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Flynn leads LSU to blowout win over Louisiana Tech

Nov 11, 2007 - 6:22 AM BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (Ticker) -- Matt Flynn and Louisiana State assumed the top spot in the national rankings by enjoying a breather outside of Southeastern Conference play.

Flynn passed for 238 yards and three touchdowns and also ran for a score as second-ranked LSU crushed in-state foe Louisiana Tech, 58-10, on Saturday.

Thanks to the easy victory and No. 1 Ohio State's shocking 28-21 loss to Illinois earlier Saturday, the Tigers (9-1) likely will climb to the top rankings in both polls.

LSU owned the No. 1 spot in the rankings earlier this season before dropping a 43-37 triple-overtime decision at Kentucky on October 13.

More good news happened for the Tigers when they found out they clinched the SEC West after losses by Alabama and Auburn earlier in the day.

"I am told we're going to be the western representative in the SEC Title game," LSU coach Les Miles said. "I enjoy that. That's an accomplishment to this team and something we should certainly be grateful for as well as a job well done. We'll enjoy that for a moment and then look forward to playing our remaining two regular-season opponents."

Jacob Hester rushed for a career-high 115 yards, including an 87-yard score, and Flynn completed 14-of-26 attempts along with two interceptions for LSU, which extended its winning streak to a school-record 18 games.

Flynn put the Tigers in front early after LSU's defense caused a fumble, giving the offense possession on the Bulldogs' 25-yard line. The senior quarterback quickly took his team five plays before he scored on a one-yard keeper just 2:09 into the game.

In the second quarter, Flynn threw touchdown scores to Terrance Toliver from 71 yards out and to Brandon LaFell from 37 yards away to help give LSU a 27-10 halftime lead.

"The win feels nice," Flynn said. "We accomplished our goal tonight, but there is a lot of football left to play."

Toliver had two catches for 84 yards and a score while LaFell caught five passes for 80 and a TD.

In the third quarter, Hester took a handoff from Flynn and bolted straight up the middle for an 87-yard jaunt that made it 37-7.

"When I got to the 40-yard line, I thought that I should turn on the jets," Hester said. "I thought that I might have a chance to score at that point."

It was the longest career run for Hester, who carried the ball 11 times.

"That was my longest run since I ran a 96-yard touchdown against Captain Shreve High School during my freshman year of high school," Hester said.

Flynn capped the third-quarter scoring by tossing a 14-yard strike to Richard Dickson midway through the period.

"We really did what we needed to do," Dickson said. "We needed to come out and get a big win. We've played so many close games the last couple of weeks, we couldn't continue to play games like that."

The Tigers, who outgained the Bulldogs, 594-256, also caused two fumbles and intercepted Louisiana Tech quarterback Zac Champion twice.

"LSU is an outstanding football team," Louisiana Tech coach Derek Dooley said. "I'm sure they have the best chance of anybody to win the rest of their games. I'll be shocked if they are not the national champions at the end of the year."

Champion was 20-of-39 for 188 yards, a touchdown and two picks for the Bulldogs (4-6), who fell to 1-17 all-time vs. the Tigers.

"When you get beat 58-10, it's tough to find any positives," Champion said. "We just didn't do what we needed to do. I can't find any positives in this game."