Peach Bowl (Miami - LSU)

[Craptacular]

OK, we had threads for the other bowls today, so I figured the best matchup of the day (and perhaps best outside Pasadena) needed one.

How did Kyle Wright not see the TE on that 4th down play??

[Dr. Sak]

How about that block!

[Craptacular]

Helmet to helmet though.

edit: Plus, Hester just ran out of bounds, and didn't even take advantage of it.

[Dr. Sak]

I am surprised to see how easily LSU is moving the ball on Miami.

[Craptacular]

So much for the best "matchup".

[Vegas Vic]

I never thought I'd see a Miami team mail it in.

Jerome Brown must be rolling over in his grave.

[JW]

I never thought I'd see a Miami team mail it in.

Jerome Brown must be rolling over in his grave.

They didn't mail it in. They came out with their usual swagger and trashtalk. LSU made some key stops in the first half. The 3rd and one at the goalline. The 4th down play. Another stop on a third and one. LSU's offensive line began to dominate and Miami got beaten down and gave up early in the 3rd quarter. LSU played its best game of the season. LSU is as good as anyone in the country outside of Texas and USC.

[st.cronin]

They didn't mail it in. They came out with their usual swagger and trashtalk. LSU made some key stops in the first half. The 3rd and one at the goalline. The 4th down play. Another stop on a third and one. LSU's offensive line began to dominate and Miami got beaten down and gave up early in the 3rd quarter. LSU played its best game of the season. LSU is as good as anyone in the country outside of Texas and USC.

I don't think it's at all obvious that Texas/USC are more than marginally better than LSU.

[WVUFAN]

They didn't mail it in. They came out with their usual swagger and trashtalk. LSU made some key stops in the first half. The 3rd and one at the goalline. The 4th down play. Another stop on a third and one. LSU's offensive line began to dominate and Miami got beaten down and gave up early in the 3rd quarter. LSU played its best game of the season. LSU is as good as anyone in the country outside of Texas and USC.
Except for Georgia, who, y'know, dominated LSU in the SEC Championship.

[JW]

Except for Georgia, who, y'know, dominated LSU in the SEC Championship.


I think LSU is as good as Georgia. Not better. LSU's team we put on the field tonight would give Georgia a much better game than than we did in the SECCG. I'm not saying we would beat them. Just that we would give them a much better game. We're a better team than we were four weeks ago.

Update - LSU radio is saying several Miami players rushed the LSU locker room after the game and created a scene; one was either arrested or just escorted from the scene by police officers. #72, Andrew Baines? LSU coaches discussed it w/a Miami official. You could see a little of it on TV before they cut away. Apparently some of the Hurricanes can dish it out but can't take it.

Further update - reports are saying LSU wideout Bowe, from the Miami area, was trashtalking some Miami players after the game -- probably some of the Miami DBs who love to trashtalk during the game -- and Miami players went after Bowe in the locker room. Bowe was heavily recruited by Miami. So this was apparently a Miami homeboy type thing. Bowe tends to do more of that type stupidity than the other LSU players, and if he did, it was a dumb thing to do. But My statement stands: apparently some of the Hurricanes can dish it out but can't take it.

[B & B]

worst. bowl game. this year.

[ISiddiqui]

Haw Haw... Miami didn't have a 1st down in the last 40 minutes of the game.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Apparently some of the Hurricanes can dish it out but can't take it.

A fake FG AND a fake punt with the lead LSU had? There's obviously a new leader of the no-class pack & it ain't Miami.

But that really doesn't come as much of a surprise to me either, their fans have been gaining that reputation for a number of years & apparently the team has gone in the same direction.

[Poli]

A fake FG AND a fake punt with the lead LSU had? There's obviously a new leader of the no-class pack & it ain't Miami.

But that really doesn't come as much of a surprise to me either, their fans have been gaining that reputation for a number of years & apparently the team has gone in the same direction.
Man, that's horrible.

[cartman]

Man, that's horrible.

He's still bitter from the Georgia Tech showing against Utah.

[JonInMiddleGA]

He's still bitter from the Georgia Tech showing against Utah.

Nah, that actually didn't surprise me enough to make me bitter. Gailey is worthless, (No)Braine the AD is worse than worthless, and I'm still a very long way from forgiving or forgetting about them putting Dr.Feelgood back on the field to play.

So trust me, the Debacle By the Bay has zip to do with it.

[JW]

A fake FG AND a fake punt with the lead LSU had? There's obviously a new leader of the no-class pack & it ain't Miami.

But that really doesn't come as much of a surprise to me either, their fans have been gaining that reputation for a number of years & apparently the team has gone in the same direction.

What a bunch of total, pure crap. Miami has long had a reputation for running up the score and trashtalking and thuggish behavior. Others can determine if that reputation is deserved or not. They did a lot of trashtalking in the first half. LSU does not make a habit of running up scores. Just show me a history of LSU running up scores on teams.

And most of the reports of LSU fan behavior are outright lies by losers, though every team has its share of stupid fans. I've been to a lot of LSU games and I have never seen an LSU fan do anything untoward to an opposing fan, other than the traditional "Tiger Bait" yell. I have seen some stupid, drunk LSU fans fight each other in the stands. I have though been cussed out by opposing fans in Baton Rouge though. In each case it has been, fwiw, drunk Ole Miss fans, with Ole Miss losing the game.

You don't know what you're talking about. Bye. You can have the last word on this because I'm going back to the LSU forum to enjoy myself.

[VPI97]

I never thought I'd see a Miami team mail it in.This was one of the easiest calls of the bowl season. Miami never shows up in a bowl game unless it's one of the big four...same thing with VT for that matter.

A fake FG AND a fake punt with the lead LSU had? There's obviously a new leader of the no-class pack & it ain't Miami.Yep...even my wife made the comment that she lost any respect for LSU after seeing what they were doing.

[JonInMiddleGA]

What a bunch of total, pure crap.

Yes, I agree. That's a great description of the LSU fans and now, apparently, their coach & their players.

Just show me a history of LSU running up scores on teams.

All history starts somewhere & you should be ashamed of what they did tonight. The fact that you aren't says as much about you as it does about them AFAIC.

And most of the reports of LSU fan behavior are outright lies by losers, though every team has its share of stupid fans.

Sorry, saw them first hand with my own eyes. I can't speak for how they behave at home, but on the road they are indeed the single most classless group of "fans" I've ever encountered. Maybe it's just the one who travel or live out of town (seriously, I don't know, maybe that really is where the problem is).

You don't know what you're talking about. Bye.

I've had the misfortune of seeing them up close & personal on one occasion, once was more than enough thanks. Unfortunately, I know too well exactly what I'm talking about but if those rose-colored glasses make you feel better, enjoy them. Just be careful, those things have a tendency to make you run into walls & stuff.

[Blade6119]

Its not LSUs job to put on the brakes(did none of the other games teach you that...mizzou and ucla both came back from more then 21-0)...its miami's job to stop them. If any of you watched the other games you would know why you run up the score. To prevent a comeback and to impress recruits.

[Vegas Vic]

Miami has long had a reputation for running up the score and trashtalking and thuggish behavior.

I've got to agree with that. One of my earliest memories of Miami was Jimmy Johnson calling a double reverse to Michael Irvin late in the 4th quarter when Miami was beating Notre Dame something like 49-7. I don't like Notre Dame, but I'll never forget that one.

[SirFozzie]

see the lead story about the Brawl between LSU and Miami after the game? Looks like the Hurricanes DID take offense to LSU runnin it up.

[vex]

see the lead story about the Brawl between LSU and Miami after the game? Looks like the Hurricanes DID take offense to LSU runnin it up.
Yeah, I saw that. Hurricane player being escorted away by police, there's a shocker.

[SirFozzie]

Of course, if the story I'm reading, he may have a good reason.. being KO'd with a helmet won't make you a happy person when you wake up.

[vex]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/bowls05/news/story?id=2275993


Associated Press

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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top><!-- begin leftcol --><!-- template inline -->ATLANTA -- The game was bad enough for the Miami Hurricanes. What happened immediately after was even worse.



No. 9 Miami suffered its worst loss in more than seven years on Friday night, a 40-3 defeat to 10th-ranked LSU in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl -- a game marred by a skirmish near one of the field exit tunnels shortly after the game.



Miami coach Larry Coker said he was told the incident started when an LSU player tried to grab a game ball from a ballboy on the Hurricanes' sideline. That sparked a meleé with more than a dozen players involved in some capacity, and which apparently led to two Miami players being knocked unconscious.



"As a university, as a football program, we don't condone any type of activities such as that," Coker said. "Certainly, I think, that detracts from a great bowl game and what the spirit of college football is all about."



Coker said the two unconscious players were Andrew Bain and Khalil Jones. Neither was hospitalized, said Coker, who was told that those players were injured by someone swinging a helmet during the scuffle.



Miami players were not made available for comment after the game.



"That was a bunch of craziness," LSU offensive lineman Andrew Whitworth said.

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[Greyroofoo]

This should be amusing when I go into work on Tuesday

One supervisor is a HUGE Miami fan and the other is a HUGE LSU fan.
And they both LOVE to trash talk.

[Poli]

From what I read, the coach called the fake field goal (shouldn't have), but the players called the fake punt. Sounds reasonable. I think it demonstrated a lack of class by the player who called that fake punt (the upback, or personal protector), but depending on the situation, I can understand it.

If the kid who was in there hadn't played much and was just excited to be on the field...wanted to show the coaches he was still paying attention and was alert...I'd buy it.

[JW]

Here is another view on the fight. Also, a lot of the news reports talk about the teams fighting in "the" tunnel, as if there was just one tunnel, but the Miami players were in the LSU tunnel. They have two different tunnels at the Georgia Dome.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051231/ap_on_sp_co_ga_su/fbc_t25_peach_bowl;_ylt=AvPITYrCf0zZU4ZjDfIUWN2s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3cm82NXAwBHNlYwM3NTU-

LSU's Jacob Hester, who ran for 70 yards and a touchdown, said trash-talking began as normal banter and involved Tigers receiver Dwayne Bowe, a Miami native.

"We had a guy who is from Miami who was kidding around with one of his boys," Hester said. "Miami thought it was something serious. They came in the tunnel and they were swinging, but it was just a joke between friends."

http://www.nola.com/lsu/t-p/football/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/113603658055090.xml

FIGHT TO THE FINISH: As the teams were leaving the field through the same tunnel, players from both sides became involved in a scuffle.

The incident began when LSU receiver Dwayne Bowe, a Miami native, picked up the game ball and Miami linebacker Jon Beason playfully chased him into the tunnel.

A couple of Miami players noticed the pursuit and rushed to the aid of their teammate, even though both players know each other. As Beason tried to explain they were just joking around, the situation escalated into a fight.

Bowe did not go into particulars, only saying, "I can't talk or I'll get in trouble."

As for the fakes, they probably shouldn't have been called, but at least one was called on a very long FG attempt, and LSU ended up kicking an FG on that drive. The idea was to keep possession and run the clock. I can tell you for sure that at halftime I was thinking about the comebacks that had already occurred in games that day and was hoping LSU would keep pouring it on. That is the way you have to play football these days; you can't let up. Finally, I'll just stand by LSU's history on this one; someone show me a history of LSU running up the score on teams.

As for LSU's fan reputation, we do have some wild fans. A lot louder and more boisterous than a lot of fans. And when you get 90,000 people at a stadium, or 10-15,000 traveling LSU fans, you will have a few idiots in the bunch. But most of the bad LSU fan stories, if you watch, occur after LSU wins. And they are typically a product of pissed off losing fans. Our favorite story about LSU fans, btw, is the Auburn claim that LSU fans throw urine-filled bags from the upper decks during home games. Anybody who has ever been to a bigtime SEC game knows there is a lot of wild behavior, and no school has a monopoly on bad fans.

[Tigercat]

What? No further calls of LSU being classless when it turns out the PLAYERS called the fake punt based on formation differences?

And hell, if the fake punt was successful it would have SHORTENED the game by letting LSU run out more clock. Its not like LSU called a long pass to the endzone, the players freakin called a matchup audible so a non offensive player could make a running attempt to give the team more time to run out the clock.

And the fake FG? There was almost a full quarter left to play. Yet LSU shouldn't keep pulling out all the tricks after Tenn. came back to beat us earlier in the year?

Yea what a classless team. Its not like they even got worldwide recognition this year for unselfish acts of providing for those less fortunate

[JonInMiddleGA]

What? No further calls of LSU being classless when it turns out the PLAYERS called the fake punt based on formation differences?


No, just no further calls about it when it's freakin' obvious to pretty much the entire world & really isn't a subject of debate outside their little collection of fans.

The only thing preventing them from being the most unlikable collection of jackasses in all of sports right now is that their fans are even more unlikable. The team & the practical joke masquerading as their coach seem destined to play second fiddle to the frontrunners indefinitely.

[Tigercat]

No, just no further calls about it when it's freakin' obvious to pretty much the entire world & really isn't a subject of debate outside their little collection of fans.

The only thing preventing them from being the most unlikable collection of jackasses in all of sports right now is that their fans are even more unlikable. The team & the practical joke masquerading as their coach seem destined to play second fiddle to the frontrunners indefinitely.


Ah, so just incapable of defending a position logically, gotya.

And yea, I can't imagine a greater group of unlikeable guys than a team with multiple players that I know of(and probably more) who slept on floors while they opened their doors to refugees. Many of which they only knew of through other people they knew.

But, hey, one fake punt called by them to a defensive back, who at best would have barely gotten the first down and allowed them to win the game more quickly, obviously should make them unlikeable jackasses to everyone.

Well I suppose those who know them and what they have really done that matters will give them all the respect that they deserve. I just figured that as little as a discussion on them on a message board means, I owed a little defense for their actions that really don't need that much of a defense.

[sterlingice]

I dunno, maybe this is an SEC thing, but LSU doesn't even crack my list of top 5 most classless schools in the country.

SI

[Tigercat]

I dunno, maybe this is an SEC thing, but LSU doesn't even crack my list of top 5 most classless schools in the country.

SI

LSU fans can be amoung the most hospitable fans in the nation when sober. Most will freely invite opposing fans to tailgating tables before a game. The problem with "when sober" is that most LSU games are night games, allowing hours for alchy consumption, and LSU is surrounded by a culture in which alchy plays a large part. Its not that LSU fans are "bad" its that any fan base mixed with that much alchohol can get ugly. But all LSU fans get a pretty bad rap from other SEC fans because of the worst intoxicated idiots.

But its a shame that anyone would think worse of LSU players because of intoxicated idiotic fans. As another example of how great the current crop of LSU players are:

Rudy Niswanger, a Senior leader on the team, won the Draddy Trophy this year which recognizes the most outstanding football player in terms of academics and community service. Its the academic heisman trophy, given for all a football player should be off the field.

[JW]

Kinda funny that this is still being discussed. I've read quite a bit about the incident after the game and what led up to it. WWL-TV New Orleans has a good video about it, but I think you have to register at the site to watch it. Link.

http://www.wwltv.com/sharedcontent/VideoPlayer/videoPlayer.php?vidId=45027&catId=53

Here are some things that led up to the incident.

1. At the official bowl team dinner the day before the game, the tables were decorated with little Miami and LSU helmets. Miami players got there first and threw the LSU helmets down on the floor and crushed them.

2. During the pregame, the Miami players did their traditional thing of running to the logo on the center of the field and jumping up and down while trash talking and cussing the LSU team and coaches. There was also some bumping because LSU players were still in that area warming up, and Miami coaches and officials had to push some of the Miami players away.

My own view is that Miami thought it could intimidate LSU with its typical bullying type behavior and really thought it would have no trouble with LSU. I think Miami took LSU lightly after LSU was beaten badly by Georgia. What they didnt' reckon on (see the video) was that the Georgia game fired up LSU and that LSU was further fired up -- not intimidated -- by the Miami bullying. It backfired on them. I think Miami was not up for the game like LSU was, and they simply weren't prepared for LSU being as good as it is and as ready as it was.

Coach Miles explained that the one fake was to keep the clock running. And of course the other was not called by the coach. On punts, btw, LSU players do have an option to fake if they see certain things on defense. You might recall that in the first game of the year, LSU-Arizona State, that LSU faked a punt successfully from inside its own five yard line early in the first quarter (you can check it out), and that Miles did not call that play from the sideline.

If you want to check stats, you will see LSU ran 31 times and passed 6 times in the second half.

As for the cause of the fight, it apparently started with LSU player Bowe horseplaying with a Miami player. Miami players mistook this for a real fight.

Miami players were not through with their tantrum, though.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/colleges/university_of_miami/13521843.htm

The melee around the Miami team did not end when the team got back into its locker room following the fight. About 10 minutes after the doors were closed for a team meeting, defensive linemen Baraka Atkins and Kareem Brown stormed out of the locker room and started walking down a hallway.
A UM assistant coach yelled ''get back in here'' as he chased them into the hallway. Atkins and Brown kept walking.
Georgia State Patrol officers started filling the hallway as other personnel with the Miami program went after Atkins and Brown and coaxed them back into the locker room.

As for LSU fans, I'll say again that most of LSU's fan reputation is undeserved, though certainly some LSU fans do stupid things, just like other SEC fans. As a longtime follower of LSU football (my first game in 1968), I see that most of these stories are generated (and now spread on the internet) after teams lose to LSU. You don't see such stories after LSU loses. You would think it would be the other way around. And, honestly, though I know it has happened, I have never seen LSU fans behave poorly toward other fans at an LSU game. though I know it does happen. I have seen LSU fans give lots of free food and drink to opposing fans at tailgate parties after some good-natured "Tiger Bait" yells. But I have indeed been cussed out, twice, by Ole Miss fans as it happened, without any provocation at all except that I had on LSU gear, during LSU-Ole Miss games at Tiger Stadium.

[JonInMiddleGA]

You don't see such stories after LSU loses.

How convienient that you "forget" about the attack on the Tennessee bus after the game this year.

[larrymcg421]

I thought you were going to let Jon have the last word. Why do you make worthless, assinine statements like that if you have no intention of following them up?

ALso, your whole defense of LSU seems to be what Miami did wrong. Either what LSU did was classless or not. It doesn't matter how Miami acted before the game, after the game, or 10 years ago.

[JW]

I thought you were going to let Jon have the last word. Why do you make worthless, assinine statements like that if you have no intention of following them up?

ALso, your whole defense of LSU seems to be what Miami did wrong. Either what LSU did was classless or not. It doesn't matter how Miami acted before the game, after the game, or 10 years ago.

To make it simple, LSU was not classless. I would rather Bowe had not been horseplaying with a Miami player and friend after the game -- I thought the latter was kind of dumb on both their parts, but not classless.

Miami otoh was classless before, during, and after the game. I forgot to mention the Miami players who ran down to the LSU tunnel to make the "U" sign as LSU took the field before the game and to pretend to be praying over the Tigers. That happened, too, according to a friend who attended the game.

[Buccaneer]

I dunno, maybe this is an SEC thing, but LSU doesn't even crack my list of top 5 most classless schools in the country.

SI
I agree. I have my own 5 most classless...and then there's Miami which have been so far above (below?) everyone for over 20 years now. I cannot think of a team - in any league, in any sport - whose reputation is worse. They make the Cowboys look like choirboys.