Roll Tigers!

Week 10: November 3, 2007
(3) LSU defeats (17) Alabama, 41-34
Bryant Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, AL

Game Recap:
It was another thriller as LSU secured their 5th straight win over Alabama. LSU was their own worst enemy in a game that shouldn’t have come down to yet another 4th down conversion. But it did, and LSU once again showed that they are holding better cards when the chips are on the table. The familiar combination of Flynn-Doucet once again bailed out the Tiger’s and saved Les Miles from having a lot of explaining to do. Statistically, LSU dominated the game. But the scoreboard doesn’t keep track of statistics. LSU played well enough in the first quarter to win this game by 20 points. Instead, they completely botched the second quarter, giving Bama new life. When they had the chance to deliver the crushing blow, they wiffed. When will they string together 4 quarters of mistake free football like they did against Virginia Tech?

Penalties, Turnovers, and Big Plays. That was the name of this game. LSU was flagged a ridiculous 14 times for an unbelievable 130 yards. LSU is by far the most penalized team in the SEC and one of the top offenders in the country. This has got to stop if LSU wants to hoist the crystal ball in January. Matt Flynn was up and down. He had 3 interceptions but also threw for a career high 353 yards passing and 3 touchdowns. He even had a 35 yard reception from Early Doucet. Stats aside, Flynn has looked like a great leader on the field in clutch situations. His winning attitude and quiet confidence seem to inspire the offense to mount these late game comebacks. Defensively, LSU had an outstanding game. They gave up a few big plays, but they brought pressure all night recording seven sacks. One of those sacks was directly responsible for LSU’s game winning score. I was impressed that LSU was able to force a lot of 3rd and long situations. Bama was only 4 of 17 on third down against an LSU defense that has not been particularly good on 3rd down as of late. LSU’s special teams were a mess. LSU had a blocked FG and allowed a punt return. Those were two game changing plays. Why were we kicking to Arenas? I don’t know. Why are our coverage teams having so much trouble this year when last year they were lights out? I don’t know. When will these mistakes cost us a game? I don’t want to know.

Game Stats:

Rushing: LSU-87 , BAMA-20
Passing: LSU-388 , BAMA-234
Total: LSU-475 , BAMA-254

Game Balls:
Offense: Demetrius Byrd. 6 catches for 144 yards. Enough said.

Defense: Chad Jones. Keep this up Chad and you may be known as a better safety than Laron Landry when it’s all over.

Honorable Mention: Kirston Pittman also had a great game.

SEC Honors:
Even though he didn’t get the coveted Samson Game Ball, Glenn Dorsey did receive SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors from the conference.

Injuries:
The most severe injury from the Alabama game is Darry Beckwith’s knee. He has some scar tissue in his knee that required arthroscopic surgery earlier this week. He will not play this week and may miss the Ole Miss game as well.

Alabama Trip Summary:
For those of you that couldn’t make the trip to Bama, you missed a good time. We arrived in Tuscaloosa on Friday around 1 pm, just in time to grab some ribs at the famous Dreamland BBQ. The food was a little overrated, but it was still good. Friday night we stayed in Birmingham and didn’t really do much. We drove through downtown B’Ham for over an hour looking for some nightlife, but it was completely dead. Eventually we found the only restaurant/bar open at 9 pm so we stopped in for a while. It was a pretty boring night. Saturday morning we arrived in Tuscaloosa about 8 am and we tailgated at the quad till gametime. The tailgating scene at Alabama is nice but it’s very low key. It’s not a party atmosphere like you’ll find at LSU. The people were very nice and welcoming, which was somewhat surprising. I expected to get some heckling, but got none. That was, until we went to the Houndstooth Bar to watch the game. I don’t think they liked us very much there. It was mostly Bama fans, even though I found out later that there were several other bars that were LSU dominated. We weren’t being complete a-holes, just cheering for our team, but we had a few drunken Bammers that gave us some crap. Even though we were with mostly Bama fans, it was kinda fun to see the place go silent after the game. The streets after the game were filled with rowdy Tigers. Several dance parties erupted in the streets. I have to admit, I did a little dancing myself. Overall, it was a great trip and I will definitely go back.

Did you know?
The last time LSU allowed 4 consecutive teams to score 24 or more points was in 1992. LSU lost all 4 of those games.

Did you know part II?
Les Miles is the only LSU coach to go 3-0 vs. Alabama. He and Saban are the only 2 LSU coaches to beat Bama 3 times.

Week 8 Games of the Week:
Virginia Tech def. Georgia Tech, 27-3
Arkansas def. South Carolina, 48-36
Navy def. Notre Dame, 46-44
Oregon def. Arizona St., 35-23
Kansas def. Nebraska, 76-39
Ohio St. def. Wisconsin, 38-17
Florida St. def. Boston College, 27-17
Oklahoma def. Texas A&M, 42-14

Rankings:
Here are the updated top 10 BCS rankings:
1. Ohio St.
2. LSU
3. Oregon
4. Kansas
5. Oklahoma
6. Missouri
7. West Virginia
8. Boston College
9. Arizona St.
10. Georgia

The SEC currently holds seven spots in the top 25.

Whack Stats:
Alabama was only penalized twice for 15 yards. That’s Whack!!
Krysal Burger forgot Ty’s food. That’s Whack!!!

Notes:
LSU vs. Ole Miss will be shown on CBS at 2:30.