Sports

College football

Fill-in QB sends LSU to rout of Miami

Associated Press
Published December 31, 2005

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ATLANTA - Matt Flynn did so well in his first start, the Peach Bowl turned into 60 minutes of fun for No. 10 LSU.

What happened after the game wasn't nearly so nice.

Flynn threw two touchdowns, Joseph Addai rushed for 130 yards and the Tigers humbled No. 9 Miami, running a couple of fake kicks in a 40-3 rout Friday that marked the Hurricanes' most-lopsided bowl loss ever.

There were shoves and punches thrown between players immediately after the game as both teams left the field into the same tunnel. Georgia State Patrol officers intervened, and minutes later Miami's Andrew Bain, apparently dazed, was escorted by officers back out of the tunnel.

Police officers demanded that reporters leave the area outside the Miami locker room. There was no immediate comment from Miami officials.

Flynn, a sophomore filling in for injured starter JaMarcus Russell, completed 13 of 22 passes for 196 yards with no interceptions. He also rushed for 39 yards and was named the offensive MVP.

Led by Flynn, LSU (11-2) rebounded from its worst game of the year, a 34-14 loss to Georgia in the Dec.3 SEC Championship Game, returning to the Georgia Dome and delivering one of its strongest performance of the season.

For weeks, the Hurricanes had believed that two botched plays knocked them from the national-title picture.

But Miami suffered its worst bowl defeat Friday. It was the second bowl loss in the Hurricanes' past nine appearances, and marked the most one-sided beating absorbed by a Miami team since Nov. 28, 1998, when it lost 66-13 to Syracuse.

The game started with promise. Miami marched down the field on its first possession, taking a 3-0 lead on Jon Peattie's chip-shot field goal.

Things soured quickly.

When Miami quarterback Kyle Wright came up short on a fourth and inches early in the second quarter, LSU seized momentum. Playing in front of a pro-Tigers crowd, LSU opened a 20-3 lead by halftime.

The loss assures that the Hurricanes won't finish ranked among the nation's top 10 teams and probably not as the highest-rated club in the ACC - two of the team's biggest goals entering the Peach Bowl, which they won with ease over Florida a year ago.

Miami's first two losses came against FSU, missing a chance for an easy tying field goal at the end, then against Georgia Tech, where a crucial fourth and short wasn't converted and helped seal a 14-10 defeat.

But there was nothing close about this one.

Wright was 10-for-21 for 100 yards, victimized by drops and constant pressure by LSU. Miami was outgained 468-153, a stunning statistic considering the Hurricanes came into the game ranked among the nation's stingiest defenses.

[Last modified December 31, 2005, 00:48:13]

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