Mon Jan 7 22:00:27 2008

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LSU rallies for halftime lead at BCS title game

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New Orleans, LA (Sports Network) - Matt Flynn's two touchdown passes and Jacob Hester's one-yard scoring run boosted No. 2 LSU to 24 unanswered points and a 24-10 lead over top-ranked Ohio State at halftime of the BCS national championship game.

So far, in their second straight title contest, it's been a case of fantastic to fizzle for the Buckeyes. Last year, Ted Ginn Jr. returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, but Ohio State was routed by the Florida Gators, 41-14. This time around, Chris Wells ran 65 yards for a touchdown just 1:26 into the game, and it became 10-0 on Ryan Pretorius' 25-yard field goal with 9:12 left in the same quarter.

However, the Tigers used a blocked field goal and an interception to help them into the lead.

Colt David kicked a 32-yard field goal with 2:21 left in the opening quarter, and the Tigers tied the game two minutes into the second on Flynn's 13-yard TD pass to Richard Dickson. The Tigers bunched four wide receivers to the right side of the field, but Dickson, on the left, was left all alone. That capped a seven-play, 84-yard drive, which featured two costly personal foul penalties on the Buckeyes. One was a facemask on Butkus Award winner James Laurinaitis.

Ohio State drove to regain the lead, but Ricky Jean-Francois blocked Pretorius' 37-yard field goal try.

LSU went ahead 17-10 with 7:25 left in the half on Flynn's 10-yard TD pass to Brandon LaFell, as he got behind cornerback Malcolm Jenkins in the back left corner of the end zone. The third down pass culminated a 66-yard drive.

Chevis Jackson then came up with an interception, taking the ball away from Ray Small. Safety Harry Coleman came in on a blitz and Buckeyes quarterback Todd Boeckman was forced to throw early, and after the pick and 34-yard return, LSU took over at the OSU 24.

Despite the Tigers having a 1st-and-goal at the one, the Buckeyes nearly kept LSU out of the end zone. Hester was stopped for no gain on two straight runs, and on the third try he was met up the middle by Laurinaitis, but then wiggled to the left and fell on the goal line, moving the lead to 24-10 with 4:16 left in the half.

The 24 points were the most allowed by the Buckeyes in the first half all season.