College Confidential

Bama-LSU game turns deadly for fans

An Alabama fan and LSU fan got into an argument. A pistol and shotgun were involved. -Trae Thompson

LSU player revises, amends remarks

Here is how LSU defensive lineman Ricky Jean-Francois originally phrased his sentiments on playing Florida quarterback Tim Tebow in a story published Monday in the Orlando Sentinel:

“If we get a good shot on (Tebow), we’re going to try our best to take him out of the game,” Jean-Francois said. “With his size and his heart, it’s hard to get a clean shot.”

When asked how Tebow might deal with the pain of the perfect LSU hit, Jean-Francois said, “If he does get hurt, there’s a trained medical staff at Florida, so you can go to the training room on Sunday.”

Here is a statement by Jean-Francois through LSU on Tuesday evening:

"We never go into any football game trying to hurt a player from the other team. My comments in regard to Florida quarterback Tim Tebow were misinterpreted and were intended to reflect the style of football that we play at LSU. We have great respect for Tim as a player and a competitor. By taking him out of the game, I meant as a defense we are going to try to make him ineffective. I'm sorry that my initial comments were interpreted another way."

LSU-UNT will be at Tiger Stadium

North Texas will play LSU this Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Tiger Stadium, according to LSU's website. There had been talks about the game being moved to Shreveport, Texas Stadium, or the Georgia Dome in Atlanta due to the potential threat of Hurricane Ike.

-Trae Thompson

Get well

I was scanning through the papers yesterday, and saw that LSU athletic director Skip Bertman was taken to the hospital. Reports say he had early signs of a heart attack.
Bertman was the legendary baseball coach for the Tigers, guiding them to five national championships (1992, 93, 96, 97, 00).
I had the pleasure to cover his teams while I attended school there in the late 1990s, and got to know Skip quite well. He remains one of my all-time favorites, not just because of his baseball knowledge but also because of his sense of humor and the stories he told. Rarely did a day go by when he didn't playfully tease me. When I was back down there in April for a crawfish boil, I dropped by Alex Box Stadium, and was hoping to run into him. Sure enough, he turns the corner and has this huge grin when he sees me.
"You remember me?" I shout.
He did. We catch up, and he talked to me for my column. Once again, he was glad to help.

-Trae Thompson   

Tigers use up all nine lives

A season of living on the edge finally led to a big fall for LSU. Maybe it was the distraction of coach Les Miles being a candidate for the Michigan job. Maybe it was just inevitable.

Either way, Arkansas 50, No. 1 LSU 48 in three overtimes Friday in Baton Rouge was just another unranked team knocking off a national championship contender.

West Virginia and Ohio State benefited from the Razorbacks’ upset victory.

It’s now a three-way race for the two spots in the national championship game.

1. The winner of Saturday’s Missouri-Kansas game advances to the Big 12 title game on Dec. 1. If the Jayhawks win the Big 12 title and are 13-0, they’re in the national title game. If the Tigers win to go 12-1, their chances of playing in New Orleans are fairly solid.

2. West Virginia. The Mountaineers, No. 3 this week, will move up in the BCS standings ... assuming they beat Connecticut on Saturday.

3. Ohio State. The Buckeyes are finished at 11-1. They can sit and watch the carnage and hope they’re one of the last two teams standing.

-- Wendell Barnhouse

Just wondering ...

If Illinois can finish off its potential upset of top-ranked Ohio State, how badly do you think No.2 LSU will run up the score tonight on Louisiana Tech in quest of becoming next week's new No. 1 in the BCS standings? Right now, Illinois is up, 21-14, in the third quarter.

-- Jimmy Burch