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BATON ROUGE, La. - With a running game like Louisiana State's, maybe it doesn't matter who plays quarterback. Charles Scott rushed for a career-high 160 yards on 16 carries, including touchdowns of 8 and 29 yards, and No. 7 LSU rolled to 41-13 victory over Appalachian State yesterday. LSU coach Les Miles finally answered the question of who his starting quarterback would be when Harvard transfer Andrew Hatch took the field on the Tigers' first three series, which produced 17 points.

An Alabama fan pleaded not guilty Monday to committing sexual battery on an unconscious LSU fan after the BCS national title game, which was caught on video. Brian H. Downing, 32, of Smiths Station, Ala., was arraigned on one count each of sexual battery of a male victim and obscenity. His attorney Michael Kennedy said he tried to get the bond reduced, but the judge left it at $50,000. A video that went viral on the Internet appeared to show someone in a University of Alabama jacket abusing the unconscious man after the Crimson Tide beat LSU for the BCS football championship on...

BATON ROUGE, La. - It didn't matter who was launching long passes to Rueben Randle and it certainly didn't matter that LSU was missing three key players. Randle caught scoring passes of 42 yards from Jordan Jefferson and 46 yards from Jarrett Lee, and No. 1 LSU once again overcame off-the-field distractions in style with a 45-10 victory over 19th-ranked Auburn yesterday. "It just seems like no matter who goes down or who's out, we have guys who are ready to step in … and not just to fill a spot but to go in and dominate," said LSU center T-Bob Hebert.

The Alabama man accused of committing sexual battery on an unconscious LSU fan after the BCS championship football game is being sued. The LSU fan filed a lawsuit Friday against Brian Downing of Smiths Station, Ala. Downing's lawyer declined comment Friday night, saying he hadn't had a chance to read the lawsuit because neither he nor his client had been served. Downing, 32, was booked on charges of sexual battery and obscenity but the New Orleans district attorney has until June 20 to decide whether to prosecute.

BATON ROUGE, La. - Louisiana State kicker Colt David played soccer most of his life. Now Steve Spurrier and a multitude of football fans know David can make plays with his hands as well and his feet. Second-ranked LSU put one over on the Ol' Ball Coach, scoring on a fake field goal and piling up 290 rushing yards to defeat No. 12 South Carolina, 28-16, yesterday. The fake widened LSU's lead to 21-7 at halftime, deflating a South Carolina defense that had kept LSU within a touchdown on David's 42-yard miss a drive earlier.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- With the clock running out on LSU's hopes, Darrel Mitchell stepped up and made the biggest shot of his life. Mitchell's long 3-pointer with 3.9 seconds capped a wild finish and gave the fourth-seeded Tigers a 58-57 victory over No. 12 seed Texas A&M in the second round of the Atlanta Regional yesterday. Glen "Big Baby" Davis scored 21 points, including a key basket in the final minute. But it was Mitchell -- LSU's lone senior starter -- who saved the day after Texas A&M snapped a 55-55 tie with Acie Law's jumper over Mitchell's outstretched arms with...

FRESNO, Calif. -- The difference between Louisiana State and Connecticut the first time they met this season, was smaller than Porsha Phillips's toe. Her buzzer-beating basket from the top of the key left LSU 1 point short when replays confirmed her left toe was on the 3-point line, giving her only 2 points on the final play of UConn's 72-71 victory. "Hopefully we won't have to go through that again," Phillips said yesterday. "Hopefully we'll be up like 20 at the end. " Huskies coach Geno Auriemma at the time called the game a "dress rehearsal" for the NCAA Tournament, and he has...

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - No. 1 LSU gained the inside track to the BCS title game, beating No. 2 Alabama, 9-6, last night on Drew Alleman's 25-yard field goal in overtime after a fierce defensive struggle in which neither team reached the end zone. The Crimson Tide missed four field goals, including Cade Foster's 52-yard attempt after Alabama got the ball first in the extra period. LSU appeared to win the game on Michael Ford's run around left end after taking a pitch, but he stepped out of bounds at the 7. After two plays gained nothing, LSU (9-0, 6-0 Southeastern Conference)

Les Miles already has shepherded No. 1 LSU through several distractions that threatened to undermine the Tigers' bid for a national championship. The charismatic coach known as the "Mad Hatter" is going to have to do it at least once more when No. 19 Auburn (5-2, 3-1 SEC) visits LSU (7-0, 4-0) today. LSU will take the field without three key players who were suspended this week for violating the team's drug policy: star cornerback Tyrann Mathieu, leading rusher Spencer Ware, and defensive back Tharold Simon.

NEW ORLEANS -- JaMarcus Russell thoroughly outplayed Brady Quinn and made a compelling case that the mammoth quarterback's next pass should come in the NFL. As for Notre Dame, it was a familiar meltdown at bowl time. The Sugar Bowl returned to New Orleans with a Cajun-style party put on by No. 4 LSU, which dominated college football's most storied program in a 41-14 rout last night that had the Superdome rockin'. It also gave the 11th-ranked Fighting Irish a most unwanted spot in the record book.

LSU coach Nikki Caldwell was confident LaSondra Barrett was more than ready to return from her concussion a couple of weeks ago, and the Lady Tigers' leading scorer and rebounder came through. Barrett had 17 points and 10 rebounds, and fifth-seeded LSU held off No. 12 seed San Diego State 64-56 Sunday night in the first round of the women's NCAA tournament. Courtney Jones added 13 points and Jeanne Kenney 10 for LSU (23-10), which trailed by six midway through the second half but surged in front for good with a 12-0 run that lasted nearly 7 minutes.

John Calipari sounded like a coach trying to explain away a loss. No. 1 Kentucky wasn't just supposed to beat LSU, it was supposed to win comfortably. Instead, the Wildcats labored through an 18-turnover performance in which the feisty Tigers led early in the second half and never trailed by more than nine before Kentucky closed out a 60-51 victory Friday in the second round of the Southeastern Conference tournament. "I'll go back and watch the tape and see what adjustments (need to be made)

Andre Stringer hopes that by putting a scare into No.1 Kentucky, LSU also got the attention of those who send out bids for postseason tournaments. "We can compete with anybody," Stringer said after LSU's 60-51 loss to the Wildcats in Friday's second round of the Southeastern Conference tournament. "That's the No. 1 team in the nation we just played against and we were right there, and that's all you can ask for. … It just didn't fall our way, (but) I'm proud of our team's effort.

Glory Johnson had 20 points and 11 rebounds, and Shekinna Stricklen added 16 points as No. 13 Tennessee beat LSU 70-58 on Sunday to win a third-straight Southeastern Conference tournament title. The Lady Volunteers (24-8) had a frustrating SEC season by their lofty standards, but Johnson and Stricklen and their fellow seniors pulled together to lead the team to its 16th overall conference tournament title. Tennessee fans cheered "We back Pat" after the win in honor of coach Pat Summitt, who announced before the season she'd been diagnosed with early onset...

LSU coach Nikki Caldwell knows very well how teams can wilt in an arena filled with Tennessee orange and the physical and athletic Lady Vols on the court. Her Lady Tigers lost to 13th-ranked Tennessee 70-58 Sunday in the Southeastern Conference women's tournament championship. Caldwell never saw them back down, not even after teammate LaSondra Barrett was strapped to a backboard and taken off the court on a stretcher after being briefly knocked unconscious. "I wouldn't be the coach that I am right now without that competitive spirit by playing at...

For Kentucky coach Matthew Mitchell, the math was simple: LSU outscored the Wildcats at the free throw line by 28 points and won by 11. In Mitchell's opinion, what was missing from the equation in Kentucky's 72-61 loss to the Lady Tigers was a lack of desire by the 10th-ranked Wildcats. "I thought (the Lady Tigers) were really, really tough — a lot tougher than us," Mitchell said. "From the opening tip, it looked like their desire was greater than ours. They really wanted to play for a championship (Sunday)

ARLINGTON, Texas - In a rare opening matchup of top-five teams, both missing key players, Jarrett Lee admirably directed LSU's offense in place of suspended quarterback Jordan Jefferson. Being without standout cornerback-punt returner Cliff Harris was more than mistake-prone and third-ranked Oregon could overcome. The Ducks' fill-in punt returner had a fumble that led directly to an LSU touchdown and Lee's touchdown pass came against the defensive back playing in Harris's spot in the fourth-ranked Tigers' 40-27 victory last night.

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 the No. 5 Razorbacks, 31-26, in Little Rock, Ark., to derail their slim national title hopes. Arkansas was No. 6 in the Bowl Championship Series 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 would help them jump the other contenders and into the championship game against Ohio State.

Courtney Jones scored 18 points and LSU beat No. 10 Kentucky 72-61 on Saturday to advance to its ninth Southeastern Conference tournament championship game. The fourth-seeded Lady Tigers (22-9) haven't played in the conference title game since appearing in four in a row between 2005 and 2008. They never trailed against the top-seeded Wildcats, using a 10-0 run early in the game and stingy defense to take control. LSU held a 22-9 rebounding advantage in the first half that it turned into 10 second-chance points and went 24 for 32 at the free-throw line in the second half.

Two New Orleans medical institutions are getting nearly $4 million in disaster grants for Hurricane Katrina damages from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu's office said $2.27 million will pay for repairs made at the Tulane University Medical School building that was badly damaged by flooding and wind. Landrieu's news release Monday said the LSU Health Care Services Division Medical Center of Louisiana will receive $1.69 million to replace items that were previously thought to be salvageable but that are now considered...