Destrehan defensive tackle Marrick Charles had a host of schools including Arkansas, Ole Miss, Louisiana Tech, Pittsburgh, Southern Mississippi and Tennessee after his services, but this weekend the 6’3, 295-pound defensive lineman verbally committed to the University of Houston.
Charles becomes the 17th verbal commitment to Houston and the first interior defensive lineman landed by the 8th ranked Cougars, who are sporting an 11-0 record this season. Projections have Houston playing in the Sugar Bowl against an SEC foe.
The University of Houston has spent quite a bit of time recruiting southern Louisiana and Charles becomes the third player from the region to verbally commit to the Cougars class of 2012 along with Patterson High School cornerback Trevon Stewart and Patterson High School wide receiver Jaydrick Declouet.
One Win Away From SEC Championship Game
In a weekend that saw Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Oregon take their foot off of the football pedal in route to the BCS National Championship game, LSU had no let up in their 52-3 blowout win over Ole Miss.
For the first time in the history of LSU the Tigers ran their record to 11-0 after jumping on an undermanned Rebel team early as they took a 35-3 lead into halftime.
Former Destrehan High School quarterback Jordan Jefferson started again for the Tigers and he completed all seven of his throws downfield for 88 yards including a 22-yard touchdown pass to Russell Shepard.
Jefferson also rushed for 26 yards on six carries against Ole Miss.
Former Hahnville High School running back Alfred Blue led the team in rushing with 74 yards on four carries and he made a 57-yard jaunt against the Rebels. Blue suffered a hamstring injury at the end of his long run.
The blowout win by the Tigers goes to show the huge gap now talent wise between the Tigers and the Rebels and it is obvious the tremendous amount of depth on a Tiger team with its sights set on another BCS National Championship run.
The one huge hurdle in front of them comes Friday when the Tigers face the Arkansas Razorbacks.
If you thought there were high stakes involved when the Tigers faced Alabama earlier in the month, the football poker game had its “ante” raised because if the Tigers post a win against the Razorbacks I am convinced that even if they lose to Georgia in the SEC Championship game the Tigers would face Alabama in the Rematch Bowl for the National Championship.
For the first time since the end of the 1971 season when the old Big-8 Conference had three teams, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Colorado, in the top three spots a conference again has that same stack-up of talent.
With the losses by Oregon, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State the Southeastern Conference now has LSU, Alabama and Arkansas in the win, place and show positions for the final two spots to play in the BCS Championship game.
A loss by the Tigers would be a devastating shot for their attempt to again play for college football’s crystal ball. An Arkansas victory against LSU combined with an Alabama victory against Auburn would create a three-way tie for the SEC West title.
The tiebreaker goes to the team with the highest BCS ranking, but if you read the fine print it may not automatically go to Alabama. If the No.2 team in the BCS beat the No. 1 team and is within five spots of them in the standings, which it would certainly be, that team plays for the conference title.
So, if the final regular season rankings come out and it is Arkansas, LSU and Alabama, the Razorbacks would advance to the SEC title game. If it’s Arkansas, Alabama and then LSU, the Crimson Tide plays in the SEC title game.
For LSU, I am going to use a line Al Davis, the owner of the Oakland Raiders who recently passed away would always say, “Just win baby” and a win against Arkansas would mean a lot more than playing in the SEC Championship game.
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