Turnovers Might Prove Costly to LSU, Syracuse

Coaches from Louisiana State and Syracuse, today’s opponents in the Hall of Fame Bowl, see little difference between their teams.

“When you have two teams as evenly matched as we are, the game is going to be decided by turnovers and big plays,” said LSU Coach Mike Archer, whose Tigers will take an 8-3 record and one of the Southeastern Conference’s best passing attacks into the game.

“The game is not going to be decided by whether they throw the ball well or not. We expect them to throw it well,” said Syracuse Coach Dick MacPherson, who starts 5 fifth-year seniors in a secondary that hasn’t given up a touchdown pass in 38 quarters.

“I think the game will be decided by whoever plays the hardest, the cleanest, and has no turnovers, because we’re both excellent football teams.”

Syracuse (9-2) is ranked 17th going into the second-ever meeting between the schools. LSU, a 13-10 winner over the Orangemen in the 1965 Sugar Bowl, is No. 16 and a slight underdog despite being co-champions of the SEC in Archer’s second season.

“We’re confident, we know all about the SEC, and it’s a great conference,” Syracuse quarterback Todd Philcox said. “But we played one of their teams last year and did pretty well. We’re not in awe.”

The Orangemen, 11-0 during the 1987 regular season, tied Auburn, 16-16, in last year’s Sugar Bowl when the Tigers settled for a game-tying field goal with 1 second left.

This season, the Orangemen won 8 of their last 9 after a 26-9 loss to Ohio State. The other defeat came at West Virginia, 31-9, Nov. 19.

LSU also finished strongly after losing to Ohio State (36-33) and Florida (19-6). The Tigers began a 5-game winning streak with a 7-6 victory over Auburn and closed with a 30-point rout of Tulane after losing to Miami, 44-3.

The Orangemen will play without junior running back Michael Owens, the team’s third-leading rusher with 460 yards. MacPherson suspended him for a “repeated breach of team guidelines.”

All-American safety Markus Paul leads a Syracuse defense, which will try to stop quarterback Tommy Hodson, a 52% passer who threw for 2,074 yards and 13 touchdowns to carry LSU after preseason knee injuries sidelined running back Harvey Williams and wide receiver Todd Kinchen.