- Game Notes
- LSU head coach Nick Saban Quotes
- Houston head coach Dana Dimel Quotes
- Houston player quotes
- LSU player quotes
by Ryan Rogers
LSUsports.net
BATON ROUGE — Despite being held scoreless offensively in the second half, the LSU football team held off a fourth-quarter charge by the Houston Cougars, 28-13, to improve to 2-0 on the season Saturday night in Tiger Stadium.
Houston (0-2) became the first opponent since Vanderbilt in 1997 to outgain the Tigers offensively and lose. The Cougars amassed 438 yards while holding LSU to 297.
Without an offensive score in the second half and less than a minute to play in the game, LSU safety Damien James picked off a third-down pass from Houston quarterback Josh McKinley and ran it back 56 yards for a tourndown and a 28-13 lead.
The Tigers struggled to capitalize on three scoring opportunities in the third quarter, allowing a blocked field goal attempt from 22 yards out, a fumble on the Houston goalline and an interception in the end zone.
After weathering the storm, Houston score twice early in the fourth quarter to make the game close.
LSU quarterback Josh Booty finished the game 12-of-26 for 177 yards and two touchdowns. He threw two interceptions, as well.
McKinley finished the game 29-of-53 for 354 yards and two touchdowns. He was also intercepted twice, including James’ 56-yard return with less than one minute left to play.
FIRST HALF RECAP
Behind a South End Zone goal-line stand to end the half, LSU leads Houston 21-0 at halftime in Tiger Stadium, as the Tigers look to avenge last season’s 20-7 loss to the Cougars.
Demetrius Hoofkin broke up a third-and-goal pass and Travis Moses hit Houston quarterback Jason McKinley as he threw on fourth down to break up the play and end a 15 play, 67-yard drive and keep the Cougars off the scoreboard in the first half.
LSU has now held opponents scoreless for the last seven quarters dating back to last year’s season finale against Arkansas. LSU defeated Division I-AA Western Carolina 58-0 in the 2000 season opener.
After the Tigers punted three times in the first quarter, Josh Booty found a wide open Joe Domingeaux on a 11-yard rollout pass as LSU broke the ice on the scoreboard taking a 7-0 lead with 11:28 left in the first half.
The Tigers had excellent field position to work with thanks to a 59-yard punt by Donnie Jones that was downed at the 1-yard line.
To set up LSU’s second score, the LSU defense held its ground and forced the Cougars to punt from its endzone. Houston punter Mike Clark booted a 35-yard punt and LSU took over at the Houston 37-yard line. It was a five-play, 37-yard scoring drive.
Booty then struck again, finding another tight-end, Robert Royal, on a corner route resulting in a 30-yard touchdown connection. The score was set up by a 28-yard pass completion to Josh Reed. The drive went for five plays and 65 yards. LSU led 14-0 with 7:47 remaining in the half.
In the first half, Booty went 6-for-12 with 102 yards passing and two touchdowns.
A big special teams play set up the Tigers’ third score when Terrence O?Bryant crushed Houston returner Leif Penn, causing the fumble. LSU recovered the fumble on the Houston 15-yard line. Three plays later, LaBrandon Toefield punched it in on a 4-yard touchdown run and LSU opened the game up at 21-0 with 5:47 remaining in the first half.
Both teams failed to get on the scoreboard in the first quarter. However, LSU?s running game and Houton?s passing game were both consistent early on. LSU had 57 yards rushing in the first quarter. Toefield accounted for the majority of them with seven carries for 46 yards. Meanwhile, Houston had 42 yards passing with three first downs.
The game has been plagued with penalties. Houston nullified an early first down when wide receiver Brian Robinson was called for offensive pass interference. LSU then shot itself in the foot with a clipping and two false start penalties, dooming a drive in the first quarter.
LSU punter Donnie Jones heckled the Cougars with poor field position as the Tigers were able to down two punts inside the 5-yard line in the first quarter.
Toefield rushed for 63 yards on 13 carries. LSU earned 86 yards rushing as a team in the first half. The Tigers also faired well on third downs converting on five of eight tries.
The Tigers are sporting its purple jerseys for the first time since November 12, 1994, against Southern Miss.
SECOND HALF RECAP
Damien James was the hero of the day as his two late interceptions preserved a Tigers victory over an upset-minded Houston squad. LSU held on to win 28-13 avenging a loss to the Cougars last year.
James’ second interception was returned for a 56-yard score icing the victory for LSU. The pass was initially broken up by Fred Booker. Booker deflected the ball into the air and James was there for the interception.
Trailing 21-0, the Cougars came storming back in the fourth quarter. Two Brandon Middleton touchdown receptions cut the Tiger lead to 21-13.
The Cougars finally got some offense going with a 44-yard completion to Brandon Middleton. The Cougars scored on a 17-yard touchdown pass to Middleton three plays later. The Tiger lead was cut to 14 at 21-7 with 12:52 remaining in the game. It was the first time an opponent scored on LSU since Arkansas last year. The Tigers had played 107 minutes of scoreless football up until that point.
After Booty threw his second interception the Cougars took over at the LSU 19-yard line. This set up Middleton’s second touchdown on the next play.
Houston threatened again after driving 86 yards to the LSU 4-yard line. The Tigers benefited from a lucky deflection off of Houston tight-end Tommie Baldwin. James was there for the interception and the LSU defense stopped a potential game tying score.
Coach Saban was concerned about how his team would handle adversity in the Houston game. Although the offense failed to make first downs, which would have ended the Houston threat, the defense made the necessary plays to hang on and win the game.
LSU vs. Houston
Sept. 9, 2000
Tiger Stadium
Baton Rouge, La.
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LSU wore purple jerseys for the first time since Nov. 12, 1994 when the Tigers lost to Southern Miss., 20-18, at Death Valley.
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Tonight’s game captains for LSU were center John Compton, fullback Tommy Banks and defensive end Kareem Mitchell.
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Tonight’s attendance of 82,469 is the second highest in LSU history, trailing only last weekend’s crowd of 87,188.
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LSU senior offensive guard Louis Williams made his 24th consecutive start tonight, the longest of any current Tiger. Other starting streaks of note that were extended on Saturday were Fred Booker (19), Jerel Myers (13) and Ryan Clark (13).
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Two Tigers made their first collegiate starts tonight. Defensive backs sophomore Damien James and freshman Travis Moses.
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With 177 yards passing, LSU junior quarterback Josh Booty moved into tenth place on the LSU’s career passing list with 2298 career yards. Booty moved past Mike Hillman.
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LSU wide receiver Jerel Myers extended his streak of consecutive games with a reception to 13. Myers has now caught a pass in every game in a Tiger uniform. Reggie Robinson’s six-yard grab in the third quarter extended his streak of consecutive games with a catch to 19 dating back to the 1998 season.
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LSU junior tight end Joe Domingeaux’s 11-yard touchdown reception from Josh Booty was the second of his career, the first since his true freshman season in 1997 against Akron.
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The Houston touchdown reception in the fourth quarter snapped an LSU streak of eight consecutive quarters without a point that began with a scoreless fourth quarter in the Arkansas game last season. That matches a streak of eight consecutive quarters dating back to 1985 with back-to-back shutouts of Kentucky and Ole Miss.
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The Tigers held opponents to seven consecutive scoreless quarters to start the season. That marks the best start in the modern era (dating back to the 1962 season) surpassing the 1998 start when the Tigers opened the season with a 27-0 victory over Texas A&M, then held Tennessee scoreless for the first two quarters of their match-up before winning 34-9 in Knoxville to total six scoreless quarters.
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This is the first time since the Vanderbilt game in 1997 that LSU totaled less yards than their opponent and still won the game. In ’97, the Commodores gathered 248 total net yards, while the Tigers gained 230 total net yards.
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The fourth quarter interception in the Houston end zone by sophomore Damien James is the first in his collegiate career. His second interception, which occurred later that quarter, was his first to be returned for a touchdown. It is the first interception returned for a touchdown since Johnny Mitchell’s 66-yard return against Alabama last season.
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Abram Booty’s streak of consecutive games with a reception was snapped at 27. Reggie Robinson now holds LSU’s longest consecutive game streak with a reception with 19.
QB Jason McKinley
“The game was shot, it seemed like we were in a hole, we started out negative one, negative five, negative ten, their defense did a great job. When you are back there it is hard to win, you know it was 0-0 for a while, you move the ball a little bit and you are still nowhere, we have to punt it off. Our defense played great held them to 0-0 for a while, we just couldn?t get any long drives going.”
WR Brandon Middleton
“The cornerback (Fred Booker) grabbed me, I was trying to get inside and Jason threw the ball and he jumped over my back, he swatted the ball and hit it up and they just ran the other way. I missed the first one (pass) in the first half and I was pretty disappointed but I still had confidence and I made the last play- I knew the team needed a spark, and I just went up and got the ball the way we do it in practice.”
Ryan Clark– 2- FS
“I think it s good that we came away with a win. We had a lot of things to overcome and a lot of things to work on. The game against Auburn is a big one; we ll try to keep the things we did good and improve on what went wrong.”
Fred Booker– 1- CB
“We didn t execute as well as we should have. No. 8 (Brandon Middleton) had a couple of great catches.”
(On Houston s passing success in the second half)
“I wasn t surprised. I knew they would come out and throw the ball down by 21 points. They came out with a couple of big plays.”
Tommy Banks -43- FB
“Wecame out strong and scored 21 points in the first half. We knew if we came out strong in the second half we could put it away. The adversity that Coach Saban had talked about all week was there, but we made it. That s something we need to work on.
A win is a win and everybody s happy. We just need to watch the film and get better in the red area. Three times we were down there and we didn t score.”
Donnie Jones – 80 – P
“I just tried to put it between the left hash and the sideline. I pretty much just gave it all I had. I couldn t even really see. I just looked at the official.”
Damien James – 5- SS
(on his 2 interceptions)
“On the first one, they had someone open in the endzone. One of our guys tipped it, I didn t really see who it was. The second one was also a tipped ball, but it was my man.”
HOUSTON COACH DANA DIMEL POST-GAME QUOTES
“It was definitely a well played game by both teams in certain aspects. It made for a nice venue for a college football game.”
“Out football team would definitely like to erase that second quarter where things just didn?t seem to go our way, and things got out of hand a little bit.”
“What really turned things initially in the game was the punt when we were battling for field position. We deferred and by winning the coin toss we tried to win the game of field position. It backfired with the punt and they had us pinned down on the goaline.”
“They then got good field position. Our defense stopped them a couple of times, but then after the punt we had to dig ourselves out of a hole. The big play of the game in the second quarter was the fumble in a good effort on their kickoff when one of their players made a great tackle and they got the turnover.”
LSU HEAD COACH NICK SABAN POST-GAME QUOTES
The best thing I can say about that is a win is a win. We certainly had a lot of opportunities to put this team away out there, which is a good thing. We left a minimum of thirteen points off the board. First and one at the one we had a field goal blocked, and we had it inside the twenty and threw an interception. We had great field position and didn’t capitalize and never really put the nail in the coffin.
Knowing the kind of team they have and a good quarterback who played an outstanding game, I think. When they go two minute, that’s their offense. Our defense was on the field a lot of time in the second half, but they made the play in the end of the game that made the difference in the game and I’m proud of them. They overcame adversity and they kept fighting and that is a good thing.
We left a lot of good football on the field tonight in terms of what we are capable of doing relative to how we ended up actually performing. And I think we need to go to work and try to help the players to fix it.
I’m sure the first question you are going to ask me is, “Why didn’t Rohan (Davey) play?” The two quarterbacks were told in this game that Josh (Booty) was going to play, and that we planned to play Rohan, but we were going to let the game dictate it. Both quarterbacks thought that was a good thing to do, and we wanted Josh to go out in the second half. We got those three straight situations with good field position and squandered those points. And then they scored and came back and it never really seemed like the right time to put him in the game.