Morning Wrap: Les Miles: "I'm Not Leaving for Michigan"

We were pretty sure that Les Miles wasn't leaving LSU to go to Michigan this time after what he went through back in 2007. And with all the success he's had at LSU.

But it didn't stop people from asking--or at least raising the question.

Miles put a stop to it all Monday evening after reports began circulating the Wolverines reached out to him about the job.

The 61-year old Miles has won 103 games in 10 seasons in Baton Rouge and at this point there's no good reason for him to leave.

Michigan has not found a coach yet and speculation is they are waiting on San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh to leave his current job. There are few "big name" coaches out there and even fewer that would take the Wolverines job, once considered a plum, now just considered a fading program trying to relive past glory.

But this story is always a good excuse to roll out one of our favorite Les quotes of all time (there are many). It took place after ESPN had reported he would take the Michigan job in 2007. Which was not true.

And because we can say that we had to scramble that morning to cover this press conference, which took place the afternoon before the SEC Championship game. We left, like many others, laughing.

ICYMI: Auburn Lands Will Muschamp as Defensive Coordinator

Oh boy, this is going to make things a bit more interesting in 2015.

Auburn University hired a new defensive coordinator Friday night. The guy they hired made his reputation as one of the best d-coordinators in the business.

And he was recently fired as head coach at the University of Florida.

Will Muschamp did not come cheaply, but we are guessing Auburn fans are perfectly okay with that as the wake up Saturday morning.

Reports say the former Texas and LSU defensive coordinator and disciple of Nick Saban reportedly nabbed a deal that will pay him somewhere in the $1.6 to $1.8 million a year range, making him the new gold standard for college coordinators. He joins the staff of Coach Gus Malzahn immediately.

And raising the absurdity bar for the cost of college coaches.

But Muschamp will be worth it to the folks on the Plains if he can help a sagging defense that has been the Tigers achilles heel the past several seasons. If the defense improves enough to take down Alabama and get Auburn to the College Football playoff, well, then in their minds, the cost will be worth it.

Muschamp will meet the crazed, assembled masses Saturday in what is sure to be a well attended press conference.

Morning Wrap: LSU Beats Texas A and M on Apparent No-Call

The Texas A and M Aggies are not happy this day after Thanksgiving.

The are mad because they feel a no-call by the referee's cost them the game Thursday night vs. LSU.

Driving down the field with less than 2 minutes left in the game, the Aggies lined up to pass, when it appeared that LSU's nose tackle may have jumped---albeit barely--offsides.

The whistle did not blow, but Aggie QB Kyle Allen did what he thought was the right thing and continued the play, throwing a wounded duck of a pass that was picked off by a Tigers Defensive Back.

Quite honestly, LSU should have won the game easily. They dominated time of possession, holding the ball for over 41 minutes. 

Fabulous freshman Leonard Fournette ran for 146 yards and an amazing TD, where he ran over an A and M safety like he wasn't there.

The win moves LSU to 8-4 on the season, 4-4 in the SEC West. A and M drops to 7-5, 3-5 in the SEC West.

Both teams will be playing in Bowl games this December.

Your highlights from ESPN:

Fournette=Herschel, But Only Once...

((HT: Michael TBL's Vine))

All Leonard Fournette did was remind some of us at OSG HQ of Bill Bates with this move tonight against Texas A&M


Our previous evidence


NO, WE ARE NOT COMPARING THE TWO!!!

NEVERNEVERNEVER!!!

Just with the feracity of the move...nothing more...

Morning Wrap: Alabama Steals Win at LSU

((ht: cbssports.com))

It wasn't a pretty win for the Alabama Crimson Tide, but this 2nd weekend in November, a win is a win and we're fairly certain the Tide will take it.

Alabama beat LSU 20-13 in Overtime Saturday night in a game they probably shouldn't have won.

The Tigers went toe-for-toe with the Tide, LSU taking a 13-10 lead when Kicker Colby Delahoussaye drilled a 39-yard field goal.

But the ensuing kickoff, LSU's kicker pull hooked one out of bounds giving Alabama the ball on their own 35. Tide QB Blake Sims got his team close enough for Kicker Adam Griffith to split the uprights from 27-yards with 3 seconds left to tie the game.

And in the 1st overtime session, Sims threw a 6-yard TD pass to DeAndrew White to seal the victory.

Bama moves to 8-1, 5-1 in the SEC, LSU drops to 7-3, 3-3 in the SEC. The path for Alabama is clear now, they win the Iron Bowl, and they play for the SEC title and a berth in the College Football Playoff.

Your highlights from CBSSports.com:

Les Miles is One of a Kind: Calls Out Someone for Wearing Red

((ht: saturdaydownsouth.com))

Oh you Les Miles, never change.

Ever.

We had to share this after seeing it because LSU Les is truly one of the best press conference/interview guys in all of sports today.

He always shares whatever is on his mind. Granted, it doesn't always make sense, but he rarely holds back.

And we love him for it.

Check out the beginning of his weekly presser where he calls out someone for wearing red. (It's Alabama week). Mind you, we think the whole issue of calling out people in the media for wearing an shirt the color of the opposing team is completely childish and stupid, but that's another conversation for another day.

Here is the world this week according to Les:

Morning Roundup: LSU Takes Down Ole Miss in Bizarre Finish

Usually it's LSU that ends up with the bizarre and strange Les Miles-ish type finish. But not on Saturday night.

#24 LSU upset #3 Ole Miss after one of the strangest finishes this season.

The Tigers were up by 3, 10-7 with less than 2 minutes to go when Ole Miss got the ball. All Rebel QB Bo Wallace had to do was get the ball downfield far enough to get at least a field goal to get the tie and put the game in overtime.

And Wallace moved his team down the field, albeit with the help bad pass interference penalty against LSU. He got them close enough for a potential 42-yard kick to tie the game.

That's when the chaos ensued.

Ole Miss couldn't decide what to do with :09 left and got a delay of game penalty, which backed up the kick 5 yards.

Still makable for most SEC kickers. Gary Wunderlich, the kicker is fairly accurate, but not with a big leg. His long on the season 46.

Instead, Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze decided to run another play, it was 3rd down. Wallace dropped back with instructions to either throw a quick hitter to get closer for Wunderlich or throw the ball into the stands.

Wallace tried to throw it to a double covered receiver in the end zone.

It was intercepted. Game over, LSU wins.

Perhaps the only offensive highlight of the game--Leonard Fournette ran for 113 yards for LSU, who also turned the ball over 4 times.

The win moves the Tigers to 7-2 overall, 3-2 in the SEC. Ole Miss drops to 7-1, 4-1 in the SEC.

Your highlights from ESPN:

Clanga's Dillon Day Is Out Of Control

((HT: ESPN/Saturdays Down South))

MSU's Dillon Day seems to enjoy the role of the heel...

If he keeps it up, he will have done more than earn the title and a profound lack of unprofessionalism to go with it...

Last year, he got a half-game suspension for stomping on an Auburn player.

Last night against LSU, Day cleated Tiger players twice- first, he stomped on Davon Godchaux’s stomach, and then he found Rashard Robinson’s groin.

Evidence below...


Stay classy, Dillon... there's always the Raiders...

ICYMI: LSU Star DB Arrested, Jailed and Suspended From Team

((ht: wafb.com))

It appears...at this moment that LSU and coach Les Miles might need a new defensive back.

Jalen Mills, a two year starter at cornerback, was arrested Wednesday morning. The arrest stems from  a May incident at his apartment where he's charged with punching a female n the mouth.

Mills is facing 2nd degree battery charges. LSU's Sports Information Office says Mills has been "Suspended" from the team.

According to the Police report, the woman knocked on Mills's door looking for a friend. Mills allegedly got angry and shut the door in the woman's face. The report also says the woman knocked again, turned to leave and after hearing something, turned back around and was punched in mouth.

Read more from WAFB.com RIGHT HERE

The part of this story that is disturbing follows:

The woman, who was allegedly knocked unconscious and got stitches put in her lip, contacted police on or around May 29th. And Baton Rouge Police got ahold of Mills on May 29th.

He told them he was in Houston and wouldn't be back until June 9th. They made arrangements to talk in person that day.

Mills never showed up for the meeting or answered his phone. That's when the arrest warrant was taken out.

So, here is a question--If you knocked a woman out cold and left town, would police bring you back? Maybe, maybe not.

If you knocked a woman out who wanted to press charges and identified you in a lineup, would not an arrest warrant be taken out on you? And would the local P.D not be asked to round you up?

Yeah, they probably would. Oh, wait, you play football? Okay, maybe not then....

Unfortunately, LSU has a track record of having a short term memory on things like this. (See Hill, Jeremy). So while Mills is "Suspended Indefinitely", we are suspicious how long "Indefinitely" will be.

You're up Les...

WAFB-TV has more:

WAFB 9 News Baton Rouge, Louisiana News, Weather, Sports

S.Carolina, LSU and Nebraska With Early Bowl Wins

This is the part of the College Football Bowl season where you can start paying attention.

Though to look at a couple of these games, paying attention and attending appear to be two different teams.

We start in Jacksonville in front of a crowd of tens, where Nebraska wins the Gator Bowl title over the University of Georgia 24-19 in a truly uninspiring game that featured the Huskers scoring on a 99-yard passing TD from Tommy Armstrong Jr to a streaking Quincy Enunwa.

The Bulldogs continually sputtered in the Red Zone, dropping a couple of late 4th down passes that could have given them the opportunity to salvage a disappointing season.

Your highlights from ESPN:


We move down state to the dreary confines of Citrus Bowl stadium in Orlando, where South Carolina gets the win over Wisconsin 34-24.

The game was a back and forth affair featuring 4 turnovers by the Badgers and two by the Gamecocks. QB Jaybo Shaw of South Carolina was the hero, throwing for 3 TD's, 300+ yards and running for another score.

Perhaps the biggest highlights of the day came afterwards. South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier took the opportunity to praise his team congratulate them for winning their 3rd straight bowl game and the championship of South Carolina. (Dabo Swinny pun).

And then star Defensive End Jadaveon Clowney made it official, announcing he'd be taking his services to the NFL this upcoming season.

Here's one of Jaybo's TD runs, we are still searching for the Spurrier post-game comments: (thanks ESPN)



And then our minor bowl game tour of Florida ends in Tampa where LSU held off Iowa in the Outback Steakhouse Bowl in front of a crowd that got better access than the people covering the game.

The game featured LSU tailback Jeremy Hill running for 216 yards and 2 TD's and ended only after a bizarre sequence of laterals that the Hawkeye's eventually ended up fumbling. The Tigers could only manage 82 yards passing, while the Hawkeye's were only able to run for 76 total.

We are still awaiting the arrival of full game highlights....

This Is What It Sounds Like To Get Trucked

((HT: Awful Announcing/WMUA))

The HQ will admit that there are few things less appealing than college hoops before January...

But the four-letter network did their 24-hour, round-the-clock marathon to showcase the sport and give themselves non-stop programming...

But Awful Announcing gives us a moment... and it was a moment...

In the UMass-LSU game, there was a loose ball, players, and UMass Chris Doherty taking the charge...


Doherty and his equipment survived...
As far as we know...

Bama Handles LSU and FSU Over Wake in Cakewalk: BCS Takes Shape

It's never easy to figure out who will be the last two teams standing under the current BCS system.

Thankfully, that system goes away soon.

In the meantime, the struggle to define and recognize the actual two best teams continues. And this year, it seems to be taking shape.

Alabama continued their run of staking a claim in the BCS title hunt by easily dispatching LSU Saturday night 38-17.

Sure, the game was close in the 1st half, but the Tide outscored the Tigers 21-3 in the 2nd half to close things out. 3 A.J McCarron TD passes, combined with T.J Yeldon's 133 rushing yards and 2 TD's, were more than enough to overpower LSU.

The win leaves Alabama with a 9-0 (6-0 SEC) record, and assured them of holding the #1 ranking in the BCS poll due out Sunday night.

It also leaves the Tide in sight of yet another BCS title. As of this week, their likely opponent…FSU. The only challenge left on the schedule? The Iron Bowl game at Auburn.

Your Saturday night Bama/LSU highlights (Courtesy: CBS Sports)



As for the aforementioned Florida State. Well, they just keep beating the crap out of inferior ACC teams.

This weeks victim: Wake Forest. FSU jumped out to a 42-0 1st half lead and well, they never looked back, winning the game 59-3.

The game 6 interceptions by the Seminole defense and a fumble return for a touchdown. No, Jameis Winston didn't have a crazy good game….but he didn't need to.

The 'Noles have it easy from here. Two more ACC games and the grand finale against a really bad Florida Gator team.

Your Wake/FSU highlights: (Courtesy ESPN)

Gatorade Fail: Ole Miss Linemen Can't Find Coach To Celebrate Win

Haha! This is hilarious.

Check out what happened at the end of Saturday nights Ole Miss upset of LSU. Two of the Rebels offensive linemen grabbed a cooler of Gatorade with the intent of giving their victorious coach Hugh Freeze, the traditional Gatorade bath.

Great idea...except for one problem, in the chaos, they couldn't find Freeze:

ICYMI: Les Miles Wants You To Know About The Hammer and Nail

God we love Les Miles.

He is truly one of a kind, one of the few coaches in football...or any other sport that you have no idea what he is going to say during a press conference.

And we love that.

He will call you out for asking stupid questions. He'll let you know if he's happy or if he's sad.

And yes, despite the below video, he's pretty happy today after his Tigers beat a physical Florida team 17-6 in Death Valley.

That's when a reporter tried to come up with an analogy comparing this win to last years loss to Florida and a hammer and nail

The rest is pure Les:



CBS Sports gives us Saturday's highlights:

A Letter For Larry... By Loran Smith...

((HT: John Hart and Georgia Football/Vimeo))

FOSG John Hart alerted us to this... and if you don't open up after this one...

You're simply not human...

Loran Smith has helped the HQ out on a few books forwards and such...
And now, we're reminded why he and his friend, Larry Munson are missed on days like the one two weeks ago in Athens...


Told you you'd need tissues...

Not Funny: UGA Fan Does Creepy Joker Video

((ht: fansided.com))

Okay...

As much as we enjoyed the UGA produced "Awake the Nation" video, the video you are about to click on is perhaps one of the strangest things we've ever seen.

A video posted by a Georgia fan named Jake Marrano may have started out as a funny idea, but really, we nor anyone else who's seen it are laughing at it.

Marrano's video shows a random LSU fan in front of Sanford stadium then cuts back to that fan trapped in a chair in what appears to be a basement. Then someone dressed up and talking like the joker from the Batman movies arrives and talks smack.

Yeah, sure, we know it's a joke, but it's not really funny.

At all.

Impressive: UGA Hype Video for LSU Game Makes Me Want To Jump Through Walls

((ht: saturdaydownsouth.com))

Well played University of Georgia, well played.

Check out a video called "Awake the Nation", the school or someone they hired produced and released today (Friday), just one day before an epic Top 10 battle with LSU.

Fan or not a fan, it's quite well done. And honestly, it kinda gives you chills to watch--

GTA V Reenactments Do Not Equal Real Life

Because if it did, a college lacrosse player might have had a little more fun...

Police in Baton Rouge arrested Auburn lacrosse player Zachary Burgess this past weekend after they said he tried to steal a car (with someone still inside of it), then told police he did it to play out a video game in real life. Burgess was, the HQ can guess, in town for the LSU-Auburn game...

This is the video game in question...


Burgess was charged him with vehicle theft, kidnapping and nine counts of hit-and-run driving.

Police said Burgess jumped into a car after its owner parked it at a local bar and left it. Burgess then hopped in and drove off with a female passenger still inside. Police said Burgess hit several other cars before the passenger managed to escape. Witnesses, apparently, stopped Burgess during his driving exhibition and kept him at the scene until police showed up.

No one was seriously hurt in the incident. Here's the mugshot (thanks, East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office)

Burgess is now up on nine counts of hit-and-run and one count each of auto theft and simple kidnapping,

OSG High: 7 Arrested In "Molly" Bust Including LSU Baseball Signee

((HT: AJC/Stevens))

And the HQ knows what you're asking...

"What in the wild world of sports is Molly?" (other than a Ringwold or someone paired with Fibber and McGee)

Molly is a new variant on ecstasy that has a similar make-up to meth and acts the same. Seven ounces of MDMA powder was found in the home and $17,000 worth of the drug was seized along with marijuana and a weapon in what Bartow County (GA) authorities are calling a first of its kind.

Seven people were arrested- including LSU baseball signee Dylan Williams who played baseball at Cass High School, located in suburban Cartersville in Bartow County.

A traffic stop of one of the seven led to a search warrant of that individual's home and the arrest of the other six.

Williams and two other 18-year-olds were charged with trafficking Ecstasy, possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute, and possession of a firearm while committing a felony.

Here's the story on the bust...
((HT: WSB-TV))
All seven were booked into the Bartow County jail and local authorities are saying more arrests in the case are likely. LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri told the Baton Rouge Advocate newspaper he was informed about the arrest and has talked to Williams' father. From the conversation, Mainieri said, it was his understanding Williams happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. From the Baton Rouge Advocate's Matthew Harris: Mainieri said Williams’ father told him the pitcher had gone to the home to pick up a high school friend to get a bite to eat and “do what kids do” and “police broke into a house he doesn’t even live in, and next thing you know he’s accused of something.” “They obviously feel he’s been wrongfully accused of something,” Mainieri said. “It’s definitely the strangest thing that I’ve ever heard of. As you might imagine, there’s a kid who feels his world is crumbling all around and him and knows he did nothing wrong. If he’s telling the truth, he didn’t do anything wrong.”
Williams could face a minimum sentence of three years in prison and a $25,000 fine if convicted of Ecstasy trafficking. A conviction on the marijuana charge could bring a sentence between one and 10 years in prison.

LSU's Tharold Simon Plans To Own His Hometown...

((HT: WBRZ-TV))

But he'll have to get his whole arrest thing figured out first...

Simon, waiting to figure out where he'll be drafted into the NFL, was arrested in his hometown of Eunice, Louisiana Thursday night for allegedly intimidating a police officer, resisting arrest, and an unnecessary noise violation.

Future owner of his home town...???

According to police records, Tharold Simon's (pictured, right thanks KATC-TV) car was blocking a street when an officer asked him to move it. The arrest report says Simon then told the officer quotes like "I own Eunice," and "I'm gonna buy these projects and you are gonna be mine."

Simon went ahead and moved the car, but he spun his wheels and floored it going in reverse. He cranked his radio up and the report also says Simon told the officer that "the mayor was on [his] side" and that the officer would be fired if he wrote a ticket.

He was released on bond, and was supposed to have an event proclaiming Friday as "Tharold Simon Day."

Eunice Mayor Rusty Moody changed his mind and cancelled the event...

As well he should have...
Here's what NFL teams would be getting if they decide to draft him after all...