Did Saban bring magic back to LSU? I say DiNardo did. Here's why

Let's get this straight, because people always think that Nick Saban brought LSU to prominence, and I've said this before, but Jerry DiNardo actually brought the magic back for LSU, not Saban. Saban won a national championship, true, (and there's always a rightful influx of blue chippers when that happens) but the talent pool that has fed the Tigers ever since was in place a few years before him and put there by DiNardo. For instance, if you look at the talent of signal callers from DiNardo's tenure:
Josh Booty (who was first-team All-SEC as a sophomore).
Craig Nall (who rotted on the bench under Saban, and transferred to Northwestern State, where he became the first quarterback in school history to surpass 2,000 yards passing in a season.)
and Herb Tyler Who beat out senior Jamie Howard late in his freshman season, and, over his next 31 games as a starter, LSU went 26-5.
I don't know how anyone could say Saban brought the talent. Under Saban, the signal callers were:
Rohan Davey (who didn't get the starting job until the 4th game of Saban's LSU career after Booty got hurt)
Rick Clausen (who later transferred to Tennessee because he couldn't start)
Matt Mauck (who didn't see P.T. until Davey got injured. Threw for 28 TDs in championship season of 2003)
Marcus Randall (who split time with:)
JaMarcus Russell (heavily recruited out of Mobile, and No. 1 draft pick).
I remember in a slugfest with Auburn in 1997, when Tigers wonderback Cecil Collins ran for 232 yards on 27 carries, and Rondell Mealey added 129 yards on just 12 touches (Auburn qb Dameyune Craig torched us for 342 yards in the air, but my point stands). Now, LSU lost, but that's what Saban brought to the table: coaching. But he didn't bring the horses (talent), the horses were already there. The talent DiNardo had stacks up pretty well with Saban's quarterbacks Marcus Randall, the mighty Matt Mauck and even JaMarcus Russell (who left 14 points on the field in every game), but his main man was a Jamaican cat by the name of Rohan Davey. Truth be told, DiNardo didn't like Davey (famous Davey quote:"Nick Saban gave me an opportunity, a chance for a fresh start, and I thank him for that."), but he got him on the squad never the less. And it was Saban who actually gave Davey his shot, but Ole St. Nick didn't recruit Davey, DiNardo did! This same Davey, as a senior in 2001, was the first QB in LSU history to pass for over 3,000 yards in a season (eclipsing Peyton Manning's best-year yardage at Tennessee in 1996).
That same year he threw for 528 yards against Alabama. At Alabama!
Dinardo lasted at LSU from 1994 to 1999, and it was HE, not Satan, that brought LSU back to prominence.
Dinardo did a number of things that Saban didn't have to:
* took over a program that had six straight losing seasons and that hadn't been ranked in the AP Top 25 since 1989.
* revived LSU football; bringing back the tradition of wearing white jerseys during home games
* restored LSU's reputation as an SEC powerhouse, (forcibly moving Tennessee out of the way as second-to-Florida in SEC perennial powerhouses. Florida, by the way, had unseated Alabama a decade earlier).
Saban did have something DiNardo didn't have though: Saban could coach, he could motivate, and he actually adjusted at halftime, something NiNardo never thought to do. So, all in all, Saban is the better coach and has the record and championship to prove it, but pleeeease don't say he brought the talent back to LSU. Saban's most valuable recruit, Matt Mauck, actually followed him from Michigan State. The running back-by-committee around that time: LaBrandon Toefield, Joseph Addai, Justin Vincent, Shyrone Carey were all Sabanites. (Dominick Davis was recruited by DiNardo).
Never the less, it ended badly for DiNardo, who was never largely appreciated in Tigerland, in the midst of a three-win season: On November 15, 1999, two days after LSU lost to unranked Houston in Tiger Stadium, LSU chancellor Mark Emmert canned DiNardo with one game remaining in the season. DiNardo was given the option to coach the game against Arkansas (the Battle for the Golden Boot), but DiNardo declined. Instead, offensive line coach Hal Hunter was named interim coach, leading LSU to a 35-10 victory over the Razorbacks. Nick Saban was named as DiNardo's replacement on November 30, 1999, and guided the Tigers to the 2001 SEC championship with many of DiNardo's recruits in the starting lineup. The rest, as they say, is his story.

LSU players still got love for St. Nick?

LSU still has 20 players on the squad that were recruited by Nick Saban.
They play for Les Miles, but they are "Saban guys" still.
With the most anticipated showdown of the season looming this Saturday, LSU's players STILL had good things to say about Satan. And even some employees, below are some quotes for the week:

Ya'el Lofton, coordinator of football operations and secretary to LSU coaches going back to Archer, still keeps in touch with Saban and other former LSU coaches.

"He was very good to work for," she said before the season. "So is coach Miles. Both of them are very good at not letting a loss get to them here in the office. I enjoyed working for Nick and I enjoy working for Les. I think the fans get carried away sometimes."

LSU defensive end Tyson Jackson has heard the fans.

"I can understand why they don't like him," said Jackson, who signed with Saban in 2004. "I mean, he's at Alabama now. But we as players don't hold any grudges. When the fans are talking about him, I don't defend him. I just sit back and listen. It's funny. But I don't have anything bad to say about coach Saban. He's a great coach, but coach Miles is a great coach, too."

Cornerback Chevis Jackson met with Saban every day in the 2004 season when he was a freshman.

"He practically was the secondary coach, and he taught me a lot when he was here and I'm thankful for it," Jackson said. "I really don't get into all that. I don't know why they hate him. They probably liked him when he was here. He left. He made that decision. He's at Alabama now, and you know we've got a game to play."

LSU senior associate athletic director Verge Ausberry, a former LSU linebacker from New Iberia, doesn't understand the fans' hateful mentality.

"I don't care what those people say," Ausberry said. "Nick was our coach and he put LSU back in the national spotlight. And Les has picked it up from there and made it continue on. I have a lot of respect for Nick and what he did for our program. We were losing for about 10 years before he came here."

Ausberry played at LSU from 1986-89 under coach Bill Arnsparger and Mike Archer and was part of SEC championship teams in 1986 and 1988.

"We hadn't won an SEC championship since I played before Nick got here," Ausberry said. "I don't understand the fans. Steve Spurrier (former national champion Florida coach) did about the same thing as Nick. He left Florida went to the NFL and came back to South Carolina. Florida doesn't hate him and he went to that school and won the Heisman there. He left, but he's in their ring of honor there."

LSU's quarterback 'beat up' in fight; Clean this up, Les. Pronto.

Nick Sab, uh, Satan obviously learned some voodoo during his brief stint in the bayou.
On the eve of the biggest game of the season for both teams, LSU backup quarterback Ryan Perrilloux was "beat up" in a bar fight near the LSU campus last night. Baton Rouge Police confirmPerrilloux and LSU linebacker Derrick Odom were involved, as well as All-American defensive lineman Glenn Dorsey. Perrilloux called his lawyer early Saturday and asked if he should sue; his lawyer said, no, just get outta there.
I've got three words for you, Les: CLEAN THIS UP!
Y'all going to Alabama and can't stay focused for one bye week? Com' on!
According to THIS REPORT, and THIS STORY, a witness inside the bar said that members of the football team were asked to take the stage and rap or something. That witness confirmed that Perrilloux and Odom were in the group.
The trouble allegedly started when bouncers at the Varsity started clearing everyone out, and that the football players refused to get off of the stage. The witness says that is when one of the players punched a bouncer and that is when upwards of forty players and bouncers started fighting.
We are told the fight spilled out into the parking lot behind the Chimes, that LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey was there and that Dorsey did not throw a single punch. Instead, he tried to break up the fight and get his teammates to leave.
I've got four MORE words for you, Les: CLEAN THIS UP, NOW!
The Tiger nation is in the longest uninterrupted run of quality QBs we've had in a long time (Davey, Mauck, JaMarcus, Flynn, etc.); but our quarterback situation is more precarious than people realize, 'specially with the newfound revelation that Matt Flynn almost transferred last year. We're bone-thin at QB without that guy, even though Perrilloux thinks he's ready for primetime.
Ah, and Satan is sooo enjoying this.

Nick Satan is prolly in his fire-red satin one-piece (complete with devil horns hood) snickering with his remote control in one hand, and some Killians in the other. GEEZ. Can't we make it through the season without anymore trouble from Perrilloux? He's the starting quarterback for the future, (well, maybe this guy is)for crying out loud, can't he grow up?
Les? Clean this up, Les. Clean this up!

Spurrier suicidal after Orange Crush

With LSU off, I took in Tenn-S.C., oh what a game. Tennessee did all it could to lose the game, but South Carolina couldn't find its way out of the gift wrap. They lost 27-24 in OT.
"It was a good game for television, I guess, but it wasn't a very good game for us," South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier said. "We had our chances but we weren't good enough to win the game tonight. You have to give Tennessee credit for kicking the field goal in overtime, and we couldn't make one. They tried to fumble it to us a couple of times on their last drive but we couldn't get either one of them. We couldn't cover the kickoff very well to pin them back in there. They outplayed us and they won the game. You have to give them credit."
Daniel Lincoln hit a field goal to force overtime and another to win as Tennessee recovered after blowing a three- touchdown lead to defeat 15th-ranked South Carolina, 27-24, in overtime at Neyland Stadium.
After LaMarcus Coker's 37-yard kick return gave Tennessee the ball near midfield with 1:11 remaining, Erik Ainge completed a pair of passes before the Vols picked up 18 yards on a fluke play. Arian Foster broke to the outside and was stripped cleanly, but offensive lineman Jacques McClendon fell on the ball for a first down at the Gamecocks 26. Three plays later, Ainge nearly gave the game away when he fumbled while being sacked, but Tennessee regained possession and spiked the ball in time to set up a 43-yard field goal attempt from Daniel Lincoln with five seconds remaining.
Lincoln hooked the kick badly, but a false start penalty negated the miss, and the Vols placekicker made good on his second opportunity to send the game to overtime when he hit from five yards deeper on the next snap.
Coker rumbled 12 yards for a first down on Tennessee's possession to open overtime, but the Vols ultimately had to settle for a 27-yard field goal from Lincoln.
"There will be a lot of talk about the two field goals," Lincoln said afterward. "But the kick return by LaMarcus (Coker) was huge."
The Tennessee defense, torched for 24 unanswered points in the second half, then came up with its biggest stand of the game to preserve the win. A busted flanker screen was blown up for a loss of five yards on the first snap, and the Vols defense forced fourth down when South Carolina quarterback Blake Mitchell overthrew Kenny McKinley in the corner of the end zone. Finally, Tennessee escaped when Ryan Succop's 40-yard field goal try went wide right, thanks at least in part to some pressure up the middle.
Ainge finished the game 26-for-44 passing for 216 yards and a touchdown, though the Volunteers offense sputtered in the second half. Foster carried 19 times for 75 yards and a score as Tennessee (5-3, 3-2 SEC) won for the fourth time in its last five games.
"(This was) a wonderful team win by our football team," said Tennessee head coach Phil Fulmer. "It wasn't pretty all the time, but it was a darn fine effort. This team has a really great spirit about it - a great effort team. They're fun to be around. They've been very responsive to us as coaches."

Mitchell came on in relief of starting quarterback Chris Smelley to complete 31-of-45 passes for 290 yards, with one touchdown and one costly interception. Cory Boyd rushed 20 times for 160 yards and a score, while McKinley tied a school-record with 14 catches for 154 yards and a touchdown before leaving during the overtime session with apparent leg cramps.

The Gamecocks (6-3, 3-3) went scoreless in the first half, completing a stretch of eight consecutive quarters in which they had not scored a touchdown, and ultimately lost for the second straight week.


Late in the first, Smelley completed a pass to Freddie Brown at the Tennessee 44, but Tennessee's DeAngelo Willingham jarred the ball loose and Eric Berry recovered and rumbled 52 yards before being driven out of bounds inside the Gamecocks five-yard line. Three plays later, Foster plunged in from a yard out to give the Vols a 7-0 lead with 1:14 remaining in the first.

LSU may start Byrd, sit LeFell against Alabama

YEEEY! LSU coach Les Miles implied today that LSU junior receiver Demetrius Byrd, who caught a 58-yarder against Auburn then made the 1-tick miracle, would start Nov. 3 against Alabama. Asked who his starting receivers would be if the Tigers played this week he answered, "The two at the end of the last game." He tried to clean it up, but the message is obvious: LeFell has to step up on sit down. He's not the only LSU receiver afflicted with the drops. But his have been the most spectacular and consistent. Maybe he's better as a blocking receiver, the video below confirms that he can lower the boom like no other at his position ala Ronnie Lott.

Can Satan Go All The Way With Parker?

Nick Satan is satified with his quarterback now, with his having an out-of-his-body game and all (363 yards against the Volunteers and almost 70% completion rate). But just a few weeks ago, the Alabama media were onto John Parker Wilson like a mouse on a Velveeta slice. Parker's low point came against Georgia when he completed only 48% of his passes. In close wins against Houston and Mississippi, he was just okay, completing about 52 and 55% of his throws respectively. He'll have to play like he did against Tennessee to have a chance. D.J. Hall has always been reliable but hasn't gotten the ball on third down nearly enough to stop the haters. But, the question remains, can Ole St. Nick win the SEC West with Parker? Can they win the SEC? Satan has always had a long leash with quarterbacks. He withstood it when sophomore Marcus Randall basically threw games away for the Tigers back in 2003 (he was recruiting a manchild by the name of JaMarcus Russell in Mobile by then, too, though). But with 'Bama's penchant to stick with Wilson it'll be interesting when he takes a few shots from Craig Steltz and the gang come Nov. 3.

LSU's final drive against Auburn (10/20/07)

Is this a Cheap Shot, or what?

Bad calls in LSU-Auburn game? Yeah, i know. In 2006, they benefited Auburn (KAAARMA!)

"Karma," ahem, I mean uhmm, "Get Back" is a motha, aint it?
Tommy Tuberville is quite upset at the officiating in the LSU game, (Here are 5 reasons why he shouldn't be) and I sympathize with him a bit although I'm an LSU guy. Yet, it just strikes as kinda strange how he is mad (interestingly, the War Eagle faithful are faulting his squib kick strategy more than anything) when last year when Auburn beat LSU 7-3 due to a controversial call, he didn't have much to say.
Let me refresh your memoirs:
Brandon Cox, The Emancipated One,threw for 110 yards and Kenny Irons ran for 70 yards to lead Auburn to a 3-0 mark in the third game of the 2006 season.
"It was a hard fought game on both sides," said Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville. "LSU has a heck of a football team. They played hard and physical and our guys played hard and physical. That was basically why it was 7-3."
Colt David accounted for the only LSU points, a 42-yard field goal at the end of the first half for the Bayou Bengals, which had won its first two games against non-conference opposition by identical 45-3 scores.
JaMarcus Russell completed 20-of-35 passes for 267 yards in defeat.
"We have a disappointed group of men. It was a hell of a ballgame," said LSU head coach Les Miles. "The loss will be difficult to handle. Both teams deserve better."
Auburn was clinging to a 7-3 lead with just under seven minutes left when LSU drove from its own 19 to the Auburn 31. A 37-yard pass from Russell to Early Doucet keyed the series, but LSU faced 4th-and-8 and Russell threw toward the goal line for Doucet.
The ball was tipped away by Eric Brock as a flag for pass interference against Zach Gilbert flew. Gilbert appeared to have his hand on Doucet before the ball was tipped, but the flag was picked up because of the deflection.
"That was a judgment call and thank goodness it went our way," said Tuberville. "They still had to get the ball in the end zone."
Yeah, Tubby we got it in the end zone this year, with literally 1 tick left. War DEEM Eagle!

LSU-AUBURN quotes

“I saw on some of the previous plays from that formation that (Auburn) was leaving their DBs on us one-on-one. Byrd has great speed — an extra gear — so I just threw the ball up there, and he wrapped up around the DB and made a great catch.” - LSU quarterback Matt Flynn on his last TD pass with literally 1 tick on the game clock.

"We just weren't going to kick it to their returner. We still felt good about it. We didn't make the plays." -- Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville on why they never kicked the ball deep to LSU.

"It was either going to be a touchdown or we kick a field goal, and that was the plan. With one second, I think we timed it out perfectly." - LSU coach Les Miles on the last play of the game.


“God, if I just break that up and time runs out, we win. It just shows the guts and the confidence that coach Miles has in his team to try something like that, late in the game with the time running out. It just shows the confidence in their offense.” -- Auburn defensive back Jerraud Powers, on the last play of the game.


"In the back end of the game, I had a timeout that I could call but I did not expect it to come down to one second," LSU coach Les Miles said. "I didn't have it timed out that far. Certainly it worked right."


"That really surprised me. It was a gutsy call and I think there was only one second left on the game clock. An incomplete could end the game, but they converted and my hat's off to them. They converted and scored so I guess it was a good call." -- Auburn quarterback Brandon Cox


"They (the referees) said they had an illegal formation. They should have worked that out, but they actually officiated it from the instant replay and you can't do that. You can't go to instant replay and look at it. They ruled touchdown, but with a flag on the field you have to work that out before you start looking at it. Unfortunately they did it the way you're not supposed to." -- Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville, on a replay that showed six men on the line of scrimmage for LSU, but the flag was picked up.

5 Reasons Why LSU beat Auburn

LSU beat Auburn 30-24 last night in an exhilerating finish that made Death Valley quake like in 1988. Here are 5 honest, objective reasons why LSU won. I'm an LSU fan, but the reasons why are the reasons why. Let's begin:

1. THE OFFICIATING CREW: Let's be real here: This game is dramatically different if two easy calls are made by the refs. Both favored LSU. Midway through the fourth quarter, a Jacob Hester touchdown was allowed to stand after a lengthy review, even though a replay clearly showed LSU had only six men (seven is the minimum) on the line of scrimmage. Not only would the penalty have negated LSU's touchdown, but it would have backed them up 5 yards as well, putting in doubt a TD play. Again, with just under two minutes left, LSU running back Richard Murphy — trying to convert a 3rd and 3 — was tackled at Auburn's 38 and after hitting the ground he bounced forward at the 38 and a half yard line, right where the first down was. The spot was more than generous for Murphy, it was simply crazy. Yet, the SEC replay booth didn't deem the play fit to review and LSU was able to avoid a 4th and short. Would they have gotten it? Probably. But it's unfair not to give Auburn a chance to defend a 4th and short. Incredibly, on both calls, Auburn's Tommy Tuberville refused to challenge the calls, which brings us to the next reason why Auburn lost.

2. TUBERVILLE'S COYNESS: The man can coach, we all know that, but he coached an awfully coy game against LSU. Tuberville is a guy that has to win on his own terms, not by ways he can't stomach. An LSU kickoff return for TD? He couldn't stomach that. A knockdown, dragout grind-em-out running game by LSU? Tubby couldn't stomach losing like that, so he played the game always holding his spades instead of all-out. His refusal to kick deep on kickoffs gave LSU tremendous field position the entire game, including on their game-winning drive. Also, he defied reason by refusing to challenge not one, but TWO questionable decisions by the officials (the Hester touchdown and the Murphy spot). To compound matters, with LSU eating up the clock and inside of a minute he refused to call timeout to salvage any few remaining seconds he team would need if LSU converted.

3. THE RETURN OF DOUCET: Early Doucet, back for extended duty for the first time in six games, had 1 catch in the first half for zero yards. LSU's passing game looked accordingly, too. Brandon LeFell continued to lefail. Demetrius Byrd dropped key passes until the last 20 minutes of the game. But Doucet turned it up in the second half. He led all receivers in the game with seven catches for 93 yardss. A 33-yard pass from Flynn to Doucet in triple coverage for a first down at the Auburn 34-yard line sparked LSU’s first comeback and established momentum for the Tigers receivers.

4. DEMETRIUS BYRD: The LSU receiver feasted on Auburn's DBs in the second half with big catches from Matt Flynn. He finished with 89 yards on just 3 catches, including a 58-yarder in the 3rd quater. Of the last catch of the game, Flynn said he noticed a tendency. “I saw on some of the previous plays from that formation that (Auburn) was leaving their DBs on us one-on-one,” Flynn said. “Byrd has great speed — an extra gear — so I just threw the ball up there, and he wrapped up around the DB and made a great catch.”

5. AUBURN'S RUNNING GAME GOES AWOL: Auburn's tailbacks Brad Lester and Ben Tate had been hurting LSU in the first half, especially Lester, but they couldn't break though the line in the second half. That significantly weakened the Tigers' attack. Three of the team's first four second-half drives went nowhere. Lester gouged LSU for 68 yards on 16 attempts, often times turning and twisting for extra yardage after being hit; the flow of the game dictated that they pound Lester into the LSU line but they never did, instead settling for Brandon Cox throws that were off the mark. That allowed LSU to get back in the game and outscore Auburn 23 to 7 after Auburn took a 24-14 lead.

Horn comin back to the N.O.

I'm going to say it: Joe Horn was New Orleans' favorite son.
We miss him. The receiving corps is not the same without him.
He feels the same way.
"I miss New Orleans. I miss the fans. I miss the people that were real there with Joe Horn," said the outspoken receiver with the predilection for referring to himself in the third person. "I love New Orleans. I get chills when I think about coming to New Orleans."
Horn was one of the best receivers ever to play in a black-and-gold uniform, and the most popular. He was a part of the Saints' last two playoff teams in 2000 and 2006, had his own radio show, and was among the first to show up at shelters to cheer up evacuees after Hurricane Katrina.
In the offseason, the Saints went out and picked up a couple of receivers to join the audition for Horn's vacant spot -- one of which was three-time Super Bowl champion David Patten. The other was Tennessee standout Robert Meachem, whom the Saints selected with their first pick in April's NFL draft.
"They made it pretty clear that they were bringing me in to replace Joe Horn," Patten said. "They wanted a veteran, someone who had been around a while and could kind of help the younger guys out.
"I understood my role and I accepted the challenge. It doesn't matter where I go, my goal is the same. I want to help the team win."
But something happened on the way to replacing Horn.
Meachem and Patten both missed parts of training camp for various reasons. To make matters worse, Henderson opened the 2007 season with a case of the drops.
He said bitterly that New Orleans apparently wasn't big enough for him and new Saints coach Sean Payton.
The Saints and Falcons have one win apiece.
This week, Payton downplayed any animosity, speaking only of his admiration for the receiver who had 679 yards receiving and four touchdowns in 10 games for the Saints last season. Because of a nagging groin injury, Horn missed six regular-season games and both Saints playoff games, although Horn contended he was healthy enough to play in the NFC championship game against Chicago.
"He's someone that's been a great competitor, has had a great career and has worked his tail off," Payton said. "Through determination and hard work, he's someone that persevered and made himself a special player in our league. I was fortunate ... to have been able to coach him for a year and have the success we had with him. Now it becomes about two teams playing in a game that is important for both teams because both teams are sitting here at this time of the year with just one win. Both teams are trying to get something going and not dig themselves into too deep a hole."
Horn also resisted any temptation to take a shot at the Saints. He said he went to Atlanta because his wife's family lives in the Southeast, not because the Falcons are historically the Saints' oldest and biggest divisional rivals.
"I know you guys think I'm probably trying to play it down," Horn said. "I'm going to try to do my best and do my job as far as playing for the Atlanta Falcons because that's my new team now, but I'm not coming back for hurrah or trying to embarrass somebody or make somebody feel bad. That's not where I'm at right now. We're 1-5 right now."
Horn, 35, has struggled a bit himself. Lining up as the Falcons' third wide receiver, he has 11 catches for 117 yards and no touchdowns. Atlanta has yet to profit from the type of game-breaking performance Horn provided New Orleans on numerous occasions.

The Emancipation of Brandon Cox

Auburn quarterback Brandon Cox is a changed man.
After absolutely stinking (6 interceptions) in the first 3 games of the season (going a combined 33 of 85 against Kansas State and South Florida)the senior quarterback has raised his game considerably. Auburn should have easily lost the Kansas State season opener, and did go on to lose to USF (Yeah, but they're No. 2 in the nation, you say) and Mississippi State(Cox had 42 yards in the game and was benched for Kodi Burns), yet here they are 4-0 in their last 4 games and coming to Baton Rouge with a full head of steam. Nobody has risen to the challenge more than Brandon Cox.
It seems a good benching will do that to a man. After the South Florida game, the calls to bench Cox became so intense that Auburn coaches let true freshman Kodi Burns work out with the first team in practice and dramatically increased his snaps. He saw action against Mississippi State and actually looked good.
That's all Brandon Cox needed.
As if set free from the burden of being "the" guy, or emancipated from any further insults, he went out and played ball.
He had a stellar qb rating of 145 in the New Mexico State game, and even topped that with a 171 qb rating against Vanderbilt. After throwing two interceptions in each of the first 3 games, he's settled down to throw only 1 in the last 4 games.
To be certain, coach Tommy Tuberville still wants true freshman Burns involved,but won't sacrifice the flow of the game to put him in if Cox is playing well. "We had a bigger role for him [at Arkansas], but we couldn't get ourselves out of a hole," Tuberville said. "We stayed in bad field position the entire second quarter. We were hoping to get [Burns] in more then."
And it's that kind of talk that has Cox playing the best ball of his life after an injury-plagued year last season. His re-emergence couldn't have come at a better time for Auburn as they face LSU this weekend. With a victory, Auburn resumes the driver's seat in the SEC West and can expect to clinch with a few more wins. This is, arguably, the biggest game of Cox's life and would be a crowning achievement to his college career. Will he pull it off?

Auburn's Tuberville likes his chances vs. LSU

Tubby's bragging a bit as LSU game looms: "Not a lot of people are going to outrun us," he said earlier this week.
You'll have to excuse him, but Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville is snickering at how good his defense has been the past few games. In back-to-back weeks not only have they stopped Superman but they held a very good Arkansas team scoreless for 58 minutes. You could even forgive ole Tubby for bragging a bit. His team is simply making plays.
"Tackling," he said, when asked what the difference has been since early in the season. "You go back and look at the Florida game, they got very few yards after we made contact. [Against Arkansas], I think we missed six tackles. I've never heard of that, and I've been on some good defenses before."
With Auburn coming to Baton Rouge on Saturday, they'll need all the speed they can muster against the No. 5 team in the country.
"We've got speed to match teams like that," he said. "Not a lot of people are going to outrun us. We might not be big. We try to be physical, but we keep as many speed guys on the field as we can."

Auburn Def. Coach Will Muschamp calls Arkansas Motherf--kers

Well, can't say we're surprised. At LSU, Muschamp was the same way.

"At the Macy's parade ... they gotta get the dancers from Broadway shows out in the streets. In New Orleans the musicians are already in the streets"

NEW YORK (AP) — We just heard from AP that David Simon, who has made the streets of Baltimore famous with gritty television dramas such as "The Wire," "Homicide: Life on the Street," and "The Corner," mow wants to take on the Big Easy.
The next series he hopes to produce for HBO is about musicians reconstituting their lives in New Orleans, he told The New Yorker for its issue hitting newsstands Monday.
Simon has been spending time there researching the music scene.
"This show will be a way of making a visual argument that cities matter," Simon said. "'The Wire' has never done that. I certainly never said or wanted to say that Baltimore is not worth saving, or that it can't be saved. But I think some people watching the show think, Why don't they just move away?"
A goal of the show will be to celebrate the glories of an American city, and "why we need to accept ourselves as an urban people," Simon said.
"At the Macy's parade, when they show New York, they gotta get the dancers from Broadway shows out in the streets doing a kick line," he said. "In New Orleans the musicians are already in the streets."
The fifth and final season of HBO's "The Wire" begins in January, this time focusing on layoffs at The Sun — where Simon once worked — and how newspapers fail to capture certain complex truths. Previous seasons of the acclaimed drama have featured drug dealers, struggling longshoremen, city politicians and inner-city students.
The drama is actually about "the decline of the American empire" and the failure of postmodern institutions, Simon said. He is also working on an HBO miniseries called "Generation Kill," based on the 2004 book, about a Marine platoon in Iraq.

Saints win one, beat Seattle, end of world near

The Saints finally tasted victory Monday night, beating the Seattle Seahawks 28-19 after jumping out to a 21-0 lead in the first half. They sacked Matt Hasselbeck five times for losses totaling 29 yards.
"We wanted to come in and try to put some pressure on the quarterback, fly around, get more different looks," said safety Roman Harper, who had two sacks on blitzes.
New Orleans came into the game with one sack this season. To start the game, they sacked Hasselbeck on the Seahawks' first possession. Hollis Thomas dropped him for a 6-yard loss, setting up a punting situation on which the Saints scored on a fumble recovery by Pierre Thomas.
Early in the second half, the Saints sacked Hasselbeck on consecutive plays. Defensive tackle Brian Young sacked him on second down, and Harper sacked him on a third-down blitz. Later, Charles Grant got his first sack this season. Harper got another sack late in the fourth quarter.
"We just rushed," Grant said. "We did a little more blitzing to free up the rush."
As good as the game was, I still maintain that Reggie Bush is not an every-down back. Sure, he needs to be on the field every play, but 3rd and inches, 4th and 1, dude is not gonna be moving many piles forward and it showed. Late in the fourth quarter, Bush eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark, but was stuff for losses on two consecutive run plays, taking his total to about 94 yards. In the fourth quarter, with the Saints driving for another scored he was stood up and fumbled near the goal line. On the next possession he ran the ball on consecutive plays and got about 3 yards total, to finish with 97 yards. They need a big back, someone to do what Deuce McAllister did. I like the move away from Devery Henderson also. Taking advantage of his first start for the Saints, Lance Moore scored his first career touchdown.
Moore, who started at wide receiver in place of Henderson, scored on a 7-yard end-around in the second quarter to give New Orleans a 21-0 lead.
"I had great blocking out there," Moore said, mentioning blocks by Marques Colston and Mike Karney. "There was nobody in my face."
Moore also caught three passes for 35 yards. His 20-yard reception on the Saints' second scoring drive gave New Orleans a first down at the Seattle 35.

LSU-KENTUCKY STATS, extra points

Former LSU head coach Mike Archer, who served as defensive coordinator at Kentucky under Bill Curry and Rich Brooks, watched Saturday's game from a box adjacent to the press box. It was Archer's Tigers that catapulted the team to national prominence in the late 1980s with popular signal caller Tommy Hodson. Archer is in his first season as defensive coordinator at North Carolina State, which was off this weekend. What was his choice of adornment? A UK polo shirt and cap.
Saturday's loss marked the first time under Miles that LSU has lost when the Tigers rushed for at least 100 yards. LSU had been 26-0.
The Tigers finished with 261 yards rushing.
Charles Scott led the Tigers with 94 yards and two touchdowns on seven carries. He had 91 yards on five carries in the first half.
Rare shutout: Another streak that came to an end Saturday was LSU's 25-game run with at least one quarterback sack. The last time the Tigers failed to record a sack was in a 56-3 rout of North Texas in 2005. Kentucky, meanwhile, had three sacks.

Injuries mount: LSU lost two key defensive starters in the fourth quarter as right cornerback Chevis Jackson and defensive end Kirston Pittman both went out, not to return.

On the offensive line, Ryan Miller made his first career start at right guard in place of Lyle Hitt. Miller then moved to center in the second half when Brett Helms left the game. Hitt replaced Miller at guard.

Early Doucet, who was questionable all week after missing the past four games with a groin injury, did not see any action until LSU's final possession in the third overtime.

Kentucky receiver Steve Johnson Raps before Game

Kentucky receiver Steve Johnson freestyles before the Eastern Kentucky game this year. If his rap skills are any indication of his game skills ....

5 Reasons Why LSU Lost to Kentucky

Well, the inevitable has happened.
LSU, my Mighty Tigers, have fallen in defeat to the Kentucky Wildcats.
Here are 5 reasons why:
1. RYAN PERRILLOUX DISAPPEARED: The hybrid-running back/quarterback threat for LSU totally vanished after the 3rd quarter for some unknown reason. Although several Tigers got banged up (including tailback Jacob Hester) indications are that he wasn't one of them. After an uneven 3 quarters that saw Perrilloux get 15 yards on 5 carries, LSU's coaches didn't call his number again. This, despite the fact, that he didn't run not one option play the entire game. LSU's final play, a fourth-and-2, was a perfect situation for Perrilloux who could have ran an option on the play, instead LSU went with a shaky Matt Flynn the entire 4th quarter, and overtime.
2. KENTUCKY RECEIVER STEVE JOHNSON: No player has had such a big effort against the Tigers defense this year, including Tim Tebow. Johnson, who caught 7 balls for a season-high 134 yards (a whopping 19.1 yard average!), absolutely owned the Tigers secondary all night. It was Johnson, who moonlights as a rapper, that got open in the end zone for a 7-yard score in the third overtime, wide open because defender Jonathan Zenon tripped and fell down (Andre Woodson double-pumped before throwing the ball, giving LSU a chance for a sack, but alas it came a half-second too late).

3. LSU COULD NOT STOP THEM: The LSU defense gave up 375 yards of total offense, but it was deceptive. Kentucky, which trailed 27-14 late in the third quarter, started to POUND THE BALL against the Tigers just when the LSU coaches thought they would see a barrage of pass plays from Woodson. It was a brilliant strategy by UK and it outfoxed Les Miles. UK freshman running back Derrick Locke (20 rushes, 64 yards) ground up just enough yards to keep the LSU defense from pinning back its ears and the Wildcats scored the game’s next 20 points, AND put the first overtime points on the scoreboard. Kentucky's big tight end Jacob Tamme seemingly came up with big catches and equally good blocks while LSU's secondary got rocked: Chevis Jackson was knocked out of the game (2 swollen eyes after a helmet-to-helmet collision); Craig Steltz almost bit off his tongue when he was jarred in the chin unsuspectingly, and Jonathan Zenon was outmanned and undersized.

4. WOODSON WAS UNSACKABLE: The Tigers committed 12 penalties for a season-high 103 yards in negative yardage, but the biggest trump card their defense had all season was its ability to lay a quarterback horizontal. On Saturday, there was none of that. LSU failed to sack Woodson, ending a streak of 25 consecutive games with at least one sack. Barring a couple of late knockdowns he pretty much wasn't hit all night.

5.IT WAS ACTUALLY 4TH-AND-3: The game came down to a fourth-and-2 play at the Kentucky 17, but it was actually fourth-and-2.7, a long two. If the LSU coaches put in their best fourth-and-3 play they would probably still be undefeated. Instead they put in a fourth-and-1 play. The result? Kentucky linebacker Braxton Kelly stuffs LSU tailback Charles Scott for a 1-yard gain, sending hysterical fans onto the field and smoke from cannon fire into the air. "I thought it was close," said Scott, who wept in the tunnel as the echoes of "Go Big Blue" filled the hallway near the visitors' locker room.

Olindo Mare's job is on the line

The Saints have not signed a new kicker as of Wednesday afternoon.
Despite the fact that New Orleans is 0-4 and playing a decent Seattle Seahawks squad Sunday, Coach Sean Payton said it remains a possibility but not automatic, depending on the health of kicker Olindo Mare.
Speaking of automatic, Olindo Mare has been anything but, this year. In addition to the two misses last Sunday against Carolina he is 3 of 7 beyond 30 yards this year.
Mare missed practice Wednesday to rest his sore groin. If Mare doesn't seem to be game-ready by Thursday, Payton said the team might turn to one of the six or seven kickers that tried out on Tuesday. Among that list are veterans Mike Vanderjagt, Martin Gramatica and Billy Cundiff.Others were Shane Andrus, Josh Huston, Brandon Pace and former Tulane kicker Seth Marler, who has a lot of experience kicking in the Louisiana Superdome.
"We wanted to get a handle on what direction we're going if we've got to make a move because of Mare's injury," Payton said.
"I'm friends with some of them," Mare said after sitting out Wednesday's practice in hopes of getting his sore right groin well enough to kick in Seattle on Sunday night. "I knew what was going on and I'm sure from (the Saints') standpoint, if they're not sure I can kick and get any power ... then why wouldn't they" try out other kickers.
"I don't think you can judge a player on one game, though," Mare added. "That's obvious, if you've done it for 10 or 11 years."
Mare kicked hurt against Carolina last Sunday and it showed. He had a 20-yard chip shot blocked early in the fourth quarter, then hooked a 54-yarder wide left with a chance to give the Saints the lead shortly before the 2-minute warning. New Orleans lost 16-13.

Who's Afraid of Andre Woodson?

I picked Kentucky to upset LSU.
It was before the season, before Craig Steltz hit some people, before Jacob Hester fell forward by the nose of a football.
This was even before Kentucky's Andre Woodson set a major college record for consecutive passes without an interception (breaking the mark of 271 held by Fresno State's Trent Dilfer). The NCAA best mark would reach 325 pass attempts without an pick until Woodson threw one against Florida Atlantic. (He still had a career-best five TD passes in a 45-17 win).
But now the Tigers come to town? Will there be a letdown? I kinda sensed it in preseason, but you know how these things go. Coming off the Florida game, I thought they'd be flat, and they may still be, but now I have some clarity about the whole thing: Craig Steltz is still going to hit somebody, and teeth-grittingly hard. Glenn Dorsey is still going to have to be blocked by somebody. If the game goes status quo, then Brandon Lafell drops 3 passes in the first half, then catches 2 difficult third-down passes in the second half. But this Woodson fellow scares me.
No, not like Tim Tebow scared me. Woodson's no Superman, he's more like a Daredevil, somebody that will pick you apart. He's been Heisman talk this year, but then again, so has everybody?
Think LSU coach Les Miles has Woodson on his radar?
"He leads the SEC in passing yards," Miles said. "He is a young man that will play for years in the NFL. He is going to be a great challenge to our defense."
The 6-foot-5-inch, 230-pound Woodson has already thrown for 1,536 yards and 18 touchdowns to 2 interceptions. Eighteen TDs to 2 picks. Wow. It's come against the likes of Eastern Kentucky, Kent State, Florida Atlantic ... and Louisville. That was the game that launched the radar for Woodson. He lofted a long pass over a tired cornerback and the receiver, who was hit in stride, did the rest. Woodson also led a victory over Arkansas. The Razorbacks kind of helped the Wildcats beat them though, fumbles and interceptions for touchdowns will do that.
In any event, Woodson will be wild and loose at Commonwealth Stadium. Hopefull, so will the Tigers.

LSU-FLORIDA STATS

SUPERMAN IS DEAD 2: Gators lose, but, whew! Tebow is handful

Make no mistake about it: Tim Tebow is the best quarterback in college football. Oh, he won't get the Heisman, he won't get the ridiculous stats that quarterbacks from East Okie-Dokie or wherever get, not in the SEC. The competition is just too tough, but there's no one in college football that has all the ingredients at once: athleticism, the arm strength, the quickness, and the will, the WANT, to run you over! He gave my LSU Tigers all they could handle last night (salute, salute) all the way up til he ran for 20 yards and managed to get out of bounds with 5 seconds in the game. Sure enough, the pressure from the D-line finally got to him in the fourth quarter, sending he and the Gators 3-and-out before LSU's game-winning drive, but for 3.25 quarters Superman Was Real. The point of the matter is that, Florida's Superman is not surrounded with any Superfriends; Percy Harvin is more like Robin, than Batman, but that's still not enough. Tebow has nothing to be ashamed of (158 yards passing), or to put his head down about, dude played his heart out. He shredded LSU's defense like no other. We were giving up 39 yards a game on the ground, and Florida had 127 in the first half! As long as Tebow is there, I honestly know and trust that for the next 2 years the SEC championship will run through Gainesville. I really do believe that, just not this year.

Masterful or Mindless: 5 Reasons why Les Miles Went For It on 4th Down Against Florida

Les Miles on why he went for it on 4th down so much: “You have to understand this, we knew that it was a possession game. The opportunity to keep the ball was something you had to do. Their offense would give every defense in the country a difficult time. They have a quarterback that can run and make you miss and good running backs. We knew that the opportunity to go on fourth down would be there for us. We kind of loaded the play so we could do that. We were ready.”

Here are our 5 reasons:


1. LSU WASN'T NO. 1 OUTRIGHT: Before the game and in the first half, Les Miles knew that LSU wasn't playing like a No. 1 team, and he actually said as much last week when they needed a furious 2nd half rally to get past Tulane (score was 10-9 LSU at the half). All through the game LSU was flagged for a variety of false starts and illegal motions and had one glaring coverage breakdown on defense. They didn't look like the best team in the country, and Miles knew they weren't. What with the Coaches Poll and the Associated Press rankings in conflict, ole Les knew that if he gambled on 4th down and lost, it would only confirm what he and many a pundit suspected: that LSU was a paper tiger. He masterfully used the announcement that USC had lost to Stanford as fuel for his Tigers to step up their play because it would settle the rankings controversy in the short term, and he knew it.


2. THE MICHIGAN JOB BECKONS: National championship or not, Miles is a Michigan man and owes it to himself to at least check out the U-M job at season's end. He saw how the U-M fans turned on Lloyd Carr after two early losses, and he knew that losing to a powerhouse like Florida would raise the ire of Tiger fans. He figured that if he was going out, he'd rather go out on his own free-wheeling terms. If his 4th down gambles would have blown up in his face it would have just hastened the fans' chants that he leave LSU and bolster his decision to return to Ann Arbor. Him going for it on 4th down 5 times was his support-me-or-else call to the fans. It was like he was looking for a reason for the LSU faithful to not stand behind him, even taking reckless chances that no sane, reasonable coach would take. If so, then it blew up in his face anyway, because all his 4th down calls, on what history will surely label one of the most historic LSU victories ever, were successful, which means he's now a Tiger For Life.


3. MILES WANTED THE LOSS ON HIS SHOULDERS: With his performance last week, the Tiger faithful would have turned against starting quarterback Matt Flynn had he lost this game. Although the fans' true ire should be directed at fishfin-handed receiver Brandon LaFell(did he have 4 drops?), Flynn didn't have a good game, and hasn't had a great one since the 40-3 thrashing of Miami in 2005. His line read like a sophomore's first game of the season: 14 of 27 for 144 and 1 TD and 1 INT. Tim Tebow on the other hand, threw for 158 yards on 12/26 yards passing (2 TDs, 1 pick).Backup Ryan Perrilloux had energized the crowd in the first half with his running but the LSU coaches refused to call a play that would utilize his arm downfield, even though Perrilloux had a herculean Rohan Davey-like game in his only start this year (298 yards passing) and the Tiger fans were ready for him to be unleashed before this game. Les Miles masterfully took the onus off his quarterback and put it on him by gambling without hesitation throughout the game (With 7 minutes left and the ball on their side of midfield, LSU passed up a punt and went for it needing nearly 2 yards.) He even challenged a spot on a Gator kickoff, saying that the player had gone out of bounds 10 yards earlier. As bone-headed as the challenge was (and it really was) what he actually did was shift an enormous amount of pressure on the referees from the players because the officiating crew knew that in LSU's biggest game of the season it was their last timeout if they lost the challenge. Masterful or mindless, either way, that's Miles.


4. MILES FINALLY RAN OUT OF PATIENCE WITH PASSING GAME: With 7 minutes left in the first half, the Tigers still had a goose egg on the score board and with so much at stake the coach saw the game slipping away early. As we mentioned, Les' trust in the passing game went away pretty early; Brandon LeFell dropped a handful of passes, and Florida defenders batted balls down (at least one of which was a crucial third down). Miles figured he'd have better success with grounding it out on 4 chances rather than 3: He needed Ryan Perrilloux to sneak into the end zone from a yard out on fourth-and-goal with 6:08 to go before halftime. That philosophy with 6 minutes before halftime set the game pace for the Tigers and dictated their plan of attack. The Tigers barely converted a pair of fourth-down runs on their last drive before running back Jacob Hester bulled over from the 2-yard line with 1:09 remaining.


5. HE LOST CONFIDENCE IN KICKER COLT DAVID'S LEG: Kicker Colt David had missed two field goals earlier (37 yards and 43 yards) in the game and the team couldn't afford another missed opportunity. The Florida defense bogged down another Tiger drive early in the 3rd quarter, and the Tigers set up to kick the field goal but Flynn hopped up out of his holder position and zipped 7 yards on a fake field goal run to convert on fourth-and-5 from the Florida 24. How good are the Gators? They nearly force a kick anyway, but Gator cornerback Joe Haden hits LSU tight end Richard Dixon a milisecond before the ball gets there and is flagged for pass interference. At that point in the game, the kicker was irrevelant with so much on the line. Three point increments just weren't going to do it against Florida and Tebow. Seen moping on the sidelines, David apparently had lost the confidence that Les wanted to see in him on the sidelines in the fourth quarter. Needing a pooch-kick field goal to tie, LSU went for the go-ahead touchdown with 1:09 remaining. The Tigers scored two touchdowns on fourth-down plays and another after pulling off a fake field goal.

5 reasons why LSU beat Florida

1. FLORIDA REFUSED TO ADJUST PASSING PHILOSOPHY: Tim Tebow ran the ball 16 times (and managed to get Kestahn Moore 12 carries) and hit a long 37-yard strike for a touchdown, but he didn't throw the ball particularly well on short passes (many of his passes were quite wobbly, and several were dropped). “They did a good job with their blitzes,” Tebow said of LSU’s pressure. “We were picking them up and moving away from them and making some big plays with it. In the second half we were doing the same thing but the two turnovers killed us.” Tebow himself was personally responsible for avoiding two big sacks due to his athleticism, and the UF coaches seemed content to let him make the plays rather than adjust what they were doing. Florida incorrectly assumed LSU would give them the underneath routes, but they didn't. It resulted in at least one pass interference call as LSU was overzealous on the crossing patterns, but the Tigers just refused to give them anything short. LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey didn't have a huge game like I predicted, but he caused just enough havoc with the other D-linemen. Telling stat: Florida didn't try a screen pass not once. LSU was ready for it all night.

2. FLORIDA'S TWO SECOND-HALF TURNOVERS: True, LSU only converted the second one into the points (the first one resulted in a missed field goal), but they were big momentum killers. The first one was a Kestahn Moore fumble (who had been gouging the LSU defense all night, and was on his way to 100 yards on the ground), and the other was a Tebow pass that bounced off the head of UF receiver Cornelius Engram and into the hands of an LSU defensive end Kirston Pittman. Florida coach Urban Meyer said that if they would have scored on either possession the game probably would have been over. “Whenever you have a two-score lead, I kept looking at that. We had a drive come up after that and we turned it over. If you go down and make it 31-10 … but that’s college football.” Also, the turnovers allowed LSU to outgain Florida 130 to 37 in the fourth quarter and kept the Gator defense on the field, keeping the crowd in the game.

3. THE USC LOSS: The score of the USC-Stanford game energized the LSU crowd and hyped the players up even more. Without that score being announced, it's debatable if LSU ever would have woke up from its slumber. Florida had a 10-point lead at the time and Tebow was making plays that he had to make, but instantly the game became more important because it would make LSU the indisputed No. 1 team in the country. Not only did just the LSU fans cheer but the Florida fans went bonkers as well since a win would catapult them right back into the thick of the national championship picture. LSU used the boisterous applause to their advantage because it made it that much louder on the field for the Gators.

4. LUCKY LES: Les Miles was desperately reaching for straws as early as the second quarter and as late as 1:50 left in the game: He went for it 5 times on fourth down and made them all, thanks to the stars being aligned. But at least 3 of theme were fundamentally bad decisions (at your own 45 with 7 minutes to go?) I guess he already knows he's a goat if they lose so he gambled to at least know he gave it his best shot. “[The fourth downs] were huge,” Jacob Hester said. “Coach Miles had the confidence to call them. The defense knew what was coming and the offensive line didn’t care. They went out there and played their technique and made holes for us.
“I don’t know if it’s gambling or just confidence.[Miles] didn’t blink an eye calling the fake field goal or any of the fourth downs.”

5. JACOB HESTER BULLED HIS WAY THROUGH: Not the most gifted athlete on the field, the stout tailback in a fullback's body literally carried the Tigers to victory. Hester said on one fourth down Florida defenders were calling his name and even pointing to the hole he was going to run to, but they couldn't stop him. On LSU's final drive he touched the ball more than any other player and actually ran over at least two Gator defenders for a first down. His number was called on a fourth-and-1 play that would have been a chip-shot field goal that might have forced overtime (kicker Colt David already had missed two attempts). Hester finished with 106 yards on 23 carries, both career highs.

HBCU video game features Southern U. (move over, Madden)

Leave it up to a Baton Rouge company to lead the way in creating the black college football experience for video games.
Nerjyzed Entertainment, a privately held, African American-owned digital entertainment company, will debut "Black College Football the Xperience" featuring more than 40 HBCU football teams in November.
The game will feature exclusively HBCUs and will be different from the Madden franchise, EA Sports' cash cow football game.
BCFx will show off the schools' marching bands as well as the dancers and cheering squads, something Madden includes only in cursory detail.
The game will build on the experiences of Nerjyzed Entertainment's staff.
A black-owned company based in Baton Rouge, La., Nerjyzed is staffed by HBCU alumni, including a Howard grad and a Southern University grad.
It's a niche that's a long time coming, according to Nerjyzed.
"Madden forgot about us, so we [are] doing it ourselves," said Jerry Perkins, promoter for BCFx.
Jacqueline Beauchamp, Nerjyzed Entertainment's chief executive officer, is an aluma of Southern University. Brian "B-Jax" Jackson, the creative design director who said he came up with the idea, is a Howard alumnus.

Southern University played a large part in the game's characters.
"We wanted the game to be as realistic as possible, so we held a contest for motion-capture participants," Jackson said. "All of the in-game animations for the band and cheerleaders came from [students] at Southern University. We also went to 30 schools to record different bands playing."
Set to hit stores on Nov. 23 for PCs, the game's creators expect it to be available on Microsoft's XBox 360 and Sony's Playstation 3 in February.
Ashley Patton, Nerjyzed's marketing director, said the company has a five-year contract with three HBCU athletic conferences — SWAC, CIAA and SIAC — as well as the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association and several schools within the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and independent HBCUs, such as Tennessee State.
It has not received clearance from all the MEAC schools to use their teams, but hopes to have Howard on the game in time for the release, according to BCFx.
Jackson, the creative design director and a former employee of EA Sports, said BCFx has been nearly two years in the making.

Jackson said he came up with game's concept four years ago and is working to ensure that a new version of the game will be released annually, much like NCAA Football and Madden.
When players pick a school, a brief history of the institution appears on the screen. For Fisk University, a short story of the Fisk Jubilee Singers materializes.
Beauchamp said, "We plan on making a huge presence at the Bayou Classic," the annual matchup between Southern and Grambling universities, "but we will also be at the Southern Homecoming and we have big plans that include live music and more."
A planned "jukebox" feature allows gamers to watch the halftime sequences or listen to the bands' music whenever they wish.

It can be argued that no segment of video game consumers play as much as black males age 18 - 36. That represents a huge pie of market share.
"The gaming industry is worth $30 billion," Patton continued. "And black consumers outnumber other groups nearly 2 to 1. Yet there [is] no game out there that truly represents us."
"We're currently looking for interns," Patton said. "Our staff is composed of individuals from various prestigious HBCUs and we're always looking to give back to our communities."

5 ways LSU can stop Tebow (Listening, Les Miles?)

1. Line up monster defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey on the long side of the field: Whatever side Tim Tebow sees the most room he'll think he can run to that side, especially in the second half when he's ran the ball 15 times and is getting winded. Dorsey will have a huge game. Feed him.

2. PLAY ZONE: Tebow is still a rookie in the SEC. Last year he was a running back, this year he's a passer. He'll throw it long and expect Percy Harvin to beat his man, but Craig Steltz (Steltz meet Harvin, Harvin Steltz) can neutralize that ploy by backing up and never letting anyone get behind him. The zone should be sickening to Florida's offensive coordinator, who has stomach problems. Maybe this will help.

3. TAKE AWAY THE SHORT PASS: Tebow has thrown better than 70% in all his games except for one. You can't have a percentage like that
(well, this guy can) unless you do screens half the time, which Florida does. If LSU plays up on the line, Tebow will get desperate and make riskier throws, which could lead to interceptions.

4. BLITZ OFTEN: Nothing demoralizes a quarterback more than him having to get up off the ground after every play. Tebow already expects to take a pounding, but he doesn't expect to get hit on every play. Hit him on every play. I expect LSU to blitz on third down, but play zone on the early downs. The blitzes should come from the cornerbacks, even the safety ... and of course, Dorsey.

5. Take speedster Percy Harvin away: Tebow's biggest weapon so far has been the receiver Harvin. He's gotten behind every defense they'll played this year. Steltz meet Harvin, Harvin Steltz.

LSU has killed quarterbacks (Can 'Superman' Tebow Survived?)

Florida sophomore quarterback Tim Tebow has gone for more than 100 yards on the ground only once this season(166 yards against Ole Miss).
LSU's defense is giving up 39 yards a game.
Something's gotta give.
It may be Tebow.
In LSU's first 5 games no quarterback - NO QUARTERBACK - that has started the game, has finished the game. All of them have been knocked out, or rendered so ineffective, they were pulled.
The tale of the tape doesn't lie for the No.1-ranked defense:
Mississippi State: Michael Henig was picked off 6 times and finally knocked out of the game.
Virginia Tech: Sean Glennon had less than 20 yards in the game and replaced by Tyrod Taylor, who's kept the starting job.
Middle Tenn. State:
South Carolina: Chris Smelley got yanked kinda early after being neutralized.
Tulane: Anthony Scelfo threw the ball more than he ever did; he was replaced by Kevin Moore who was worse than Scelfo.
Will Tebow be pulled? Not likely, but he might get knocked out, especially if he runs the ball 20 times like he'll need to.
In five games Tebow has carried the ball 99 times, waaay more than any other Gator. Outside of the conference this season he's averaging above 5 yards a carry. In conference games that drops to about 3.9 yards a carry. Against LSU, it will be about 2.5 yards a carry.

Against Florida, Dorsey will have huge game

Expect a big game for Glenn Dorsey.
The 6-foot-2, 303-pound defensive tackle for the No.-1 LSU Tigers knows the Florida game was the One That Got Away last year. He expects double-teams, but he doesn't expect to be stopped.
"It's not really a big deal to me," Dorsey said last week. "OK, so maybe I can't make as many plays [being double-teamed], but I'm still going to work my technique and I'm still going to make my play. I don't care if I'm getting double-teamed or not."
The Florida Gators have seen the tape.
"He's just a physical guy," Florida center Drew Miller said. "It seems like he attacks an offensive lineman and tries to drive them back and make a play. He's very big and athletic, and we'll have to try to do some things this week to stop him."
But why will this be a big game for Dorsey?
Two words: Gator injuries.
The Gators, who already have lost offensive tackle Phil Trautwein (foot) for the season, will try to contain Dorsey with starting guard Maurkice Pouncey (ankle) and backup Maurice Hurt (neck) recovering from injuries.
The athletic Dorsey will be seen jumping over blockers, bull-rushing them and collaring the others. Watch.
SEC coaches have seen it before.
Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville experienced the emergence of Dorsey first hand.
"The Auburn-LSU game last year, that was the first game where everybody realized how dominant Glenn Dorsey was as a player," Tuberville said. "We did everything possible to block him with one, two, offensive linemen, a tight end at times, a running back."
Tuberville grew to respect Dorsey during that altercation so much he now compares him to one of the NFL's best.
"He's just a great player in a long line of good defensive tackles I've seen come out over the years," Tuberville said. "He kind of reminded me a lot about Warren Sapp, the kid I coached at the University of Miami. He plays low to the ground. He's quick off the line of scrimmage, always going north and south.
"He'll be one of the better players in the country. He'll be up for a lot of awards. I'm sure he's not really worried about that. He's worried about playing as a team. He's a guy that everybody's going to have to deal with this year going into when you play LSU. He's the first guy, when you turn on the film, you'll notice him."
Florida will feel him this weekend.

South Korea fans make human LCD screen

At a soccer game in South Korea: The most amazing thing is that they do this with their CLOTHES (not holding up cards or placards). They have a jacket that is one color on the back, one on the front, and proceed to open or close them to show a third color shirt on the inside. One school has also figured out how to use their pants to make shading. WILD!

Why Florida lost to Auburn: Stomach pains?

As the Gators prepare to face LSU this week, a new culprit emerged from Saturday's loss to Auburn.
It wasn't Tim Tebow's arm that doomed the mighty Gators.
It was offensive coordinator Dan Mullen's stomach.
Mullen had been in the hospital the night before in severe pain, and gutted it out by showing up for the game. Still, coach Urban Meyer refused to see it as a negative if your play-caller is sweating profusely and his insides are burning.
"The negative right now is we probably have 10 seniors," Meyer said. "How many of which are actually playing a lot? ... How are we going to respond? Obviously, I don't have that answer. I feel like there's a lot of character on this team and some good people."
The Gators showed they can come from behind, rebounding from a 14-0 halftime deficit and tying the game at 17 with 7:36 remaining. They even looked like they might pull off a comeback, but the imaginative offensive play-calling that had put 59 point on the board just two weeks ago, couldn't come up with much more than Tebow run plays on 1st and 2nd down (leaving about 3rd and 2) then throwing it on 3rd down. The offense, predictably, stalled on its final drive.
Doesn't the Florida staff have sick days? Geez. How many of us would report to work - even check ourselves out of the hospital - to go to work? Obviously, it showed.
Even the commentators posed questions about Mullen's play-calling, especially since Tebow ran 16 times — often right up the middle. There were even more eyebrows raised when it was learned that Mullen had an emergency appendectomy late Friday night.
Mullen was having side pains at dinner Friday and then had blood tests. Meyer said he learned about 11:30 p.m. that Mullen needed surgery.
Mullen missed the team's first walkthrough but arrived at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in time for the game.
"He is a tough guy," Meyer said. "He did everything he possibly could. That didn't affect the game. He still called a fine game. We still could have done things better."
Forced to punt to Auburn with about 4 minutes to play, Chas Henry shanked one 25 yards — the last of the four special teams miscues.
The other three were:
—Florida was flagged for running into the punter on Auburn's opening possession, which turned good field position into a first down and the Tigers eventually scored a touchdown on the drive.
—The Gators had a 34-yard field goal attempt blocked in the second quarter.
—They faked a punt and picked up the first down late in the third, but were flagged for illegal formation and were forced to kick it away.
"It hurts a lot," Medder said. "It feels like you're getting stabbed."
The final blow came after the shanked punt. Quarterback Brandon Cox, obviously hyponotized into believing he is an All-American, played way above his head. And running back Ben Tate drove Auburn into position for the game-winning field goal with powerful runs that seemed to break Florida's will with every yard.

Tommy Tuberville silenced his critics, at least, for a week. But he's still on an island. The university president doesn't celebrate with him, the fans know that his best teams are behind him. But he got to laugh last on Saturday. For once this season, everything he tried worked. Even freshman Wes Byrum made a 43-yarder — twice — to snap Florida's 11-game winning streak and its 18-game home winning streak. War Eagle?