The Louisiana State University Tigers upset the Tennessee Volunteers in Saturday's SEC Championship game at Atlanta, 31-20, to win their first SEC title since 1988 and eliminate Tennessee from Rose Bowl contention.
LSU sealed the game with 2:26 left to play, facing a fourth and goal inches from the endzone. The Tigers clung to a four-point lead, 24-20, and a field goal would have forced Tennessee to score a quick touchdown to send the game into overtime. Nevertheless, head coach Nick Saban chose to go for it. The gamble paid off as LSU scored and left Tennessee down by 11 with two minutes to play.
LSU will now play in the Sugar Bowl, and Tennessee will likely compete in the Citrus Bowl.
Two fumble recoveries also helped bring the victory to LSU which was without starting quarterback Rohan Davey and starting running back LaBrandon Toefield for most of the game. Both went down with injuries in the first quarter, but Davey came back, only to be injured again in the second quarter.
The LSU replacements played just as well as their injured counterparts would have, however, and helped propel the Tigers to victory. Although Matt Mauck, who came in for Davey, only completed 5 of 15 passes, he rushed 12 times for 43 yards and two touchdowns. Mauck maintained control of the game and did not turn the ball over. Toefield's replacement, Dominick Davis, ran for 78 yards on 16 carries.
The LSU offense stayed together through the work of receiver Josh Reed. The star receiver had only four catches, but they were all important. His presence alone eased his teammates and kept the injured offense from falling apart.
With Tennessee officially out of contention, the door is open for either Nebraska, Colorado, or Oregon to step in and play Miami in the Rose Bowl. With the AP and ESPN polls in, the Bowl Championship Series rankings will come out later today. The BCS factors in the two polls along with six out of eight computer rankings, strength of schedule, number of losses, and number of wins versus top 15 ranked teams.
Coming into this weekend Nebraska was ranked third in the BCS, but with changes in the polls, Colorado is making a surge to get into the Rose Bowl. They appear to be the frontrunner because of their rise in the polls and their strength of schedule, which was the second hardest in Division I football.
Many people fear that the BCS will pit an unworthy opponent against Miami in the Rose Bowl, but a negative argument can be made against each of the three teams in the running.
Nebraska got blown out by Colorado just two weeks ago and failed to play in its own conference championship game. Colorado has two loses, which were early in the season, but the other two contenders only have one apiece. Finally, Oregon played the weakest schedule, by far, of all three.
Whichever team makes it to the big game, do not be surprised if they pull an upset. The way college football has gone this year, the underdogs have played with much more intensity. Tennessee learned the role of the underdog in the past two weeks, beating Florida in last week's game after being 18 point underdogs. This week, they were favored and lost.
Crouch Wins Heisman
Whether or not Nebraska makes it into the Rose Bowl, Eric Crouch will still be able to go home and polish his new Heisman Trophy.The Heisman is given to the best all-around player in Division I football. This year, the running came down to four quarterbacks, Ken Dorsey of Miami, Rex Grossman of Florida, Joey Harrington of Oregon, and Crouch of Nebraska.
Although the entire race was close, it was speculated that Crouch, Dorsey, or HarGrossman would win. Perhaps in the end Crouch's seniority won him more votes. Crouch is a senior, Dorsey a junior, and Grossman a sophomore.
Crouch is a quarterback, but he won many games with his legs. In 2001 he rushed for 1,115 yards and 18 touchdowns. He complimented that with 1,510 passing yards and seven touchdowns through the air.
