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BATON ROUGE, La. Morten Andersen Jersey . -- Jordan Jefferson has finally cracked No. 1 LSUs starting lineup. Whether he stays there remains to be seen. Alfred Blue and Kenny Hilliard each scored two touchdowns, and the Tigers overcame a lacklustre first-half to defeat Western Kentucky 42-9 on Saturday night. "I dont think this was in any way an impassioned effort by our guys, but I think they did the things that they needed to do to ensure victory," coach Les Miles said. "The decision made the staff and myself on the quarterbacks, that is a one-game decision and well kind of go from there." One week after playing most of LSUs 9-6 overtime victory at Alabama, Jefferson got the start against the Hilltoppers, hitting 8-of-14 passes for 168 yards, including a 59-yard scoring strike to Rueben Randle. LSU (10-0) came in favoured by nearly six touchdowns, but led only 14-7 at halftime. The Tigers then dominated the second half to reach 10-0 for the first time since 1958, when they won a national championship. The victory also was Miles 100th as a head coach, his 72nd at LSU. "We just were flat," said LSU defensive end Barkevious Mingo, who had eight tackles including one sack. "There really is not much you can say about that. Early on we were just not ready to play. "This game kind of woke us up and we wont let this happen any more games this year. The Alabama game is over now. We are going to move on and hopefully play for a lot more the rest of this season." Keshawn Simpson had a two-yard touchdown run for Western Kentucky (5-5), which saw its winning streak end at five. Hilltoppers quarterback Kuwaun Jakes completed 11-of-24 passes for 97 yards and was intercepted once by linebacker Tahj Jones. LSUs defence held Bobby Rainey, who came in averaging 138 yards rushing, to 85 yards on 28 carries. "We played hard and didnt give up," WKU coach Willie Taggart said. "We scored more points than Alabama. I believe we were going to win, but I knew it wouldnt happen if we didnt play perfect." While LSU struggled to run early, the Tigers eventually wore the Hilltoppers down and finished with 291 yards on the ground, led by Blues 119 on nine carries. Jefferson, who lost his starting job when he was arrested in connection with an August bar fight and then suspended for LSUs first four games, has become increasingly involved in the Tigers offence since his return. Last weeks victory at Alabama marked the first time all season he played the majority of the snaps, taking over in that game for good after Jarrett Lee had thrown his second interception of the contest in the third quarter. Miles had not announced whether Lee or Jefferson would start during the week leading up to LSUs homecoming date with the Hilltoppers. Shortly before kickoff, Lee was announced as the starter over the public address system, but Jefferson took the field for the first series. Jefferson played until 12 minutes remained in the fourth quarter, when Lee relieved him and immediately drove LSU 82 yards in 14 plays, 10 of them runs, before hitting Kadron Boone with a five-yard scoring pass. "We thought we might go with Lee a little earlier than that, but Western Kentucky kind of proved to throw some wrinkles at us that we didnt necessarily anticipate," Miles said, referring to WKUs frequent blitzing. "We liked Jefferson in there in that situation." Randle praised the play of Jefferson, who LSU did not make available for interviews. "We left a couple of plays out there we could have made for him, but he did a great job executing the game plan and getting the job done," Randle said. LSU led 21-7 after Hilliards first TD from one yard out capped an eight-play, 68 yards drive, but Antonio Andrews returned the ensuing kickoff 73 yards for WKU, and a few plays later, the Hilltoppers were threatening to cut the deficit back to one score with second-and-goal on the LSU 2. Western Kentucky then attempted three straight runs, all stuffed by the LSU defence, giving the Tigers the ball on downs at their own one. The Hilltoppers salvaged two points when they forced Jefferson into an intentional grounding penalty in the end zone for a safety. But three plays after WKU received the ensuing free kick, Jakes passed was tipped and intercepted by Jones on the Hilltoppers 42. Two plays later, Blue burst through the middle of the line untouched for a 45-yard touchdown, to make it 28-9. LSU went ahead 35-9 when Blue added his second touchdown from four yards out early in the fourth quarter. "I dont think the score represents how the game went," Rainey said. "In the first half, we were up there with the No. 1 team in the country." Western Kentucky, in contention to win the Sun Belt Conference, kept it interesting throughout the first half, forcing LSU to punt twice, recovering Odell Beckham Jr.s fumble on a kickoff return and dominating time of possession, 20:01 to 9:59. When LSU took the lead on Randles TD catch on the Tigers second possession, the Hilltoppers responded with a 10-play, 65-yard touchdown drive to tie the game at seven. Jakes kept the drive alive with a 10-yard completion to Mitchell Henry at the LSU 19, then found Jack Doyle at the two to set up Simpsons score. WKU even set up a go-ahead field goal attempt in the second quarter, but Casey Tinius 49-yard kick was short and wide right. Western Kentucky had entered the game allowing on 99 yards rushing per game during its previous five contests -- all victories -- and dared LSU to throw by packing the middle of the field with defenders. When the Tigers stubbornly tried to run anyway, they stalled. When Jefferson threw, they scored. One LSUs second scoring drive, Jefferson completed consecutive passes of six yards to Spencer Ware, 29 yards to Beckham, 24 yards to Chase Clement, setting up Hilliards one-yard scoring plunge to make it 14-7 late in the second quarter. Saints Hats . Coverage kicks off from Philadelphia on Thursday as Hustler and Lawless tee up the action with a preview show. First round coverage starts on Friday at 3pm ct, as Hustler and Lawlesss and the Illegal Curve Hockey Show are live from the draft floor and continues on Saturday of rounds two through seven at 9am ct. Rickey Jackson Jersey . The IceHogs scored three unanswered goals, capped by Jeremy Morins third-period goal, to beat the Marlies 3-2 in American Hockey League play Wednesday.LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The way goalie Martin Jones began his NHL career with the Los Angeles Kings, the last thing anyone on either bench expected was for him to give up goals on the first two shots the Dallas Stars took. But Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn scored 1 minute, 20 seconds apart — before the Staples Center seats were even filled — and rookie linemate Valeri Nichushkin got the go-ahead goal on a power play in the second period to propel the Stars to a 5-2 victory over the Kings on Monday night. "Those guys have played extremely well, and we came in here as weak underdogs. But we got off to a great start," goaltender Kari Lehtonen said. "We talked about how well (Jones) has played. But I tried to turn it around the other way, like: He has to lose one day — and hopefully it would be tonight. But hes a real good goalie and fun to watch." Cody Eakin scored an insurance goal with 4:48 remaining against Jones, who stopped 19 shots in his first NHL loss. Shawn Horcoff was awarded an empty-net goal after he was tripped from behind by Drew Doughty in the Kings zone. Lehtonen made 30 saves to record his league-leading 12th road victory, sending the Kings to their second loss in 11 games and just their third in regulation over the last 23. "Were trying to gain points in our conference, and the only way were going to do it is by beating good teams," coach Lindy Ruff said. "Our young defencemen responded well to the challenge." Dallas top line of Benn, Seguin and Nichushkin has accounted for 15 goals and 29 points in its last nine games. This was the second time this season that each of them scored in the same game. It also occurred on Dec. 14 in a 6-4 victory at Winnipeg. "They had a little bit of a rough time in San Jose, and probably were out worst line in the game up there. But they responded by coming back tonight and being the reason we won — which was good to see," Ruff said. "Tylers got elite speed, Jamies got elite puck-handling skills and a shot, and so does Tyler. And the 18-year-old (Nichushkin) is young to be something special," he added. "They bring a lot of good things like size and speed, and thats tough to handle." Justin Williams and Jarret Stoll scored first-period goals for Los Angeles. The Kings played without captain Dustin Brown, who missed his first game of the season due to an illness. Jones, who tied Bob Froeses 31-year-old NHHL record on Saturday by winning for the eighth time in his first eight NHL games, was going after Ray Emerys mark of nine straight winning decisions from the start of a career. Pierre Thomas Jersey. But the game began inauspiciously for the Kings 23-year-old goalie, as Seguin beat him high to the stick side from the low slot for the tying goal after getting a cross-ice pass from Benn. Less than 2 1-2 minutes later, Benn put Dallas ahead when he carried the puck into the Kings zone and beat Jones to the short side with a backhander over his left shoulder from deep in the right circle. Seguins 19th goal and Benns 11th ended a streak of 11 straight home games in which the Kings had shut out their opponents in the first period. "I just thought about stopping the next one, which is all you can do because whats done is done," said Jones, who had allowed only eight goals on 234 shots in his other eight games. "Theyve got some good offensive guys and they did a good job, but I didnt think we got big saves when we needed it. When you spot a team like that two goals early, its pretty tough to win." Los Angeles held Dallas to just two more shots on net before Stoll tied it at 16:48 of the period with his fifth goal. Referee Mike Leggo had his arm raised to call a delayed penalty for hooking against Alex Goligoski, when Williams pass caromed off the skate of Dallas Antoine Roussel and Stoll whipped a 30-foot slap shot between Lehtonens pads. But Nichushkin put Dallas ahead to stay at 5:07 of the second with his seventh goal, beating Jones to the glove side with a one-timer from the right circle after getting a cross-ice feed from Seguin. It came while Stoll was serving an interference penalty. The Stars were just 5 for 50 on the power play in their previous 14 games. Dallas defenceman Sergei Gonchar was scratched for the first time this season because of concussion-like symptoms, after getting injured in Saturdays 3-2 shootout loss at San Jose. NOTES: Jones, who has been filling in for the injured Jonathan Quick, came within one victory of tying Quicks franchise record for consecutive wins. ... Despite the loss, the Kings are 9-2-0 this month. Their previous high for wins in December was eight, accomplished seven times. ... The Stars get a three-day Christmas break before facing Nashville on Friday in the opener of a five-game homestand, which includes a rematch with the Kings on New Years Eve. ... Seguin has 13 goals and 21 points in his last 18 games. cheap jerseys ' ' ' |
