The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 85, No. 365, Ed. 1 Saturday, November 25, 2006 Page: 8 of 16
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■ 1 1 ■ 'I • « I' I . . 1 I. I I I
.......... . J-1 J. J
8A
SPORTS
Saturday, November 25,2006
THE BAYTOWN SUN
LSU knocks Arkansas from list of title contenders
1*0
ft
>
I
7
Coker fired as head coach at Miami
Razorbacks can go to the Sugar
Bowl if they win the SEC title.
Darren McFadden rushed for 182
yards, including an 80-yard touch-
down in the fourth quarter. That
made it 24-19, but LSU’s Trindon
BY NOAH TRISTER
AP Sports Writer
BRONCOS
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7A
BOWL
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7A
AGGIES
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7A
I
Kevin M. Cox/The Galveston Daily News
Texas City running back Jarvis Carraway (1) makes a move on Dayton’s John Gable in the
Stingarees’ 35-21 playoff victory over the Broncos Friday night at Stallworth Stadium.
Baytown Sun photo/Michael Pineda
Fans take in the action at the Turkey Bowl on Friday. From left are Rosalinda Soliz (holding
Mark Soliz Jr.), Gevon Soliz (holding Nevaeh Sosa), and Mark Soliz.
Instead, LSU improved its chances
of landing a bid to the Bowl
Championship Series.
Arkansas pulled within five at 31-
26 on Felix Jones’ 5-yard touchdown Holliday returned the ensuing kick-
Arkansas 9, setting up Doucet’s
touchdown.
Arkansas had won 10 straight
since a 50-14 loss to Southern
California, and the Razorbacks
2*23
Astros fan. “I always dreamed
of putting this uniform on.”
Williams, 40, is 124-101
with a 4.09 ERA in 391 career
games, including 299 starts.
General Manager Tim Purpura
said Williams could be a
steadying veteran influence on
the club’s younger pitchers.
The Astros’ staff is anchored
by right-hander Roy Oswalt,
who signed a five-year, $73
million contract in August.
Both Clemens and Pettitte are
free agents and haven’t said
whether or where they want to
play next year.
Lee’s signing Friday was the
third major free agent loss for
the Rangers in the last two
weeks. Mark DeRosa, a valu-
able starter at several posi-
tions,, signed with the Chicago
Cubs, and All-Star center
fielder Gary Matthews Jr.
signed a five-year, $50 million
deal with the Los Angeles
Angels this week.
the Brewers before the
Rangers picked him up a few
days before the July trading
deadline. His power numbers
dipped after that, but he fin-
ished with combined totals of
37 home runs and 116 RBIs.
He hit .300, including .322 in
59 games with the Rangers.
Williams, who grew up in
Houston and was a college
star there, is a 14-year veteran
who was 12-5 with a 3.65
ERA last season with San
Diego, his best ERA since
2002 with St. Louis. He
signed a two-year deal worth
half while finishing with 340 on the
night. A.J. Dugat led all receivers with
four catches for 111 yards while Green
added 69 yards rushing.
Texas City will go on to face today’s
Houston Sterling/Brenham winner.
give OBT a 5-2 1/2 score. The Young
Guns then went to Octavio Torres at the
helm. With the game settling into a
defensive battle, neither team made much
headway but on Torres third possession
he gave the Young Guns the spark that
was needed, scoring in a four play drive.
don’t see that changing in the next few months. 1 really don’t.”
He may coach one more game: If Miami goes to a bowl,
Coker will be on the sideline.
“He deserved it,” said athletic director Paul Dee, who told
Coker of his dismissal Friday morning — saying it pained him
to do so. “He earned it.... If we are invited, we will play, and
Larry Coker will be our head coach.”
Coker is 59-15 at Miami, but was doomed by 12 losses in the Tmilhon^with aclub""
option for a third year worth
“I’ve been waiting to do this
n___1_____»>__t-j
Williams, who grew up an
The Young Guns held OBT on the next
possession forcing a punt that Jared
Eikhoff took to the house to close the gap
to 5-4 1/2.
Moments later OBT sent the game to
halftime when Alegria found Bobby
Perkins on a deep touchdown pass.
LSU has won the Golden Boot —
a trophy shaped like a map of
Louisiana and Arkansas — four
straight seasons. The Tigers played
four road games this year — all were
against teams ranked in the top 10 at
the time. They lost at Auburn and
Florida before winning at Tennessee
and Arkansas.
The Razorbacks fell to 20-2 at
Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium
under coach Houston Nutt — the
other loss was in 2004 to LSU.
Jones ran for 137 yards, and he
and McFadden became the first play-
ers to rush for 100 yards against
LSU this year. He now has 1,485
yards rushing on the season. He
broke Madre Hill’s single-season - !
• school record of 1,387 in 1995.
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Larry Coker won nearly 80
percent of his games at Miami, got players to graduate, was
revered for his classy manner and led the Hurricanes to a
national championship.
Despite all that, even he acknowledged Miami needed to
make a change.
Coker’s tumultuous and disappointing season got its pre-
dictable ending Friday, when he was fired after six years lead-
ing the Hurricanes. The move came one day after Miami fin-
ished a 6-6 regular season by beating Boston College, snapping
a four-game losing streak and becoming bowl-eligible.
“There’s such a negative groundswell around the program,”
Coker said. “If I’m here, unless we just win all the games, I
score and a 14-0 lead with 3:13 left in
the first quarter of play.
Dayton then took the ensuing kickoff
and drove down to the Texas City 19-yard
line before a Bronco fumble ended the
scoring chance.
Trickery would give the Stingarees a
21-0 lead late in the first half as
Robinson hit wide receiver Kyle Myers,
who stepped behind the line of scrim-
mage and threw back across the field to a
wide open Robinson, who followed a
convoy of blockers into the end zone for
a 23-yard touchdown.
In the second half, Dayton came out
and went 80 yards on five plays. Green
got the Broncos on the board by hitting
A.J. Dugat who went up and made a one-
handed catch while staying on his feet to
go 50 yards for the first Bronco score of
the night. After David Howard was suc-
cessful on his P.A.T. the lead was down
to 21-7 just two minutes into the third
quarter.
Carraway and the Stingarees would
answer with their own 80-yard drive with
the senior running back taking a pitch
and out racing Bronco defenders for a
68-yard touchdown run.
Green who passed for 214 yards on 11
of 20 passing would bring Dayton back
again by hitting Michael Dugat on a
screen pass for a 60-yard touchdown. The
play was perfectly set up as the Broncos
let the rush come in, then Green hit
Dugat with a little soft pass and the
senior running back outraced Texas City
defenders to the end zone.
OBT. Holter was named the Lil’ Henry
Guitierrez MVP for throwing six touch-
down passes in relief.
“I wanted to give these guys a spark,”
Holter said. “They were going so hard
and we weren’t going anywhere. I wanted
to do what I could. In my first series I
was nervous but it slowed down for me
and it felt good. It means a lot to me to
win this award which is named after my
oldest cousin.”
The game lasted over three and a half
hours but it did not appear as if that
would be the case early in the contest.
Alegria led OBT to a quick 2-0 score on
touchdown passes to Mark Soliz and
Pantoja.
A safety cut the lead to 2-1/2 but OBT
responded scoring on a touchdown pass
to 2005 MVP Michael Benavides.
The Young Guns finally crossed the
stripe moments later on a Rudy Ybarra
pass to JJ Reyna.
Momentum appeared to swing in the
Young Guns’ favor when Chistopher
Ybarra intercepted a Alegria pass but it
was answered by Rudy Mosqueda who
turned in an interception. Moments later
Pantoja caught his second touchdown
pass of the game to give OBT a 4-1 1/2
lead.
After a Young Guns score Kevin
Martinez made an impact on the game
with an interception and a touchdown to
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Cross off
Arkansas from the dwindling list of
national championship contenders.
JaMarcus Russell threw for 210
yards and two touchdowns, and No.
9 LSU held off No. 5 Arkansas 31-
26 Friday to derail the Razorbacks’
slim national title hopes.
Arkansas was No. 6 in the BCS
standings this week, but the
Razorbacks held out hope that wins
over the Tigers (10-2, 6-2) and next
week against Florida in the
Southeastern Conference title game
As they had done all night the
Stingarees would answer, and this time it
was the back-breaker, as Carraway
capped off a 79-yard, eight-play drive
with a 9-yard touchdown run on a 4th
and one with 3:29 to go to make it 35-14.
The never say die Broncos did not quit
and added a final score as Green hit A.J.
Dugat for a 27-yard touchdown pass after
appeared unstoppable early, driving
80 yards in 2:30 and taking a 6-0
lead on McFadden’s 1-yard run.
Arkansas was the first team this sea-
son to score on its first drive against
LSU.
But Jeremy Davis missed the extra
point, and the Tigers went ahead
later in the quarter on Keiland
Williams’ 29-yard scoring run. LSU
never relinquished its lead.
The Tigers made it 14-6 in the sec-
ond when Russell threw a 47-yard
touchdown pass to Craig Davis on
third-and-13.
Arkansas answered with Dick’s
21-yard scoring pass to Marcus
Monk, but Dick’s pass for a 2-point
conversion was incomplete — and
he didn’t complete another.
three times in his worst game
of the season.
The redshirt freshman was
also carted off the field with
20 seconds left after taking a
hit on a pass and it appeared
that his head whipped to the
ground. He raised his left
hand to the crowd of 89,102
as he left the field.
By late Friday, school offi-
cials said McCoy suffered a
severe pinched nerve in his
neck and had been released
from a local hospital. Tests
showed no structural damage,
but the team did not say when
McCoy might return.
Texas coach Mack Brown
said he didn’t see the hit but
noted the boos from the
crowd.
“It sounded like 88,000
thought it was dirty,” he said.
For fourth-year coach
Dennis Franchione, it was the
signature win he needed to get
some of the hard-core Aggies
critics off his back.
“Did I have any?”
Franchione joked. “I know it’s
an important game to win.
But, you know, I’m kind of
secondary in all of this. The
players have been everything
that’s mattered this year.”
Franchione is 2-10 against
Texas, Texas Tech and
Oklahoma in the Big 12
South, but ha$ guided the
Aggies to thejr first nine-win
season since they won 11 and
the league title in 1998.
“This is going to change a
lot of things for Texas A&M
football,” senior Aggie safety
Melvin Bullitt said. “We beat
the defending national cham-
pions at home.”
Texas (9-3, 6-2) could have
won the South division title
with a victory but now needs
Oklahoma to lose to
Oklahoma State on Saturday.
If the Sooners win, it will be
OU playing Nebraska for the
league crown on Dec. 2.
“I’ve gotten spoiled like
everybody else,” Brown said.
“It’s been a long time since we
haven’t won 10. It’s disap-
pointing for everyone.”
McGee, who was 7-of-13
passing for 58 yards, ran for
95 yards on 18 carries. The
Aggies drove into Texas terri-
tory only three times but
chewed up yards and critical
minutes in the fourth quarter.
Texas led 7-6 lead in the
third on Jamaal Charles’ 6-
yard TD run and had the
Aggies pinned at their own 12
after a punt early in the fourth.
Texas A&M (9-3, 5-3) con-
verted four third downs on the
winning drive, including a 14-
yard run by McGee three
plays before his touchdown
run. The Aggies converted 10
of 16 on third down, in the
game.
“They methodically moved
it down the field on that last
drive,” Texas co-defensive
coordinator Gene Chizik said.
“We just couldn’t close the
door on third down.”
Texas looked like it could
make easy work of the Aggies
on its opening drive: McCoy
was 5-for-5 and the
Longhorns moved to the 9
before one tackle changed
everything.
Texas sent 270-pound tail-
back Henry Melton into the
line on fourth-and-1 and
Aggie linebacker Mark Dodge
met him head on, dropping
him for no gain.
“To get that close and come
away with zero,” Texas offen-
sive tackle Justin Blalock said,
“it’s deflating.”
The Aggies then went to
work with their inside-outside
combination of McGee,
Jorvorskie Lane and Mike
Goodson, converting three
third downs on their first
drive.
Goodson, squirting outside
behind a good block in the
secondary, dashed 41 yards
for a 6-0 lead after kicker
Layne Neumann missed the
extra point.
The Aggies covered all 91
yards in the drive on the
ground. The Longhorns came
in giving up 42 yards rushing
per game.
Texas appeared to match the
TD late in the second but
Limas Sweed was penalized
for offensive pass interference
in the end zone. McCoy threw
his fifth interception of the
season on the next play.
A mistake by the Aggies set
up Texas’ only touchdown.
A&M wide receiver Kerry
Franks fumbled on a reverse
and the Longhorns recovered
on the A&M 34. A pass inter-
ference near the goal line set
up Charles’ TD.
“We didn’t score like we
usually do,” Brown said. “I
never thought we’d lose. I
thought we still might make a
play.”
■ JOU J
Green had scampered 48 yards on the _
previous play.
Dayton totaled 301 yards in the second LEE
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7A
run with 4:53 remaining, and the
Razorbacks (10-2, 7-1) got the ball
back at their own 27 with 2:04 to
play. But Casey Dick threw four
straight incompletions, completing a
miserable 3-for-17 day in which he
passed for only 29 yards.
After the game, LSU’s cheering
off 92 yards for a touchdown with
10:14 remaining. That completed a
wild stretch of three touchdowns in
45 seconds — Russell had thrown a
7-yarder to Early Doucet immediate-
ly before McFadden’s run.
Dick was O-for-8 in the second
half. He was intercepted early in the
section began chanting “BCS” — the fourth quarter by LaRon Landry,
Tigers are hoping to earn an at-large who returned it 23 yards to the
spot after entering the game 10th in A------n -----r'-----
the standings. Arkansas’ chances of
last three seasons and no conference crowns or Bowl cr2— 2. 2.22 .1
Championship Series bids since 2003. He had three seasons left another $6.5 million,
on a contract that paid him about $2 million annually. There is a
buyout provision in his deal, believed to be worth about $3 mil- for a long time,” said
limit _.i. __
lion. .
Tigers are hoping to
spot after entering the gai
fno cfonrlrnrra Arlzonanc’ r
would help them jump the other con- an at-large bid took a hit, but the
tenders and into the championship
game against Ohio State.
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Clements, Clifford E. The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 85, No. 365, Ed. 1 Saturday, November 25, 2006, newspaper, November 25, 2006; Baytown, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1191183/m1/8/?rotate=180: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Sterling Municipal Library.