No. 1 Louisiana State beats 3rd-ranked Arkansas | College football

BATON ROUGE, La. — Tyrann Mathieu answered the call for a game-turning play when Louisiana State needed one, and the top-ranked Tigers piled on from there.
Mathieu returned a punt 92 yards for a tying score and LSU punished third-ranked Arkansas with 286 yards rushing, wiping out a 14-point deficit with a 41-17 victory Friday that secured a spot in the Southeastern Conference championship game.
LSU (12-0 overall, 8-0 SEC) will play No. 13 Georgia next weekend in Atlanta for the SEC title.
The rivalry game with Arkansas (10-2, 6-2) was billed as the biggest at Tiger Stadium since 1959, the last time two teams ranked among the top three clashed in Death Valley. Billy Cannon lifted No. 1 LSU to a 7-3 victory over No. 3 Mississippi in that game with an 89-yard punt return for a score, so it seemed fitting the Tigers would get a similar score against the Razorbacks.
"I could hear my teammates in my ear saying, 'Man, we need you to go make a play,' " Mathieu said. "I was able to help the momentum really go in our favor. You have no idea how bad I just wanted to go out there and make a big play for our team. I was fortunate enough to be able to do that."
LSU trailed 14-7 late in the second quarter when Mathieu fielded Dylan Breeding's end-over-end kick at his 8, started left, made a hard cut straight upfield and angled left again.
"That was a huge turning point in the game," Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said. "We were trying to get the ball punted to the sideline, but he miss-hit it a bit and punted it to the middle. ... (Mathieu) made a great cut and made us miss at the point of attack. He made a great play."
Arkansas took a 14-0 lead on Tyler Wilson's 13-yard TD pass to Jarius Wright and Alonzo Highsmith's 47-yard fumble return, but the Tigers stormed back and outscored the Razorbacks 41-3 from there.
"This football team, down 14 points, did not flinch," LSU coach Les Miles said. "There was never a question in anyone's minds on that sideline we were going to respond."
Other Top 10 game
No. 8 Houston 48, at Tulsa 16
Case Keenum threw for 457 yards and five touchdowns, Patrick Edwards had 181 yards receiving and four scores and the Cougars (12-0, 8-0 Conference USA) earned a berth in the C-USA title game by beating the Golden Hurricane (8-4, 7-1).
In the third quarter, Keenum and Edwards combined for a 33-yard TD on fourth-and-10 and a 38-yard score on fourth-and-one.
Houston, a three-point favorite over Tulsa, will host either Southern Mississippi or Marshall next Saturday for the conference title. Houston is seeking to become the first C-USA team to play in a Bowl Championship Series game.
Keenum, the nation's leading passer, has 42 TD passes and has been intercepted three times this season.

LSU plans to ride its monster defense

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Travelers driving on almost any major highway in Mississippi are greeted by a giant billboard that reads: "We Own This State."


It has become the Mississippi State football team's slogan because of its recent dominance of rival Ole Miss, which Bulldo
A giant banner with the same message hangs on a side of Scott Field, and LSU coach Les Miles had to chuckle if he saw it before Thursday night's SEC opener against the No. 25 Bulldogs.


If Mississippi State owns the state, it's still paying taxes to Miles, who beat them for a seventh consecutive time with a 19-6 victory in front of a crowd of 56,924. Overall, MSU has lost 19 of its last 20 games against LSU, including 12 in a row.


After struggling to a 6-3 lead at the half, No. 3 LSU's defense dominated the overmatched Bulldogs in the second half, holding them to 76 yards of offense and five first downs in the final 30 minutes.


"We weren't perfect by any stretch, but I felt like the intensity of the defense was strong and that ended up being the tale of the day," Miles said. "I felt like the offense did the things that they needed to do. I think we did the things we needed to do to win."


LSU's defense is about as close to perfect as it gets. The Bulldogs averaged 321 rushing yards in their first two games, a 59-14 rout of Memphis and 41-34 loss at Auburn, the defending BCS national champions. But MSU managed only 52 rushing yards on 34 attempts against LSU, which had a whopping 15 tackles for loss.


"That's how we play every snap," LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne said. "We don't want anybody to get anything on us."


Most offenses will probably have a difficult time just getting past LSU's first line of defense. The Tigers can go as deep as about eight players up front, rotating tackles and ends in and out of the game to wear down offensive linemen. Every player seems as good or better than the one he replaced. Against Mississippi State, LSU ends Kendrick Adams and tackles Bennie Logan, Michael Brockers and Anthony Johnson combined for 10½ tackles for loss and 3½ sacks.
gs coach Dan Mullen often refers to as that "school up north."We want to be the most physical guys on the field," Brockers said. "We're trying to be the most physical defensive front in the country. In all of our games, we don't feel like anyone can score on us."


Mississippi State certainly struggled to score against LSU in the first two quarters. After the Bulldogs only managed to kick a 26-yard field goal in the first half, Brockers pulled LSU quarterback Jarrett Lee aside before the second half.


"I told him just run the clock out and hold the ball," Brockers said. "I told him we'd win by a 9-6 score. It's like that every game. If our offense can score three points, we'll win by a 3-0 score. We'll take it."


Miles seems to be content winning ugly, too. After senior quarterback Jordan Jefferson was suspended from the team before the Sept. 3 opener against Oregon for his alleged role in a bar fight in Baton Rouge, La., Lee returned to the starting role. He was forced into the starting lineup as a freshman in 2008 -- after starter Ryan Perrilloux was kicked off the team -- and threw 16 interceptions, seven of which were returned for touchdowns.


With Lee's shaky past, Miles seems more than willing to run the ball and play field-position football until Lee shows his haphazard ways are behind him. LSU ran 38 times for 148 yards against MSU, with Spencer Ware leading the way with 107 yards on 22 attempts.


"It's certainly a piece of the formula for certain contests. If we're tested more and need to open it more, we'll adjust," Miles said. "That defense plays extremely well. If we do the right things on offense, we can win a lot of games."
Lee, a senior from Brenham, Texas, was pretty sharp against Mississippi State, completing 21 of 27 passes for 213 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He threw a 19-yard touchdown to Rueben Randle on a nicely thrown ball on a fade route into the end zone early in the fourth quarter.


Lee's interception, which came after the Tigers had taken a 16-6 lead, was his first in 132 pass attempts. Lee said he didn't let the mistake bother him.


"Those kind of things are going to happen, so you just have to go back and move on to the next play," Lee said. "I'm just trying to play smart and confident. As a young player, that kind of play would have bothered me and I would have dwelled on it for a couple of plays. Now, I'm just moving on."


It's easier for Lee to put mistakes in the rear-view mirror once LSU's defense takes the field. It's also easier to throw passes out of bounds, instead of forcing them, and punting the ball away.


The Tigers get back junior wide receiver Russell Shepard before next week's game at No. 18 West Virginia. Sheppard's big-play ability and versatility might allow Miles to open the offense a little bit more.


"I think there are some things we'll do and very specifically with him, honestly," Miles said.


But after three games it's pretty clear the Tigers are going to be built around their menacing defense.