LSU shocks Miami
Brawl breaks out after Tigers win Peach Bowl
LSU gave Matt Flynn all the help he needed to be successful, and then toyed with Miami before dealing the Hurricanes their most lopsided bowl loss.
Flynn threw two touchdown passes, Joseph Addai rushed for 130 yards, and the No. 10 Tigers humbled Miami's proud defense, even running a couple of fake kicks after the game was a rout, romping, 40-3, in the Peach Bowl last night in Atlanta.
Trash-talking between players grew into a postgame brawl in the LSU tunnel, and Larry Coker, coach of No. 9 Miami, said two of his players were knocked unconscious.
There were shoves and punches immediately after the game as the teams left the field by the same tunnel. Georgia State Patrol officers intervened, and minutes later Miami's Andrew Bain, apparently dazed, was escorted out of the tunnel.
Coker said Bain and Miami's Khalil Jones were knocked unconscious, and the coach said no players were detained by police. No players were hospitalized.
''I don't know what happened and I don't condone it," Coker said.
LSU's Jacob Hester, who ran for 70 yards and a touchdown, said trash-talking, some involving LSU receiver Dwayne Bowe, a Miami native, began as good-natured fun.
''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."
After a few minutes, the entire LSU team was back on the field celebrating.
Miami players weren't available for comment after the game.
Flynn, a sophomore filling in for injured starter JaMarcus Russell, completed 13 of 22 passes for 196 yards with no interceptions.
''I was just trying to get the ball to the athletes around me," Flynn said.
Flynn also rushed for 39 yards and was named the offensive MVP.
''Our players come into the final game of the season with a new quarterback, a very capable quarterback," said LSU coach Les Miles. ''I felt they had to control the line of scrimmage for him and find a back who would scrap for yards and play dominant defense and that's what they did."
LSU (11-2) scored on eight straight possessions in a streak that started with a field goal late in the first quarter.
Even with a lopsided lead, LSU attempted to add to the rout, faking a field goal while leading, 34-3, late in the third quarter and then failing on a fake punt with a 40-3 lead late in the game.
Miles said he called for the fake field goal but his players called for the fake punt.
Coker wasn't affected by the trickery.
''They can call whatever play they want to," he said. ''It is our job to stop it."
LSU piled up 468 yards, the most allowed by Miami this season. The Hurricanes (9-3) entered leading the nation in pass defense and ranked third in total defense.
The Tigers were just as impressive on defense, holding Miami to 153 yards and six first downs -- none in the second half. Kyle Wright completed only 10 of 21 passes for 100 yards.
LSU had its largest margin of victory in a bowl game, easily surpassing its 45-26 win over Michigan in the 1995 Independence Bowl. Miami's previous most lopsided loss in a bowl game was a 29-0 loss to Arizona in the Fiesta Bowl Jan. 1, 1994.
Music City Bowl: Connor Hughes kicked a 39-yard field goal with 1:08 left, and Marques Hagans threw for a career-high 358 yards in helping Virginia overcome a 14-point deficit to beat Minnesota, 34-31, in Nashville.
Minnesota (7-5) had every opportunity to blow the Cavaliers out and win this bowl for the third time in four years, but the nation's fifth-best offense bogged down after taking a 31-24 lead early in the fourth quarter.
The Gophers had one last chance to pull out their fourth straight bowl victory, but Marcus Hamilton intercepted Bryan Cupito's ill-advised pass into double coverage in the end zone with 36 seconds remaining to seal the game for Virginia (7-5).
Cupito threw a career-high four TD passes for the Gophers.
Independence Bowl: South Carolina kept Brad Smith in check -- for a half -- before the the Missouri quarterback broke loose, rushing for three touchdowns (including a 1-yarder in the final minutes) and passing for another to rally the Tigers to a 38-31 victory over the Gamecocks in Shreveport, La.
Smith, who rushed for 1,151 yards and passed for 2,022 this season, accounted for 431 of Missouri's 504 yards in the Tigers' biggest comeback victory of the year.
Missouri (7-5) trailed, 21-0, after the first quarter as Steve Spurrier's Gamecocks dominated the first half. South Carolina (7-5) outgained Missouri, 312-174 yards, in the first half and had the ball almost 11 minutes longer.
Sun Bowl: Brandon Breazell returned two onside kicks for touchdowns and Drew Olson recovered from an awful first quarter (three interceptions) by throwing three TD passes, leading No. 17 UCLA (10-2) to a 50-38 win over
With star tailback Maurice Drew limited to punt returns after a first-half shoulder injury, Chris Markey finished with 150 yards rushing and Kahlil Bell added 136 yards.
