Flynn Announced as LSU's Starting QB

LSU head football coach Les Miles announced at a press conference yesterday afternoon that to-be Senior Matt Flynn will be the team's starting quarterback for the upcoming season.

Previously, Miles had stated that the starting position would be decided upon in spring training, a common response by coaches to dispel position controversies. However, Ryan Perrilloux's pending legal troubles could have made Miles' decision that much easier.

I had expected Flynn would get the job considering his advantage in actual game experience over Perrilloux, especially noting last year's Peach Bowl victory over Miami, 40-3. Wow...every time I see that number a huge grin breaks out on my face. And, again, the decision to name Flynn the starter seemed all the easier and necessary after Perrilloux's federal investigation became public.

Speaking of Miami, whoever gets the job will eventually be throwing to Miami native Demetrius Byrd, a juco All-American and one of LSU's new recruits.

See the story in the LSU Daily Reveille here:

http://media.www.lsureveille.com/media/storage/paper868/news/2007/01/26/News/Miles.Flynn.our.Next.Quarterback.130.P.m-2680649.shtml?sourcedomain=www.lsureveille.com&MIIHost=media.collegepublisher.com


In other news:

• Gymnastics coach D-D Breaux notched her 500th career victory last night when the No. 15 Tigers defeated No. 14 Arkansas in a close competition. The gymnastics team has won every head-to-head meet since placing 4th in the Super Six Challenge at Fayetteville on Jan. 5, and they face Georgia next Friday at 7 p.m. in the PMAC, and the event is nationally-televised on ESPN2. Congrats D-D and let's get some fans out there Friday.
  
• The Lady Tigers basketball team is 19-2 and ranked No. 8 in the nation coming into a matchup with Auburn tomorrow at 2 p.m. in the PMAC, and they're the least heralded two-loss team in the country. Ginger Gibson of the Daily Reveille has publicly chided the student body for their lack of support for the Lady Tigers, and I for one agree with her. Take these two numbers: 1,200 and 75. Twelve hundred students attended the LSU-UConn men's basketball game, while approx. 75 attended the LSU-Georgia women's game. Considering the men's team is not playing as well as last season's Final Four run, yet the women's team after losing Seimone Augustus is still playing as expected, this shouldn't be up for discussion. Though Augustus was a huge draw, the Lady Tigers are still playing very well, and I urge you to join me in the PMAC tomorrow for the game.
• Dwayne Bowe plays in the Senior Bowl today in his final in-game chance to make a statement for NFL scouts. He'll be playing for the South team with national champion QB Chris Leak and coached by Dick Nolan and his 49ers staff. Sadly, the broadcast rights to this game were purchased by the NFL Network so unless you paid extra for that channel, you won't get to see this game. I may talk about the evils of the NFL Network, and Major League Baseball's pending deal with DirectTV, later. Bowe will be wearing his LSU No. 80, is ranked No. 32 (the first-round's final pick) by Scouts Inc. and is still projected by some experts to go at the 30th pick to San Diego in the draft.
• I've said it several times but many thanks to the New Orleans Saints for their magical season and for taking away some of the pain in the stricken city and Gulf Coast region. The pain from the NFC Championship loss is wearing away now and smiles come when thinking about their potentially bright future next season.