Diocese awarded $20M bond deal
November 28, 2006Thibodaux toy drive kicks into high gear
December 1, 2006
LSU, which is ranked No. 5 in the latest Associated Press poll, used a 92-yard kickoff return by Trindon Holliday to cap a 10-2 regular season and beat SEC West Champion and Arkansas, 31-26, on Friday at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
LSU moved up to No. 5 in the Bowl Championship Series poll and will learn which bowl they will be selected for on Sunday night.
LSU (6-2 in SEC) beat Arkansas (10-2, 7-1 SEC) for the fourth-straight time. This year’s game was the first time the teams both met while each ranked in the top 10.
The Tigers finished the regular season with six consecutive wins, including two of those wins on the road against top-10 opponents. In fact, LSU made history by playing all four of its home games this season against top-10 opponents.
Against the Hogs, the Tigers overcome two fumbles in Arkansas territory.
Quarterback JaMarcus Russell threw two touchdown passes, including a 47-yarder to Craig Davis that gave LSU a 14-6 lead in the second quarter and a 7-yarder to Early Doucet that put the Tigers up 24-12 early in the fourth quarter.
The score by Doucet was the first of three within a minute of game time, as Arkansas’ Darren McFadden tore off an 80-yard run on the next play from scrimmage to cut the LSU lead to 24-19.
However, on the kickoff, Holliday took the ball from the 8-yard line, broke through the Arkansas defense, and sprinted by two Hogs for the touchdown. Holliday, a 5-foot-5 freshman, also runs track for the Tigers.
LSU allowed another score with less than five minutes to play in the game, however, the drive took more than five minutes off the clock. With no timeouts remaining, Arkansas again took over with 2:04 after an LSU punt went only 22 yards to the Arkansas 27-yard line. Four broken-up passes later, the Tigers had beaten an Arkansas team that will play on Saturday against Florida for the outright SEC title.
LSU came in with the best defense in the nation, but allowed 298 rushing yards.
Russell completed 14 of 22 passes for 210 yards. Keiland Williams finished with 68 yards on 13 carries, including a 29-yard touchdown sprint for LSU’s first score.
Dwayne Bowe led the Tigers receiving corps with five catches for 68 yards and a few key blocks that opened holes for the LSU running game. Davis added three catches for 72 yards, while Hester caught three balls for 44 yards.
LSU won the toss to open the game for the 10th time this season and elected to defer its decision to the second half. Arkansas took advantage by storming 80 yards down the field in six plays, capped by a 1-yard McFadden run on third and goal.
However, the PAT was missed. Later in the quarter, LSU answered with a six-play drive of its own that spanned 70 yards. LSU overcame a holding penalty that forced second-and-long from near midfield when Russell connected with Bowe for 22 yards for a first down in Arkansas territory. On the next play, Williams bounced around the right end and outran the Arkansas secondary for a 29-yard touchdown run, which was his third of the season. Colt David’s PAT gave LSU a 7-6 lead with 4:51 to play in the first quarter.
Davis scored the second touchdown of the game for the Tigers when he hauled in a 47-yard pass for the score, which put LSU up by eight. The Tigers led 14-12 at the half.
LSU won its 10th coin toss and deferred to the second half setting up a 27-yard field goal by David to up its lead to five points midway through the third quarter.
With the victory, it marked the first time in school history that LSU has posted back-to-back 10-win regular seasons.
TIGERS FALL TO WITCHITA STATE
The LSU men’s basketball team dropped to 2-1 on the season with a 57-53 loss to Wichita State on Saturday in Baton Rouge. The Shockers improved to 4-0 after getting five double-figure performances. LSU was led by Glen Davis (17 points, 13 rebounds) and Darnell Lazare’s 11 points. The Tigers led by six at the half, but shot only 33.3 percent in the game from the floor in the second half and 40 percent for the game.
LSU plays host to McNeese State on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in its only game this week.
LADY TIGERS ALSO FALL FOR FIRST TIME THIS SEASON
The Lady Tigers basketball team also suffered its first loss of the season this week, but responded with two blowout wins to up their mark to 7-1. On Tuesday, LSU lost at Baylor, 64-60. In the defeat, Erica White had 20 points, while teammate Sylvia Fowles added 14 points. The Lady Tigers were hurt by hitting only 2-of-17 shots from 3-point range in the game (11.8 percent). LSU rebounded with two blowout wins at the University of Texas-San Antonio Roadrunner Thanksgiving Classic. On Friday, the Lady Tigers beat Tulsa, 61-37 and on Saturday, they whipped Eastern Washington, 105-52. Against Tulsa, LSU was led by 15 points from RaShonta LeBlanc. Against Eastern Washington, the Lady Tigers were led by Folwes (17 points), Quianna Chaney (11 points), White (10 points) and Ashley Thomas (10 points). This week, LSU plays at UNO on Monday and plays host to Detroit at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
VOLLEYBALL TEAM CONCLUDES REGULAR SEASON
The 15th-ranked LSU volleyball team completed the SEC/Big East Challenge without dropping a game, sweeping Marquette, 30-22, 31-29, 30-16, on Saturday afternoon in Orlando.
With the win, the Tigers improved to 26-5 on the season, tying the 1992 team for the most wins since the 1991 NCAA Final Four team. LSU now awaits its postseason bid.
Kassi Mikulik finished with 10 digs, her 31st double-figure dig mark of the season, and broke the LSU single-season digs record. She now has 525 digs, breaking the mark of 516 held by Luciana Reis in 1993. Daniela Romero also became just the eighth player in LSU history to record 1,000 career digs with her first of nine digs in the match. In addition, she finished with 50 assists, her 13th 50-assist match of the season, moving her into fourth in single-season assists in school history. Marina Skender led the match with 15 kills, followed by senior Melody Clark with 11. In addition, Clark hit .360, while Vanessa Freeman posted a .462 hitting percentage with eight kills. Lauren DeGirolamo led the match with nine blocks, followed by Freeman with four.
