LSU’s Players Don’t Really Feel Like Sharing the Title

NEW ORLEANS — They ran around it. They flew over it. They doused it with roars. They hid it behind crystal.

But, even in the dramatic end, they could not avoid it.

At college football’s final party Sunday, there was a 500-pound gorilla in the room named USC, and even the best Cajun voodoo could not make it disappear.

For more than three strange hours in the BCS-championship Sugar Bowl, LSU knocked around Oklahoma for a 21-14 victory that gave it a share of the national title.

Then they tackled the gorilla owning the other half.

“I’m getting tired of that talk about good USC is,” barked Marquise Hill, Tiger defensive tackle. “We’ll play ‘em. We’ll play ‘em right now. We’ll play ‘em in a phone booth. We’ll knock Matt Leinart out like we knocked Jason White out. We don’t care.”

Across the interview room, fellow defensive lineman Chad Lavalais continued the blitz.

“If it came down to it, we’d be more than happy to play them,” he said of the Trojans. “How would we do against them? I can’t say what I really want to say.”

They had just spent an evening fighting Oklahoma on a hard carpet in an ear-popping Superdome, yet their most intense answers were about a team a couple of thousand miles away.

It didn’t seem fair. But has anything in this last month seemed fair?

“The BCS said this was the national championship game, so we are national champs,” said Tiger receiver Skyler Green as if trying to convince himself.

It was that sort of night, sometimes dreary, momentarily exciting, ultimately confusing.

Afterward, thousands of Tiger fans shook gold pom-poms and chanted, “We’re No. 1.”

But they were only half right, with USC being named Associated Press national champion a couple of hours later.

A squad of stunningly quick Tigers could claim they earned the crown after holding Oklahoma to 154 total yards.

But they would be only half right, as the Sooners were barely a worthy test, with 11 penalties, two turnovers and a quarterback who dropped the Heisman Trophy on his foot in the final minutes with eight consecutive incompletions.

“It dampers it quite a bit,” said the fallen Jason White, who completed only 13 of 37 passes for 102 yards. “You win 12 games and don’t have anything to show for it.”

Today, college football should feel the same way after a season with no solo champion to show for it.

In the end, its postseason system got the game it deserved, a title bout that felt like a sparring session, a season-ending meal that left everyone hungry.

Remember when USC Coach Pete Carroll offered to play the winner of this game in the opening game next year?

That’s not happening, of course, as the Trojans are going to play Virginia Tech in that game.

But wouldn’t you like to move up Carroll’s challenge about eight months? Why couldn’t USC and LSU play next week?

“Seriously?” asked Tiger cornerback Corey Webster. “C’mon, I’m tired, I just want to hang out.”

No, seriously.

“You know, if we had a game or two less during the season, why not,” said tackle Rodney Reed. “It would be a good matchup.”

The Tiger defense would certainly be the quickest faced by the Trojans. It swarmed the Sooners’ nationally best offense with five sacks and nine tackles for losses while giving up only 44 total yards in the first half.

And on three Oklahoma possessions with the Sooners trailing by merely a touchdown in the fourth quarter? The Sooners gained only 45 total yards and watched a fourth-down pass get tipped away in the end zone.

“If it came down to it, we would be up to the task,” Lavalais said. “We know how to go after it.”

The Trojans’ big advantage in the game would be on offense. As bad as the Sooners played down the stretch, the Tiger offense was even more inept.

In the fourth quarter, they gained minus-six yards. In the second half, they gained only 105 yards. Their quarterback, Matt Mauck, often tries to run out of trouble, thus running into trouble.

The game’s MVP, freshman running back Justin Vincent, gained 64 of his 117 yards on the game’s first play from scrimmage, streaking up the middle ahead of everyone. Yet he was still caught by cornerback Derrick Strait before scoring.

“USC has a really a good defense,” said Green, pausing. “It would be tough. But we would rise to the occasion.”

The guess here is that both teams would rise to the occasion.

The Tigers would indeed force Leinart into difficult decisions. The Trojan running backs wouldn’t be able to run wide as much as usual, increasing the importance of LenDale White. USC would be thrilled to come out of the game with three touchdowns.

But it would be enough, because the Tigers would score maybe two, tops. They don’t have the offense or creativity to match wits with Pete Carroll.

So here’s guessing the final score would be USC 21, LSU 14.

Yep, the same score as this year’s raucous, remorseful Sugar Bowl.

The right setting. The wrong teams.

Bill Plaschke can be reached at [email protected]. To read previous columns by Plaschke, go to Latimes.com/plaschke.