Louisiana State Makes Its (Decimal) Points

ATLANTA —  Syracuse won. That was good news for Louisiana State.

USC won. That was bad news.

Oklahoma lost. That had to be good news.

What does it all mean for the Tigers? All they knew for sure Saturday night was that if they lost to the Georgia Bulldogs at the Georgia Dome in the Southeastern Conference championship game, it would be the worst news of all for them.

So there was no time for scoreboard watching or poll pondering or computer calculating. Because for more than three quarters, they couldn’t shake those pesky Bulldogs.

Third-ranked LSU ultimately prevailed, 34-13, to run its record to 12-1 and its prospects for a championship-game appearance to who knows where, thanks to the running of freshman Justin Vincent (an SEC championship-game record 201 yards rushing and two touchdowns), the passing of quarterback Matt Mauck (14 for 22 for 151 yards and a touchdown), the receiving of Michael Clayton (five catches for 81 yards and a touchdown) and a suffocating defense.

When it was over, the majority of the questions were about the meaning of the dizzying ups and downs of Saturday’s games, about the speculation over who would play for the national championship, about which two teams would break into cheers following today’s announcement.

But LSU Coach Nick Saban wouldn’t bite. And neither would his players.

“I think our team deserves the opportunity to play in another football game,” Saban said. “I respect the system. Without a playoff system, which I’m not in favor of, I’m not sure if you ever know if the two best teams are playing for the championship. What happens, happens. We have taken care of business.

“If we hadn’t lost a game, we would not be where we are right now.”

Despite all the conjecture about today’s announcement, Saban claims his team has not allowed itself to get involved. At least as far as he knows.

“I have never heard talk of which bowl game we are going to,” he said. “I have not had one player ask which bowl game we are going to. Not one. That takes a lot of maturity.”

Saban was counting on his team’s maturity, along with its talent, to remain in the hunt for a national-championship berth by beating the fifth-ranked Bulldogs (10-3) for the second time this season. LSU won the first meeting, 17-10, in September in Baton Rouge.

But Georgia was plagued by injuries back then, early in a season in which it lost 24 starters at one time or another.

They were at full strength Saturday night and determined to pull off an upset that would boost their stock in the muddled bowl situation.

It didn’t appear that would be the case when the Tigers surged into a 17-0 lead. Vincent, named the game’s most valuable player, began the offensive surge with an 87-yard scoring run down the right sideline.

Chris Jackson’s attempt at a conversion kick was so low that it slammed into the crossbar, but later in the quarter, Bulldog punter Gordon Ely-Kelso had problems of his own that enabled the Tigers to extend their lead. Standing near his own goal line, he allowed the center snap to slip out of his hands. By the time Ely-Kelso recovered, he was swarmed over and tackled for a safety.

Clayton caught a 43-yard touchdown pass from Mauck and Ryan Gaudet added a 35-yard field goal before Georgia got its only points of the first half on a 51-yard field goal by Billy Bennett.

When Bennett added another three points, on a 49-yard field goal, in the third quarter, LSU’s lead was down to 17-6 and its rooters among the crowd of 74,913, a record for an SEC championship game, fell silent at the thought of their BCS hopes fading into the cold Atlanta night.

But as was the case all night, the Tiger defense, which came in having allowed an average of 10.6 points a game, responded at a critical point.

With Georgia facing second and four at its own 17-yard line, quarterback David Greene faded back to pass, but found his vision blocked by Marcus Spears, the Tigers’ 6-foot-4, 297-pound defensive end. When Greene nevertheless threw a pass into the right flat, linebacker Lionel Turner was there to grab it and raced into the end zone on an 18-yard scoring play.

“The interception return was a big momentum shift,” Turner said. “I read Greene’s eyes and tipped the ball to myself.”

Still, the Bulldogs weren’t done. Before the quarter ended, Greene hooked up with Ben Watson on an 18-yard touchdown pass to make it 24-13.

But LSU finally shut Georgia down in the fourth quarter and added two insurance scores, on a three-yard run by Vincent and a 22-yard field goal by Gaudet.

“Maybe now people realize how good we actually are,” said cornerback Cory Webster. “We have to wait for the computers to see where we actually go.”

Georgia Coach Mark Richt endorsed the Tigers: “I’d vote for them,” he said.

The Tigers can only wish it was that simple.