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LSU Tigers Win Second Title in 5 Years

2008-01-08T10:28:00.001-08:00

The second-ranked LSU Tigers danced, dodged and darted their way into the end zone Monday night for a 38-24 victory, turning the BCS title game into a horrible replay for No. 1 Ohio State.

Playing at their home-away-from-home in the Big Easy, the Tigers (12-2) became the first two-loss team to compete for the title.

Still, LSU was a runaway No. 1 in the final Associated Press poll. The Tigers received 60 of 65 first-place votes from a national media panel. Georgia, Southern California, Missouri and Ohio State rounded out the top five. Georgia had three first-place votes while Southern Cal and No. 7 Kansas each had one.

And while coach Les Miles got to hoist the $30,000 crystal prize, surely many fans around the country were wondering if someone else was equally worthy.

The top six teams in the final AP poll all had two losses and Kansas had one.

"Certainly there will be some argument as to who's the best team. But I think the national champion has been crowned tonight," Miles said. "I have give great credit to some divine intervention that allows us to be in this position."

Shouts of "SEC! SEC!" bounced around the Superdome as the Tigers won their second BCS crown in five seasons. They are the first school to win a second title since BCS rankings began with the 1998 season.

"My team is the No. 1 team in the land," said All-American defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey, who passed up the NFL draft to return for his senior season.

LSU rallied from an early 10-0 deficit, taking a 24-10 halftime lead that held up.

"We just didn't do the things you need to do to win a ballgame of this nature. We're very aware that LSU's a deserving champion," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said.

Jacob Hester bulled for a short touchdown, Early Doucet wiggled loose for a touchdown and Dorsey led a unit that outplayed the top-ranked defense in the nation.

Ohio State (11-2) had little to celebrate after Chris "Beanie" Wells broke loose for a 65-yard TD run on the fourth play of the game.

No. 2 LSU topples No. 1 Ohio State 38-24 in BCS championship game

2008-01-08T02:59:00.000-08:00

NEW ORLEANS - When Matt Flynn chose to play at Louisiana State back in 2002, he envisioned a college career filled with history-making opportunities. As it turned out, he only got one.

Monday night, he made the most of it.

It was a night when big plays carried second-ranked Louisiana State to a 38-24 victory over No. 1 Ohio State in the BCS national championship game. The 6-3, 227-pound senior ended up making the lion's share of them. Make that the Tigers' share.

Flynn completed 19 of 27 passes for 174 yards and a career-high four touchdowns as LSU (12-2) won its third national crown and second in five years, triumphing less than 90 minutes from campus in Baton Rouge before a record crowd of 79,651 at the Superdome. He guided the Tigers back from a 10-0 deficit to a 31-10 lead in about 30 minutes of playing time, completing passes to eight receivers and throwing touchdown passes to three of them.

"I never knew something like this would happen, but I dreamed of it," said Flynn, the game's offensive MVP. "I feel blessed for this team, this year, this group of guys."

Five of the past six seasons have ended with the No. 2 team defeating No. 1 and Ohio State (11-2) has been the victim two straight years. LSU - the first two-loss national champ - also extended the Buckeyes' futility mark against the Southeastern Conference to 0-9 in bowl games.

Ohio State was feeling good with a 10-point lead after only two possessions. As the Buckeyes, who didn't allow more than 28 points in a game, gave up 31 unanswered, their frustration leaked out. OSU committed four personal fouls for 60 yards as LSU was taking over the game.

In scoring the final 24 points of the first half, LSU converted on eight of its last nine third-down opportunities. Flynn produced five first downs with four passes and a run.

"He's a great leader and unbelievable competitive quarterback," LSU coach Les Miles said.

The Tigers' big plays came on came on both sides. Their defense made a pair in the second quarter to set up touchdowns - a blocked field goal by defensive MVP Ricky Jean-Francois that was recovered by Darry Beckwith and an interception by Chevis Jackson that was returned to the Ohio State 24. "(Those) really stemmed the tide," Miles said. "Our defense settled down and they really couldn't score with us."

Senior tailback Jacob Hester, the Shreveport product, rushed for 86 yards on 21 carries.

Flynn had drawn the Tigers even with the first of two touchdown passes to Richard Dickson - a 13-yarder - before the blocked field goal put him in a position to complete a 66-yard drive with a 10-yard TD pass to Brandon LaFell for the lead. When the interception came three plays later, Hester capped a 24-yard drive with a 1-yard dive. It was only the third rushing touchdown that Ohio State's nationally top-rated defense allowed this season.

The Tigers made it 31-10 when Flynn orchestrated an 80-yard TD drive on the opening possession of the second half, capping it with a 4-yard pass to Early Doucet.

Flynn, beaten out for the starting job the three previous seasons by Oakland Raiders QB JaMarcus Russell, joked this past week that during that time his parents kept coming to games to watch him hold on field goals and extra points.

But in being patient and never talking about transferring, he earned the respect that made him an exceptional leader this season.

"Every one of us believed he could step right in," Hester said. "I know it was hard for him to sit all those years, losing the job over and over. That's a tough thing for anyone to get through, but I believe it made him what he is."

In the second half, LSU's defense took over with five sacks, a Curtis Taylor interception and a Harry Coleman fumble recovery. The Buckeyes' Beanie Wells had only 27 of his 146 rushing yards in the second half. Quarterback Todd Boeckman (15-for-26, two TDs, 2 INT) had only 93 of his 208 passing yards after the intermission.

Flynn's only start during the previous three years was in the 40-3 victory over Miami at the 2005 Peach Bowl, when Russell was injured. His 196 passing yards and two TDs earned him the offensive MVP then, too.

Brian McNamee's lawyers demand release of recorded interview

2008-01-08T02:19:00.000-08:00

Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte sent private investigators to conduct a taped interview with Brian McNamee the day before the release of the Mitchell Report. Tapes of the extensive session have not been released by Clemens' camp.

McNamee's attorney, Earl Ward, issued a statement Monday calling for Clemens' attorney Rusty Hardin to release the tapes, as Hardin did with a 17-minute recording of an emotional, profanity-laced conversation between McNamee and Clemens that occurred on Friday night. In that tape, which was played for the media at Clemens' press conference in Houston, McNamee laments the developments that have occurred, saying his son is ill and that he is broke. McNamee said, "I want it to go away. I'm with you in your corner ... but I also don't want to go to jail. It has nothing to do with you. I'd also like to sit down in person with you."

Of the taped interview that took place Dec.12, Ward said in a statement, "Brian told these investigators the same thing he told the federal authorities and Senator Mitchell. And we hearby demand the tape be released in its entirety immediately."

According to Joe Householder, a Hardin assistant, Clemens' attorneys do not plan to release the tape, at least not in the near future. Parts of it are included in the defamation lawsuit Clemens filed in a Texas state court just before the "60 Minutes" report aired Sunday night. "It's an item in the discovery process," Householder told the Daily News. "It'll probably become public during the discovery process."

According to Ward, the Clemens camp may not want to release the tape for another reason: he believes it confirms what McNamee has said all along - that he told investigators and Mitchell the truth about injecting Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone and Pettitte with HGH. Pettitte has confirmed that he took HGH on two occasions.

The tape also brings into question Clemens' statement to Mike Wallace during a "60 Minutes" interview on Sunday that he had no advance knowledge of what McNamee had told Mitchell, although Hardin said during the press conference that McNamee had informed Pettitte and a representative of Clemens' by phone eight days before the Mitchell Report was released that he had spoken to Mitchell and federal investigators. The investigators - a representative from Hardin's law firm and a former Houston homicide officer - arrived to interview McNamee on Wednesday, the day before the report's release, presenting him with documents signed on Dec.11 authorizing them to ask questions on behalf of Clemens and Pettitte.

"They were there strictly to ask him open-ended questions as to what he had said," Householder said. "That was the purpose and he told them what he told Mitchell."

Clemens repeated in his press conference yesterday what he told Wallace - "if I would have known what this man, Brian McNamee, had said in this report, I would have been down in a heartbeat to take care of it."

Said Ward: "Mr. Clemens did in fact know that he was named in the report prior to its release and the only thing he did in a heartbeat was to hire a lawyer prior to the release of Senator Mitchell's report. Brian told the federal authorities the truth. Thereafter Brian met with Senator Mitchell as detailed in the Mitchell Report."

Oilers Shut Out the Islanders

2008-01-08T01:48:00.000-08:00

Ales Hemsky, Shawn Horcoff and Jarret Stoll each had a goal and an assist Monday night and Mathieu Garon made 35 saves for the Edmonton Oilers in a 4-0 victory over the visiting Islanders.

The Islanders have lost three games in a row.

The Oilers scored three times in the second period and finished with 33 shots against Rick DiPietro. Oilers left wing Raffi Torres, who has been out since Dec. 13, will have surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right knee and miss the rest of the season.

STARS 3, WILD 1 Antti Miettinen scored twice for host Dallas, which ended a four-game losing streak. Mike Ribeiro, who signed a five-year, $25 million contract Monday, added two assists for the Stars, who had been shut out in their previous two games.

Mark Parrish scored for the fourth game in a row for the Wild.

AROUND THE LEAGUE Columbus recalled the 19-year-old goalie Steve Mason from the Ontario Hockey League. The starter Pascal Leclaire became ill in Saturday’s game at San Jose; he will not play Tuesday in St. Louis.