SEC Sports - Page 5
Create Post
Page 5 of 8 FirstFirst 12345678 LastLast
Results 61 to 75 of 115

Thread: SEC Sports

  1. #61
    Marine Free Member AAV Crewchief's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    God's Country, Northwest Florida
    Posts
    2,847
    Credits
    33,014
    Savings
    0
    Quote Originally Posted by AAV Crewchief View Post
    So, does anything get proven if Bama wins the rematch? Seems like LSU has everything to lose now with a rematch.
    Well, what I mean is, even if Bama wins, wouldn't they really need a THIRD game to satisfy the naysayers on both sides?


  2. #62
    So who should LSU play if they don't lose a game this year? I would think that they would want to play the next highest ranked team, but then again they may want to play a less ranked team, so they can go undefeated.

    I thought the object was for the two(2) highest ranked teams to play each other for the National Championship, but I guess you feel that since both top ranked teams are in the SEC, and LSU beat Bama during the regular season, that they shouldn't play each other for a National Championship.

    Let's see. The National Championship for College Basketball is often played between teams in the same conference, and the same teams play each other during the regular season. Some of the greatest games are between UNC and Duke, and they are in the same conference re; ACC and they both reside within 25 miles of each other.

    Let's see. The latest re; Championship for sports was the NASCAR Championship, and it was decided between the #1 & #2 Teams, and these teams race each other 36 times a year.

    Jamie, give me a reason why LSU and Bama shouldn't play again, other than their records this year, in which a regular season game was won by LSU in overtime.


  3. #63
    Before our heads explode.

    Actually my friend, being top of the pile and mostly above it all, I'm fairly neutral as I believe we can beat whomever. I was just picking at ya. Most polls have a slight edge to Houston.

    Poll: Who should LSU play in title game if it finishes No. 1?



    Posted by John Taylor on November 20, 2011, 2:49 AM EST

    All of the glorious, wondrous chaos that has transpired over the past 24 hours has caused us to change the tack we normally take in our weekly poll.
    As one of the two remaining unbeatens, LSU, as they have been for quite a number of weeks, is the clear-cut and unquestioned No. 1 team in the country. Thus, a normal “Who is the No. 1 team in the country?” poll officially ceases to make sense. So, instead, the direction we’re headed with the Week 12 poll is this: if LSU beats No. 6 Arkansas next week and hands the Hogs their second loss and then goes on to beat No. 13 Georgia in the SEC championship game, who would you want to see the Bayou Bengals play for the BcS title?
    Let the questions begin, armed with the assumption that all of the following teams win their remaining games…
    Would you want to see a rematch with No. 3 Alabama, which wouldn’t even win its own division let alone its conference? How about No. 8 Stanford, which would probably be in the same non-winning division and conference boat as the Tide? Like the Cardinal, No. 10 Boise State lost to a two-loss team at home; would you want to see the team that everybody either loves to love or loves to hate get a crack at the crystal? Despite the soul-crushing loss Friday night, No. 2 Oklahoma State still has just one loss and would certainly be a huge part of the discussion in this scenario as well.
    Or, what about No. 9 Virginia Tech? As it stands at this moment, the Hokies are the only other team from a BcS conference with one loss; would Tech deserve a spot opposite LSU in New Orleans?
    And then there’s No. 11 Houston. The Cougars are the only other unbeaten Div. 1-A team left in this up-is-down, right-is-left 2011 season. In their past six games, UH has won by an average of 42.6 points. On the flip side, their opponents in those games are just a combined 23-41, including a 3-11 mark against teams from BcS conferences. Is that a résumé deserving of a spot in the title game?
    (Don’t even get me started on the following scenario that is entirely possible and, worse yet, very plausible: LSU and Houston are undefeated; Boise State has one loss; and every other team in the country has at least two losses.)
    OK, there’s your premise. Now, go vote before your head implodes over all of the possibilities.


    VOTE HERE

    http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports...finishes-no-1/


  4. #64
    I'm a little behind today having slept all day, not feeling too well, NEED coffee and time to get caught up.



  5. #65
    Quote Originally Posted by jamielang1951 View Post
    Before our heads explode.

    Actually my friend, being top of the pile and mostly above it all, I'm fairly neutral as I believe we can beat whomever. I was just picking at ya. Most polls have a slight edge to Houston.
    Poll: Who should LSU play in title game if it finishes No. 1?



    Posted by John Taylor on November 20, 2011, 2:49 AM EST

    All of the glorious, wondrous chaos that has transpired over the past 24 hours has caused us to change the tack we normally take in our weekly poll.
    As one of the two remaining unbeatens, LSU, as they have been for quite a number of weeks, is the clear-cut and unquestioned No. 1 team in the country. Thus, a normal “Who is the No. 1 team in the country?” poll officially ceases to make sense. So, instead, the direction we’re headed with the Week 12 poll is this: if LSU beats No. 6 Arkansas next week and hands the Hogs their second loss and then goes on to beat No. 13 Georgia in the SEC championship game, who would you want to see the Bayou Bengals play for the BcS title?
    Let the questions begin, armed with the assumption that all of the following teams win their remaining games…
    Would you want to see a rematch with No. 3 Alabama, which wouldn’t even win its own division let alone its conference? How about No. 8 Stanford, which would probably be in the same non-winning division and conference boat as the Tide? Like the Cardinal, No. 10 Boise State lost to a two-loss team at home; would you want to see the team that everybody either loves to love or loves to hate get a crack at the crystal? Despite the soul-crushing loss Friday night, No. 2 Oklahoma State still has just one loss and would certainly be a huge part of the discussion in this scenario as well.
    Or, what about No. 9 Virginia Tech? As it stands at this moment, the Hokies are the only other team from a BcS conference with one loss; would Tech deserve a spot opposite LSU in New Orleans?
    And then there’s No. 11 Houston. The Cougars are the only other unbeaten Div. 1-A team left in this up-is-down, right-is-left 2011 season. In their past six games, UH has won by an average of 42.6 points. On the flip side, their opponents in those games are just a combined 23-41, including a 3-11 mark against teams from BcS conferences. Is that a résumé deserving of a spot in the title game?
    (Don’t even get me started on the following scenario that is entirely possible and, worse yet, very plausible: LSU and Houston are undefeated; Boise State has one loss; and every other team in the country has at least two losses.)
    OK, there’s your premise. Now, go vote before your head implodes over all of the possibilities.

    VOTE HERE

    http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports...finishes-no-1/

    Houston????? John Taylor, whoever the hell he is ranks Alabama #3. He must be smoking the good shi-.

    I realize and admit the Tigers are a good team, either wet or dry, but to run away from a re-match with Bama would be a travisty. They should be jumping at the chance to prove once again how good they are. Sure they could play a lesser ranked team, and beat them, but the question remains> Could they beat Bama again?

    Jamie, sorry to hear that you are under the weather; get well my friend!


  6. #66
    Quote Originally Posted by Hammer3 View Post
    Houston????? John Taylor, whoever the hell he is ranks Alabama #3. He must be smoking the good shi-.

    I realize and admit the Tigers are a good team, either wet or dry, but to run away from a re-match with Bama would be a travisty. They should be jumping at the chance to prove once again how good they are. Sure they could play a lesser ranked team, and beat them, but the question remains> Could they beat Bama again?

    Jamie, sorry to hear that you are under the weather; get well my friend!
    Thanks Mitch,

    BTW people,,,,On that poll, a week ago, I voted: BAMA
    I suffer from hypoxia(effects my memory) not stupidia, since the first REAL National Championship bowl game, it's always been about No.1 vs No.2,,,
    I just like teasing Mitch.



  7. #67
    short term memory only, long term is as always, excellent!


  8. #68
    Quote Originally Posted by AAV Crewchief View Post
    Well, what I mean is, even if Bama wins, wouldn't they really need a THIRD game to satisfy the naysayers on both sides?

    I get your point, but guess we will just have to agree that this is it, this is for all the toys,,,







  9. #69
    Quote Originally Posted by Hammer3 View Post
    So who should LSU play if they don't lose a game this year? I would think that they would want to play the next highest ranked team, but then again they may want to play a less ranked team, so they can go undefeated.

    I thought the object was for the two(2) highest ranked teams to play each other for the National Championship, but I guess you feel that since both top ranked teams are in the SEC, and LSU beat Bama during the regular season, that they shouldn't play each other for a National Championship.

    Let's see. The National Championship for College Basketball is often played between teams in the same conference, and the same teams play each other during the regular season. Some of the greatest games are between UNC and Duke, and they are in the same conference re; ACC and they both reside within 25 miles of each other.

    Let's see. The latest re; Championship for sports was the NASCAR Championship, and it was decided between the #1 & #2 Teams, and these teams race each other 36 times a year.

    Jamie, give me a reason why LSU and Bama shouldn't play again, other than their records this year, in which a regular season game was won by LSU in overtime.

    I've heard that so many times, that Bama hasn't lost a regular season game, that it was in OT.


    Gotta give you one thing Brother, you argue passionately and beautifully.





  10. #70
    Georgia threw every thing they had at LSU in the first half, working on the only chink in their armor, and when their quiver was empty, LSU's meat grinder started slowly chewing em up!
    LSU 42
    Georgia 10
    I never had a doubt, since the first game of the season to now.
    Time to settle this once and for all.








  11. #71
    December 4, 2011
    LSU takes down Georgia 42-10

    Despite an inept first half, LSU wore down the Bulldogs before finding their stride in a big win.


    ATLANTA
    — LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne reminded me very much of a 2-year-old Saturday. This is a compliment, I promise.

    He flashed all of the best parts of that age, none of the bad ones.

    Anybody who has studied the behavior patterns of 2-year-olds through the lens of parenthood knows they live in the moment. Anger looks like anger, joy like joy. They are years away from reacting how they think they should or dimming their enthusiasm lest anybody be watching. Next year, next week, two minutes from now matter not to them.

    This was Claiborne in the immediate aftermath of LSU's 42-10 victory over Georgia in the SEC Championship Game on Saturday. He was leaping and chest bumping and giggling and smiling.

    "It is good to be a Tiger," he yelled to no one in particular as the streamers fell from the ceiling at The Georgia Dome.

    There was no solemn talk of "one more." He was enjoying this moment. He seemed to grasp that not everybody goes undefeated through the college football in general and the SEC in particular, hardly anybody does actually. He had just accomplished something fabulous, with his closest friends, and he wanted to celebrate.

    "We're a big family. I know everybody says that, right?" Claiborne told me later.

    "You cannot know unless you are here on a day-to-day basis, but these guys are close. Does it sound silly to say 'brothers?' Well, that is what it is. You sweat and bleed and cry and just are together, starting in the summer, all to do this together. And yes, that means something."

    So much of the last couple of weeks has been spent talking about how meaningless this SEC championship game was, endlessly debating who the second-best team in college football is, arguing about who is worthy of playing LSU in the national championship game, ridiculing a BCS system for its inanity.

    I am guilty of this. Possibly, I am more guilty than most.

    The system is indeed broken. It is fatally flawed. One of its biggest failures, though, is that it manages to somehow overshadow what LSU has accomplished this season. Because lost amid all of this chaos of who has to take on the Tigers is the absurdity of how good they really are.

    They might be the most perfect team. They have possibly the country's best player in cornerback Tyrann Mathieu. The perfection was born from blending their talent and their flaws, from taking their mistakes and problems and suspensions, and growing stronger, from coming together into this seemingly unstoppable team.

    "I think we can stop us," Mathieu said, amid answering questions about being named SEC Championship Game MVP.

    "I think we made a lot of bad decisions, personal mistakes, but we corrected it. We never gave up on each other. As everything was going on, I definitely think we grew closer. We started to believe in our coaches more. We started to definitely come closer within the locker room. So I think the leaders definitely started to stand up, and hats off to our leaders."

    If LSU has a flaw now, it is that it lacks a great quarterback or even a good one. That the Tigers have won without one makes how they play even more impressive. Oppressive is the best adjective to describe them. They are like a chisel that settles in and applies full weight to a rock until whatever it started out as crumbles.

    A quick word about Georgia. The Bulldogs did not quit. They certainly did not come into this game to be just another date on LSU's tour. They fought. Coach Mark Richt attacked. The Zombie Coach, as I like to call him, because you cannot kill him no matter how hard a few Bulldogs fans have tried, called onside kicks, took chances, went deep and had his team beating LSU through most of first half.

    They did not quit so much as they were worn down.

    Saturday's result was the simple math of what happens when a good team faces a great one. It was only a matter of time.

    And when that time came, of course, it was Mathieu with the ball. He fielded a punt a little more than halfway through the second quarter with LSU trailing 10-0. One missed tackle and it was end zone and 10-7.

    "It's so hard for us in this conference, in really just a segment of college football, to give an overview," Tigers coach Les Miles said as a disclaimer when asked the Heisman question about Mathieu.

    "But I can tell you this, as the conference champions of the SEC and as one of the key players on that team, I think he needs real consideration. I think he's a special player and has a special place and maybe warrants, if the judges can make a quality decision, for him to attend in New York"

    Having seen Mathieu live and in person against Oregon, Alabama and now Georgia, I have no doubt he deserves to be in New York as a Heisman contender. He along with Baylor's Robert Griffin III and Stanford's Andrew Luck represent the very best of college football this season.

    Mathieu's second punt return, the one not for a touchdown, was ridiculous in how long it seemed to go on.

    "I actually think the one he didn't score on was, maybe, the most amazing return I have seen in my life," LSU guard Bob Hebert rightly noted. "It was one of those things that every time you thought he was caught he would slip out and keep going again and change direction in the most unexpected way. I have never seen anything like it."
    The first one, though, is what won LSU the game. It was church from there.

    That is probably disingenuous to say since LSU never felt out of this game.

    Even when Georgia's defense was dominating and LSU had failed to get a first down, you knew the Tigers were going to win. This was a team that had overcome a beast of a schedule, starting with Oregon and including beating 'Bama in Tuscaloosa. The Tigers had to overcome themselves because it seemed they were always getting in their own way —quarterback Jordan Jefferson's suspension and the loss of Mathieu for a game for doing what college kids do.

    They are too, good. In the end, they could not even beat themselves.

    And as a reward for being this good, they get to hear everybody whine about how stupid a rematch with Alabama is, how the States — Oklahoma and Boise —got screwed, how Stanford deserved a chance, how a playoff is needed, how screwed up the system actually is.

    All of this is true, except for maybe the 'Bama part. Do not blame them from benefiting from this crazy system. Saturday was just not the day for any of it.

    Saturday, as Claiborne reminded me, was about the joy of doing something amazing with your best friends.

    Saturday was about hard work and perseverance and screwing up and redemption. Saturday was about the best team in college football, hands down. And it is a screwed up system that overshadows that with its absurdity.








  12. #72
    by
    Bill Reiter

    Bill Reiter is a national writer for FOXSports.com. He spent four years as sports enterprise reporter for The Kansas City Star. Reiter was a finalist for the Livingston Award, and The Associated Press Sports Editors have recognized his work. He covered the Miami Heat's every move last season for FOX Sports Florida and FOXSports.com.


    STILLWATER, Okla. — This is why a system with no flexibility should not be allowed to determine the national champion. This underscores how computers can't see past the data to the facts behind them. This is why Alabama should be, if not eliminated from the national championship race, at a minimum given no better chance than Oklahoma State.


    That's because, in No. 3 Oklahoma State's 44-10 destruction of rival and No. 10 Oklahoma on Saturday night, there was more at play than a big win.


    There was a bright-lights, big-stage reminder that the world is a wildly complicated place — a place where the Cowboys lost their only game on a day in which the entire university for which they compete was in deep mourning, a place where, despite that loss to Iowa State, they still have beaten more than twice as many current BCS top 25 teams as Alabama.


    It was the best performance of the year by a college football team not named LSU.


    "They had their shot," Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy said afterward. "Give us ours."


    Is it fair that Oklahoma State should be deprived a shot at LSU, the undefeated powerhouse and the only route through which anyone else can crown themselves champions? Not in the least. Is it fair, then, that Alabama should surrender that right, having lost its only game of the season to LSU by a mere three points, in overtime no less? Nope, that's not fair, either.


    Perhaps this is the only way in which the BCS accurately reflects the world we live in: Sometimes the world is a very unfair place.


    And so a choice must be made. And that choice should be a national championship game featuring LSU's frighteningly stifling defense against Oklahoma State's high-tempo offense.


    "I don't know what will happen," Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops said afterward, "but I know I'll vote LSU No. 1 and Oklahoma State No. 2."


    Oklahoma State won its conference outright. Alabama did not. Alabama had its shot against LSU and lost, despite having home-field advantage. Oklahoma State hasn't had that chance yet. Including Saturday's victory, Oklahoma State has beaten five current BCS top 25 teams: Oklahoma (10), Kansas State (11), Baylor (17), Texas (22) and Missouri (25). Alabama has defeated just two: Arkansas (8) and Penn State (22).


    Sorry, 'Bama, the short stick should be yours. Gundy and Stoops are right. You had your shot at LSU and you lost. You should be out. It's as unfair as anything out there — other than not letting Oklahoma State have a crack at the Tigers too.


    An important element of the argument for letting Gundy and his Cowboys leapfrog Nick Saban's Crimson Tide is a human element worthy of reflection even if, based on how they assess these things, few computers or voting sports writers have taken note.


    On Thursday, Nov. 17, a plane carrying Oklahoma State women's basketball coach Kurt Budke and assistant Miranda Serna crashed in Arkansas, killing them and two others. This for a school that almost 11 years earlier had lost players and coaches from the men's basketball team in a plane crash in Colorado.


    Human beings mourn. They sap emotional energy when they do so, and they confront and process tragedy — whether tragedy inflicted on friends or on their community — in ways that are hard for those to see who focus only on the numbers or the field.


    One night after the crash, the Cowboys football team raced to a 24-7 lead on the road against Iowa State and then … fizzled.


    Iowa State won in double overtime.


    There is no way to measure the impact of something like what happened, but we know this: When a close-knit community, like a university, experiences death on a scale so personal and so unfair, it can strike home in unexpected ways.


    There were other factors, too, those much less important but still relevant in a conversation bout football. Gundy pointed out Saturday that his team (ah-hem, Alabama) "didn't lose at home." The Cowboys' loss was a Friday game and thus a short week to prepare.


    These aren't excuses. They're facts. They don't erase the loss, or provide an excuse that makes Oklahoma State's national-title claims rock solid. But they put that loss in context. That defeat was a question mark, not a verdict. What happened Saturday against Oklahoma cleared up things.


    Let this team take on LSU.


    The Cowboys displayed a balance Saturday critics said did not exist, rushing for more yards (278) than they had in the air (217). They displayed a defense critics said didn't exist, too, holding Oklahoma to just 10 points and 3.3 rushing yards per carry.


    "Our defense was better than what people said," Gundy noted. "But there wasn't anything statistically that backed it up. I mentioned to them tonight was the night. I don't think there's any question that they showed up in a big way."


    There's a lot here beyond the stats. Past the rankings, past the obsession with SEC football, past a loss to Iowa State, past ESPN's way-too-obvious craving to televise LSU-Alabama.


    Past, even, the fact Gundy said last week that he would put Alabama ahead of his own team if forced to choose.


    "People told me at the coffee shop, they were giving me a hard time for talking about the other schools last week," he said. "Oklahoma State hadn't earned the right to talk about a game past the conference championship game because we hadn't won a conference championship game. But after what they accomplished tonight, the way they did it against the No. 10 team in the country, I don't think there's a question they deserve an opportunity to play for it all."


    He's right.


    Let's finally say no to the knee-jerk reaction. To the pack mentality. To what we think we're supposed to proclaim. To what we know is the safe answer that'll make those of us not emotionally invested feel safe from criticism.


    Let's say no to an SEC rematch and yes to one conference champion playing another conference champion for a national — note national, rather than SEC — championship.


    Given the stupidity of the system under which we must work, Oklahoma State belongs in that game instead Alabama. If you don't like it, SEC or Alabama fans, help overthrow the system.


    Until then, things as they stand remain wildly unfair, and that means your shot at winning it all should wait until next season.


    You can follow Bill Reiter on
    Twitter or email him at foxsportsreiter@gmail.com.




    Lets not shoot the messenger.






  13. #73



    By Brian Rice
    For SEC Digital Network

    Atlanta, Ga. -- Down 10-0 to Georgia late in the first half, many in the Georgia Dome wondered if LSU’s dream season was going to come to a crashing halt. But with 5:48 left in the second quarter, the Tigers answered the bell.

    More accurately, Tyrann Mathieu answered the bell with an electrifying 62-yard punt return that cut the deficit to 10-7 at the half and turned the momentum the Tigers’ way.

    “Obviously, we got off to a slow start,” Mathieu said. “So I just felt that I needed to change the momentum of the game. It was the perfect time with that punt return. Just trying to make one guy miss and just get up the field.”

    “It took our team to rebound from a deficit to play,” LSU head coach Les Miles said. “I'm very proud of this team. This team down 14 and the target's on, down 10 to a very quality Georgia team, comes back and rebounds. Never are they out of it. They're a team that there's never any question that they were going to get their feet, get their bearings, and compete.”

    The second half was all LSU, as the Tigers scored an SEC Championship Game-record 21 points in the third quarter on the back of freshman running back Kenny Hilliard to build a lead they would not relinquish en route to a 42-10 win over the Bulldogs.

    Hilliard, listed fourth on the LSU depth chart, scored on runs of 15 and four yards in the first five minutes of the third, then pulled in a Jordan Jefferson swing pass and covered the remaining eight yards, shedding a defender along the way, at the 3:45 mark.

    “Kenny made a couple of key cuts and some very key runs in that game,” Miles said. “It really looked like he had a hot hand and we didn't want to go away from him. He makes great cuts, and he's very physical. And that was that kind of game.”

    Mathieu had four punt returns for a total of 119 yards and recovered an Aaron Murray fumble to become the first defensive player since Ellis Johnson of Florida in 1994 to be named the Most Valuable Player of the SEC Championship game.

    Georgia started the game off hot, holding LSU to a three-and-out on the game’s opening possession and drove down the field to the LSU 17 yard line. From there, a false start penalty and a pass in the end zone through the hands of Tavarres King left the Bulldogs to settle for a 40-yard Blair Walsh field goal for the game’s initial score.

    Mark Richt rolled the dice on the ensuing kickoff, calling an onside kick that the Bulldogs recovered at the UGA 49 yard line. A holding penalty set the Bulldogs back, but they still managed to again drive deep into LSU territory, reaching the 21 yard line. But a delay of game penalty on second down, followed by a pair of incomplete passes led to another Walsh field goal attempt. Walsh pushed the ball right from 45 yards out and the score remained 3-0.

    The teams traded punts over the next three possessions before Georgia took over at the LSU 44. Carlton Thomas jumpstarted the drive with a 16-yard run on second down to the LSU 27. Three plays later, Murray hit Aron White across the middle for a 12-yard touchdown. Walsh’s extra point made it 10-0 Georgia with :42 left in the first quarter.

    “I was proud of the way we started,” Richt said. “We missed a couple of opportunities for more points. Probably could have had 21 points in the first half if we just catch the football, but we're not able to do that.

    Neither team could gain traction on offense in the second quarter, and Mathieu’s 62-yard punt return was the period’s only score.

    “It certainly was a very tremendous play that Tyrann Mathieu made,” said Miles of the return. “It seemed to be a few more than just one guy he made miss.”

    “When you play as hard as he does, good things do happen to you,” Richt said of Mathieu. “I'll be honest with you, I enjoy watching the guy play football other than what he plays against us, because when you do see a guy like that, you can appreciate it. There's something about him that he seems to find a way to do something special just about every game, and he did it again.”

    For the LSU offense, it was a tale of two halves in every sense.

    At halftime, the Tigers had 12 yards of total offense with no first downs and quarterback Jordan Jefferson had completed just two passes. The lack of production on offense led Miles to hint to CBS’s Tracy Wolfson in the halftime interview that senior Jarrett Lee could see action in the second half.

    Georgia received the opening kick of the second half looking to expand the halftime advantage, but on the third play from scrimmage, quarterback Aaron Murray ran for what would have been a Georgia first down, but fumbled as he fell to the ground. Mathieu fell on the ball at the Georgia 26 and set up the Tigers to take their first lead of the game. A Georgia substitution infraction moved LSU to the 21 before a Reuban Randle six-yard reception set up Hilliard’s 15-yard score to put the Tigers in front.

    The Bulldogs went three-and-out on their next possession and again punted to Matheiu, and he did not disappoint, weaving his way 47 yards to the UGA 17, setting up the Tigers with a short field again. Hilliard then left no doubt, covering the four yards over left guard for the touchdown.

    Georgia was able to pick up a first down on its next drive, but an Aaron Murray pass deep down the right sideline was intercepted by Tharold Simon at the LSU 30. The Tigers then embarked on a drive that more than doubled their offensive yardage, covering 10 plays and 70 yards, capped by Hillard’s eight-yard catch for the score and a 28-10 lead after the PAT.

    Alfred Blue added a 48-yard run with 6:17 left in the game and Morris Claiborne intercepted a Murray pass and returned it 45 yards for the game’s final score with 4:21 remaining.




    Atlanta, Ga. --The legend of the “Honey Badger” continued to grow Saturday night in the Georgia Dome.

    But LSU cornerback Tyrann Mathieu is more than his famous nickname, a YouTube sensation that mimics his style of play.


    Mathieu came up with the two plays that turned the game in LSU’s favor in the SEC Championship, a 62-yard punt return late in the first half that cut Georgia’s lead to 10-7 and a fumble recovery deep in Bulldog territory that set up the Tigers’ go-ahead score.


    “Obviously, we got off to a slow start,” Mathieu said. “So I just felt that I needed to change the momentum of the game. It was the perfect time with that punt return. Just trying to make one guy miss and just get up the field.”


    For his efforts, the sophomore became just the third defensive player to be named Most Valuable Player of the SEC Championship Game, and the first since Florida’s Ellis Johnson won the award in 1994. Mathieu had a total of four punt returns for 119 yards and the touchdown.


    “When you play as hard as he does, good things do happen to you,” Georgia head coach Mark Richt said. "He's very athletic. He's very competitive, very tough. There's something about him that he seems to find a way to do something special just about every game, and he did it again.”


    LSU had just 12 yards of total offense in the first half and Georgia had held the ball for nearly twice as long as the Tigers. But with one play, Mathieu gave LSU reason to believe their undefeated season would continue.


    As the second half opened, it didn’t take Mathieu long to make sure the momentum would stay in the Tigers’ corner. UGA quarterback Aaron Murray ran for what should have been a first down, but the ball popped free, with the “Honey Badger” there to pounce.


    “Last night I envisioned me having three touchdowns,” Mathieu said. “I think I came close to that. What it came down to is me trying to do what I can for my team. I put the pressure on myself at times. It's just about me trying to shift the momentum and just put my team in the position to win the game.”


    As for the nickname, Mathieu seems to be stuck with it thanks to a now famous video session with LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis.


    “Coach Chavis showed me that video (of the honey badger) coming back from the West Virginia game,” he said. “I definitely thought it was entertaining. The narrator on there was definitely a funny guy. Me and my teammates love the name. I think it depicts me on the field, soo I just go with it. My teammates do a great job of having my back. Anything I can do for those guys to lift their spirit.”






  14. #74

  15. #75
    Ima gonna to crawl out on this fairly solid looking limb here,,,,

    then, if not Bama,,it should be! They are the only team in the country that worries me.


    Just say'n
    ....






Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not Create Posts
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts