DALLAS — For a moment in the first half of the SBC Cotton Bowl LSU seemed on the verge of blasting the University of Texas back to its hometown Austin.
Domanick Davis’ 10-yard touchdown run in the second quarter put the Tigers ahead 17-7 and LSU seemed to be in complete control of the game.
However, three plays later Texas quarterback Chris Simms answered right back with a 51-yard touchdown to Roy Williams beginning a 28-3 run as the Longhorns (11-2) overpowered the Tigers (8-5), 35-20, before 70,817 fans at the Cotton Bowl.
Despite LSU’s first loss in the last five bowl games, head coach Nick Saban was proud of the effort given by his players.
“I thought they played hard,” he said. “I thought they played with a lot of toughness. You’ve got to give the Texas players a lot of credit. They never folded. They were in a tough situation and they persevered.”
It was a game of missed opportunities for LSU, who looked crisp offensively in the first half, controlling the ball 20 of the first 30 minutes and racking up 310 yards of offense.
“Give LSU a lot of credit,” Texas coach Mack Brown said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a lopsided first quarter.
“LSU came out, right after a loss to Arkansas, and jumped right in our face. And our kids were tough enough to jump right back.”
LSU quarterback Marcus Randall hit his first 7 of 8 passes for 116 yards including a 20-yard touchdown pass to LaBrandon Toefield to put LSU ahead 10-7 and had the longest run from scrimmage ever by an LSU quarterback with 76 yards which set up Davis’ touchdown.
“We came out trying to get things rolling early, and we did that. We moved the ball on them three drives in a row,” Randall said. “Coming out in the first half, I felt real comfortable. Everything was working the way we wanted to. We were well prepared for the game.”
But the sophomore quarterback could not keep the offense on track as the unit sputtered to 131 yards in the second half and Randall finished 19 of-45 for 193 yards.
“It was a lack of execution on our part,” Randall said. “We stopped making plays in the second half.”
LSU turned the ball over three times and was a dismal 5 of 21 on third down.
The Tigers offense never had a problem moving the ball but consistently shot itself in the foot in the second half, unable to put points on the board.
LSU rushed for 292 yards led by 85 from Davis, 78 from Randall and 67 from Toefield.
Michael Clayton caught six passes for 88 yards, but because he played some of the game at safety, he wore down in the second half.
While LSU’s offense struggled to put points on the board, Texas found the endzone four times after Lee Jackson scored the Longhorn’s first touchdown in the first quarter on a 46-yard fumble recovery.
Williams finished with four catches for 142 yards along with an end around touchdown run for 39 yards and garnered Offensive Player of the Game.
“We had a couple of breakdowns that helped him get loose,” said LSU cornerback Corey Webster.
Bradie James, who broke the all-time LSU single season tackling record with 154, added, “That’s the best player I’ve played against.”
Simms finished out his Texas career with a 15 of 28, 269-yard performance and two touchdowns.
Cory Redding earned Defensive Player of the Game with eight tackles, including four for a loss, one sack and one forced fumble.
Texas took a 21-17 lead into halftime after a 1-yard dive by Cedric Benson set up by a 75-yard pass from Simms to Williams.
“I think the turnovers and big plays Roy Williams made was a big difference in the game,” Saban said.