Badly Conceived System

Thanks to the unbelievable heroics of a backup quarterback and a backup tailback, the bowl championship series may now need a backup plan.

You asked for chaos and mayhem and an impossible-dream finish to an almost unfathomable college football season?

Well, it couldn’t have gotten more hairy or harried Saturday night, when Louisiana State’s 31-20 win over Tennessee in the Southeastern Conference title game before a crowd of 74,843 at the Georgia Dome knocked Tennessee out of the national title race and knocked three schools, yes three, back into contention.

A victory would have sent Tennessee (10-2) to play Miami for the pretty-much-undisputed national title in the Jan. 3 Rose Bowl and prevented the BCS bedlam that may now unfold.

Instead, Tennessee likely falls all the way to the Citrus Bowl while LSU (9-3) makes its first Sugar Bowl appearance since 1986.

What more did Tennessee need to sew this thing up?

It had a 17-10 halftime lead and had knocked LSU’s starting quarterback and tailback out of the game, yet the Volunteers were somehow overwhelmed and undone by Matt Mauck, a 22-year-old freshman and former minor league catcher for the Chicago Cubs, and a backup tailback named Domanick Davis.

Mauck, subbing for injured LSU quarterback Rohan Davey, scored on two touchdown runs, including the go-ahead score in the fourth quarter, to lead the comeback and write his name into LSU lore next to the legendary Billy Cannon.

“I was very nervous in the beginning,” said Mauck, who had thrown only 26 passes this season entering Saturday’s game. “But after you get in the flow, the nerves kind of leave your system.”

Mauck was a sixth-round draft choice of the Cubs, but gave up baseball after three seasons in the bush leagues.

“I didn’t hit very much,” Mauck said.

Mauck was a big hit Saturday, winning most valuable player honors with his performance despite completing only five of 15 passes.

Davis, forced into action when star tailback LaBrandon Toefield injured his left knee in the first half, rushed for 78 yards in 16 carries and clinched the victory with his fourth-and-goal touchdown leap from the Tennessee one with 2:26 remaining.

So it will be remembered that Mauck turned the BCS to muck.

What happens now?

Well, stay tuned for today’s final and dramatic unveiling of the BCS standings.

As it stands, Nebraska, coming off a 62-36 defeat at Colorado, figures to back-door its way into the Rose Bowl against Miami, the BCS’ top-ranked team.

With Tennessee now dislodged from the coveted No. 2 BCS spot, No. 3 Nebraska should seize the second spot and spark a major controversy.

Nebraska held a 1.49-point lead over No. 3 Colorado in last week’s BCS standings. Both schools were idle this week, so one would assume Nebraska would retain its lead, although fluctuations in the eight BCS computers could narrow that margin.

In fact, it might have been a too-close-to-call race had the USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll put Colorado ahead of Nebraska in its latest rankings.

Despite Colorado’s win over Nebraska, the coaches still have Nebraska at No. 4 and Colorado at No. 5.

Had the coaches reversed the ranking order of the schools--the Associated Press poll has Colorado fourth and Nebraska fifth--Colorado would pick up a half-point in its BCS total.

It would be unlikely --and perhaps unethical--for the coaches to switch Colorado and Nebraska this week, given that neither school played.

But that’s not the half of it.

Thanks to LSU’s victory, the winner of Colorado versus Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl could now claim the AP national title if Nebraska were to beat Miami in the Rose Bowl.

Why?

Oregon, the Pacific 10 champion, will move up to No. 2 in today’s AP poll while Big 12 champ Colorado should move to No.3.

If Miami loses in the Rose Bowl, what’s to stop AP voters from voting the Colorado-Oregon winner as its champion?

While the coaches’ poll is contracted to award the Rose Bowl winner its crown--no matter that it has Oregon ranked ahead of Nebraska--the AP is under no such mandate.

It appeared BCS masterminds probably felt the system was in good shape when Tennessee seized the halftime lead and two of LSU’s top players were out with injuries.

Davey injured his ribs on the Tigers’ second series. Toefield did not return after injuring his knee in the first half.

Important cogs?

Davey came in having passed for 3,263 yards and 18 touchdowns this year while Toefield had 974 yards rushing.

Down by seven at the half, LSU cut the lead to one in the third quarter on a pair John Corbello field goals. Late in the third quarter, Tennessee gave the ball back to LSU on Travis Henry’s fumble at the Volunteer 39-yard line.

Mauck quickly drove the Tigers downfield and scored the go-ahead touchdown from the 13 on a quarterback draw, the freshman squirting through the line and then diving into the end zone.

LSU made it 24-17 when Mauck passed to Reed for the two-point conversion.

Tennessee returned the volley, driving 68 yards on its next drive, but had to settle for a field goal after getting to first and goal at the LSU four.

No doubt, Tennessee will regret not taking more advantage of injuries to Davey and Toefield.

LSU scored first for a 7-0 lead when Mauck, who replaced Davey on the second play of the Tigers’ second possession, capped a 41-yard drive with a four-yard scoring run around right end.

Tennessee scored the next 17 points on a 31-yard touchdown pass from Clausen to Kenney Washington, a three-yard scoring pass from Clausen to Troy Fleming and a 51-yard field goal by Alex Walls.

The field goal was the product of a questionable decision by LSU Coach Nick Saban, who elected to go on fourth and inches at his own 22-yard line.

Davey, who had returned to the game briefly before getting knocked out for good, fumbled the center snap and was stopped short.

Saban’s later decision to go for it on fourth down worked out better, with Davis scoring on a leap from the Tennessee one.

“Those things are always good when they work,” Saban said. “I thought it was really important we scored a touchdown there.”

Davis’ late touchdown ended Tennessee’s national title hopes.

Afterward, Tennessee Coach Phillip Fulmer wondered himself if the system was working.

“There are a lot of other issues to deal with when you talk about a playoff, and I’m somewhere in the middle,” Fulmer said. “But I’d like to see a playoff.”