By Keith Fletcher
FOXSportsSouthwest.com
January 7, 2011
The hottest team in the Big 12 went down in flames in the 75th AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic.
Riding a six-game win streak, Texas A&M couldn't stop LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson when it needed to, or if it wanted to, and gave up more points than it had all year. The Tigers won 41-24 in what was also the 50th meeting between the two schools.
"I thought he was a complete quarterback," said Aggies coach Mike Sherman. "I thought he threw the ball about as good as I've seen him throw on tape. I thought he was decisive, aggressive and accurate. He snuck a couple in there that I didn't think he was going to get in."
Fake one way, throw back the other. Jefferson repeatedly caught A&M with its pants down and threw for 158 yards on 10 completions with three touchdown passes. This from a quarterback who threw just four touchdowns all of 2010 on 190 attempts.
A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill had not thrown an interception since early November against Oklahoma, but threw three against the Tigers.
"Kind of dropped the ball. It's a tough feeling. You never want to do that to the guys you love and the guys you work so hard with," an emotional Tannehill said after the game, coming just short of going John Boehner on the assembled press corps.
The Tiger junior came in with just four touchdown passes on 190 pass attempts in 2010, but threw three on this night -- all to Terrence Toliver. His three touchdown receptions tied the Cotton Bowl Classic record first set by USC's Keyshawn Johnson in 1995.
The Aggies began the game with a mountain of momentum, beginning with Coryell Judie's 69-yard return of the opening kickoff. Ryan Tannehill then polished off the quick 5-play, 31-yard drive with a 6-yard touchdown strike to Uzoma Nwachukwu.
Coryell then made the big defensive stop on LSU's opening possession, picking off Jordan Jefferson shy of the goal line. The Aggies were able to produce a fieldgoal and a 10-0 lead 10 minutes into the game.
Then LSU scored touchdowns on three straight possessions to take a 21-17 lead midway through the second quarter and never looked back.
With LSU trailing 10-7 in the second quarter, the Tigers faced a third-and-11 from the Aggie 24. Jefferson tucked the ball away and scrambled for 13 yards.
In the third quarter, LSU faced a third-and-19 from its own 24, but again Jefferson made the big play with his feet, running for 32 yards and a first down. It led to a score for the Tigers, putting them up 35-17, and essentially iced the game.
"I don't think we had as great a pass-rush as we've had in the past for whatever reason. You got to give their offensive line credit," Sherman said. "You have to give credit to a good athlete, the quarterback, he made a lot of good plays for them. I thought he was the difference in the game."
He was also the difference in the Big 12 being a break-even conference for the bowl season. With the loss the league dropped to 3-5 in bowl play.
