More Thoughts on the LSU – Kentucky Game

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and little children shout;
But there is no joy in Mudville–great Casey has struck out.

Ok, wrong sport…but I imagine that’s the general feeling on the LSU campus today. The Tigers, ranked #1 going into their Saturday evening match up with Kentucky (ranked #17), Were looking to go undefeated to the championship, and by the looks of their schedule, they probably would have done it too.

What made this game so exciting was that it wasn’t one of those major upsets like we’ve been seeing with teams like Stanford beating USC. No, everyone knew that Kentucky was good. Still, no one expected a game like this.

Both teams had a good day as far as turnovers go, with just 1 by LSU and 2 by Kentucky. However, Kentucky’s Andre Woodson dominated the game, throwing 21 completions in 38 attempts for a total of 250 yards. Those stats may no seem all that impressive, but compared to Matt Flynn’s, Woodson is golden. Flynn only made 17 of his 35 attempts for a total of 130 yards.

But give LSU some credit here – they killed in rushing, led by Charles Scott (7 carried for 94 yards), with the help of the team’s bulldozer, Jacob Hester (18 carries for 61 yards). Hester was injured during overtime, which may have accounted for the team’s final loss. Well, what do you expect when you play in three overtimes and have Kentucky’s defense slamming into you again and again?

That’s right – three overtimes. And you thought the Hawaii – San Jose State game was exciting! Kentucky almost won during regular game plan on a huge last-minute 57-yard field goal attempt by kicker Colt David, but the ball swung to the side just slightly (although, amazingly, had it gone straight, it would have made it).

During overtime, Kentucky started off with the ball and a false start penalty. At that point, fans were biting their nails, hoping the team could at least make it forward a bit to put them back into field goal range. Kentucky’s MVP for the night? LSU’s Tyson Jackson. During the first overtime play, he got called for roughing the passer, a huge 15-yard penalty. Derrick Locke rushed in for the touchdown and Lone Seiber’s field goal attempt sailed right in.

LSU wasn’t rattled, and Flynn passed to Demetrius Byrd, who walked into the endzone. David’s point was also good, putting the game into the second overtime. This time, LSu started with the ball. They were forced to kick a field goal, and David’s attempt was good. Not to be stopped, Seiber made a 43-yard field goal kick look easy. Game still tied, and the players headed into the third overtime.

When Locke’s rushing attempt didn’t gain any yardage and Kentucky got called for delay of game, things looked a bit grim. Woodson pulled it out of the fire on the third down on the play of the game – an endzone pass to Steve Johnson. College rules say that you have to go for the two-point conversion during third overtime, and Kentucky failed…but that wouldn’t matter. LSU put Hester in the game and gave him the ball 3 times for a total gain of 8 yards. Hester limped off the field, and Scott tried to pick up those 2 yards they needed for a first down…and failed.

Cue sea of blue to the field.

It was one of the most exciting games I’ve seen in a long time. Personally, I was cheering for Kentucky because I’d like to see a Big Ten school win the championship, which they are now in the position to do. In any case, though, watching this game made me again realize how much I love college football!

AP Photo/Ed Reinke