One Title Down, One More To Go

VISIBLY AGITATED, LES MILES WALKED TO THE PODIUM inside the bowels of the Georgia Dome . It was less than three hours before his Tigers would play Tennessee in the SEC championship game, but Miles , dressed in a black suit, white dress shirt and an LSU-purple tie, felt compelled to call the impromptu press conference to put a festering rumor to rest.

Miles was largely considered to be the favorite to succeed Michigan 's Lloyd Carr , who had announced on Nov. 19 that he was stepping down after 13 seasons as the Wolverines ' coach. A former Bo Schembechler player and assistant who wore his allegiance to the Maize and Blue on his sleeve, Miles had the Michigan pedigree.

On the morning of the SEC title game ESPN had reported that Miles would be taking over the Wolverines . That prompted the press conference from Miles . "I'm the head coach at LSU . I will be the head coach at LSU ," he said. "I have no interest in talking to anyone else.

"I've got a championship game to play, and I'm excited about the opportunity of my damn strong football team to play. It's unfortunate that I had to address my team with that information this morning."

As he stood there, vehemently denying his departure, it was as if a weight was lifted—both off coach and players.

"He even apologized to us for it even being brought up," running back Jacob Hester would say after the game. "That shows the kind of character he has."

The Tigers shifted their attention to the Volunteers and earned a 21-14 victory that, coupled with Missouri 's and West Virginia 's falls from the national title hunt later that night, would land LSU a spot in the BCS championship game. It was a berth that had seemed completely out of the question after the previous week's devastating loss to Arkansas .

The 2007 Tigers are defined by their defense, so it was only fitting for that vaunted unit to snag the victory—and a pair of Erik Ainge passes—from Tennessee . Leading 14-13 with less than 10 minutes remaining, the Vols lined up on third-and-five from their own 14, in a formation that had LSU cornerback Jonathan Zenon salivating. As Ainge threw toward wide receiver Quintin Hancock in the flat, Zenon cut in front of the pass and strolled into the end zone for the go-ahead score, capped by a Ryan Perrilloux two-point conversion run. "I knew exactly what they were going to run," Zenon said.

But the Tigers weren't done picking on Ainge . With time winding down, the Tennessee quarterback connected with running back Arian Foster on a 47-yard gain that set up the Vols on the LSU 14. One play later Ainge again tried to hook up with Foster on a pass over the middle, but Tigers linebacker Darry Beckwith made a diving grab to end the scoring threat.

LSU would run out the final 2:42, and as the clock expired, the crowd began chanting, "L-S-U, L-S-U," and the band played Fight for LSU . One Tigers fan held a sign that read WHO DAT? WHO DAT THINK THEY'RE GONNA TAKE LES MILES ?