.
“Coach Miles has been here three years, and it’s only this year we’re last in the SEC in penalties,” Hester said. “Coach Miles’ coaching style is totally against that.”
LSU finished the season ranked exactly where Florida was in 2006 — 118th in the country with an average of 8.69 penalties and 64.92 yards stepped off per game.
Odd, too, was that Ohio State, LSU’s BCS opponent, finished this season in the same spot it was when it won its BCS title — 20th. Ohio State averaged 5.43 penalties in 2002 and averaged 5.42 penalties per game this year.
Vote for the most memorable moment of 2007
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
BCS TRIVIA
TODAY’S QUESTION: Who holds the record for the longest run from scrimmage in a BCS Bowl Game?
FRIDAY’S QUESTION: Who holds the BCS Championship Game record for all-purpose yards — rushing, receiving, returns?
Reggie Bush, USC, 279 yards, 102 yards kickoff returns, 95 yards receiving, 82 yards rushing. Texas 41, Southern Cal 38 in Jan. 4, 2006 Rose Bowl.
NOTEBOOK
TIGERS SCHEDULE
Today: Practice
Sunday: Practice
BUCKEYES SCHEDULE
Today: Off
Sunday: Practice
Bowl history
LSU and Ohio State have played in the same number of bowl games — 38. The Tigers hold a 19-18-1 record, having passed the .500 mark in last season’s 41-14 Sugar Bowl win over Notre Dame. Ohio State is two games shy of breakeven at 18-20 after it’s 41-14 BCS title game loss to Florida.
TIGERS BOWL GAMES
1936 Sugar: TCU 3, LSU 2
1937 Sugar: Santa Clara 21, LSU 14
1938 Sugar: Santa Clara 6, LSU 0
1944 Orange: LSU 19, Texas A&M 14
1947 Cotton: LSU 0, Arkansas 0
1950 Sugar: Oklahoma 35, LSU 0
1959 Sugar: LSU 7, Clemson 0
1960 Sugar: Ole Miss 21, LSU 0
1962 Orange: LSU 25, Colorado 7
1963 Cotton: LSU 13, Texas 0
1963 Bluebonnet: Baylor 14, LSU 7
1965 Sugar: LSU 13, Syracuse 10
1966 Cotton: LSU 14, Arkansas 7
1968 Sugar: LSU 20, Wyoming 13
1968 Peach: LSU 31, Florida State 27
1971 Orange: Nebraska 17, LSU 12
1971 Sun: LSU 33, Iowa State 15
1972 Bluebonnet: Tennessee 24, LSU 17
1974 Orange: Penn State 16, LSU 9
1977 Sun: Stanford 24, LSU 14
1978 Liberty: Missouri 20, LSU 15
1979 Tangerine: LSU 34, Wake Forest 10
1983 Orange: Nebraska 21, LSU 20
1985 Sugar: Nebraska 28, LSU 10
1985 Liberty: Baylor 21, LSU 7
1987 Sugar: Nebraska 30, LSU 15
1987 Gator: LSU 30, South Carolina 13
1989 Hall of Fame: Syracuse 23, LSU 10
1995 Independence: LSU 45, Michigan State 26
1996 Peach: LSU 10, Clemson 7
1997 Independence: LSU 27, Notre Dame 9
2000 Peach: LSU 28, Georgia Tech 14
2002 Sugar: LSU 47, Illinois 34
2003 Cotton: Texas 35, LSU 20
2004 Sugar: LSU 21, Oklahoma 14
2005 Capital One: Iowa 30, LSU 25
2005 Peach: LSU 40, Miami 3
2007 Sugar: LSU 41, Notre Dame 14
Tomorrow: Ohio State’s bowl games
BREAKING DOWN THE SHOWDOWN
CENTER
BRETT HELMS
6-2, 270, Jr.
Stuttgart, Ark.
Opened redshirt freshman (2005) season with start at left guard against Arizona State … two starts in season shortened by injury … returned in 2006 with switch to starting center spot … in on 695 plays with team-high 108 “knockdown” blocks and 15 “pancakes” in 13 starts … second-team All-SEC … has 25 career starts … younger brother Trey is LSU freshman.
“We just focus on making holes for the fast, athletic guys to get through and let them get the glory.”
-- Brett Helms
JIM CORDLE
6-4, 302, Soph.
Lancaster, Ohio
First-year starter and was team’s offensive line player of the week in Akron win … backup to All-America Doug Datish in 2006 redshirt freshman season … earned job in spring practice … enrolled in spring 2005, but injury (broken foot) forced him to take redshirt that season … was first-team All-Ohio in junior & senior prep seasons … played in 6 games in 2006.
“Jim is quick and athletic, and has proven his toughness by playing through injury.”
-- Jim Bollman, assistant coach
