On Monday’s conference call, the Legends Poll voters were as complimentary of LSU as they had been all year.

“We’ve said all along that LSU has as good of athletes as anybody in the country and what’s held them back is inconsistency on offense,” former Georgia coach Vince Dooley said. “I think they had some extra time to get ready and came off a loss. It fits a pattern of when a team has an extra week of preparation.”

Two weeks prior, LSU had been gashed by Auburn’s rushing attack in a 24-17 loss on the Plains. However, head coach Les Miles and the Tigers had a bye week to prepare for the defending national champions and took advantage.

“They played to their capabilities defensively, but the real surprise was their more consistent play on offense,” Dooley added.

“Bottom line is LSU made the plays whenever they had to,” said former Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry. “The 4th-and-1 situation when they ran the reverse was a typical call of their offensive coordinator (Gary Crowton). Of course I coached against him many times when he was at BYU. It was a gutsy call.”

Crowton, however, isn’t the only source of LSU’s gutsy calls. Les Miles has earned the nickname “Mad Hatter” for his rolls of the dice and edgy coaching style.

The difference in Saturday’s, however, game might have been the play of quarterback Jordan Jefferson.

“I’ve seen LSU a lot this year,” said former Georgia Tech coach Bobby Ross. “I don’t think Jefferson had been playing like he did in the Alabama game.”

What do you think?

What do you think?

Ayers, a 6-4, 252-pound redshirt junior from Los Angeles (Ver- bum Dei High), had an interception (returned for 13 yards), a forced fumble, a sack and another tackle for a loss in the Bruins’ big upset win over Texas, 34-12.

“Akeem Ayers is one of the dominant defensive players in the country,” said former UCLA Coach Terry Donahue. “He continues week in and week out to make plays for UCLA. His play against Texas was outstanding.”

Ayers has two interceptions this season and six for his career. He is third on the Bruins in tackles with 29 and leads the team with tackles for loss with 5 1⁄2.

A history major at UCLA, Ayers has been on the Directors Honor Roll.

He plays both linebacker and defensive end in the Bruins’ defen- sivescheme: “Playingbothendandlinebackerputsmemoreinaposi- tion where I can make plays all over the field,” he says.

UCLA will receive $1,000 for its general scholarship fund in rec- ognition of Ayers’ achievement.

Other players nominated for the IMPACT Player of the Week were Greg Jones of Michigan State, Jeremy Beal of Oklahoma, Tejay Johnson of TCU and Mark Barron of Alabama.

Named after Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott, the Lott is awarded to college football’s Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year.            Now in its seventh year, the Lott is the first college football award to equally rec- ognize athletic performance and the personal character attributes of the player.

Sponsored by The Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation in New- port Beach, the award is given to the player who exhibits the same characteristics Lott embodied during his distinguished career: Integrity,

Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community and Tenacity.

Past winners of The Lott IMPACT Trophy:

2004 – David Pollack, Georgia 2005 – DeMeco Ryans, Alabama 2006 – Dante Hughes, California 2007 – Glenn Dorsey, LSU 2008 – James Laurinaitis, Ohio State 2009 – Jerry Hughes, TCU

In six years, the Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation has donated more than $750,000 to various charities, including $25,000 to each of the winners’ universities.

Voters for the award include selected members of the national me- dia, previous finalists, the Board of Directors of the IMPACT Founda- tion, the IMPACT Foundation Board of Advisors comprised of retired NFL players and the Legends Coaches, a distinguished group of for- mer college head coaches.

Named after Pro Football Hall of Fame member, Ronnie Lott, The Lott IMPACT Trophy is awarded to college football’s Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year. Founded in 2004 by The Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation, The Lott is the first and only college football award to equally recognize athletic performance and the personal character attributes of the player. The Lott is given to the player who exhibits the same characteristics Lott embodied during his distinguished career: Integrity, Maturity, Per- formance, Academics, Community and Tenacity. Voters for the award in- clude selected members of the national media, previous finalists, the Board of Directors of the Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation and the Legends Coaches which is a distinguished group of former college football head coaches. The seventh annual Lott IMPACT Trophy dinner will be held December 12th at The Pacific Club in Newport Beach, California. For more information on The Lott Trophy visit: www.lottimpacttrophy.com.

What do you think?

Watch the video and vote for your favorite hit by Monday Oct. 6.

The top vote-getter will be named the Lott Shot of the week!

What do you think?

Watch the video and vote for your favorite hit by Monday Sept. 27.

The top vote-getter will be named the Lott Shot of the week!

The Legends Channel staff witnessed that love first hand on Tuesday night as Bowden sat in a Borders bookstore in Atlanta for more than four hours signing books and chatting with his biggest fans.

Bowden’s book, Called to Coach, that he co-authored with Mark Schlabach sold out in just a few hours. The coach wanted his fans to know how much he appreciated their support, so he stayed way past closing to greet members of a line that snaked through several sections of the bookstore.

Here is another picture from the event:

Go to Coach Bowden’s website for more information and to find out when he’ll be making a stop near you on his book tour. You can also follow him on Twitter @BobbyBowdenBook. You may even see a “dad gum” or two!

Peterson, a 6-1, 222-pound junior from Pompano Beach, Florida, set an LSU record with 257 return yards in the Tigers’ 30-24 win over North Carolina in the first week of the season. Peterson had an 87-yard punt return for a touchdown, a total of 157 yards in punt returns and 100 more in kickoff returns. He also contributed five tackles.

Peterson was named the SEC Special Teams Player of the Week.

“I think he’s the best player in the country, period,” says fellow Tiger defender Kelvin Sheppard.

Says Peterson’s Guidance Counselor Antonio Wil- liams at Blanche Ely High School: “I have had the plea- sure of knowing Mr. Peterson for two years as a student athlete as well as club, community and church activist. I found him to be a very dependable, trustworthy, hard working young man with a burning desire to success. He has excellent work ethic and carries himself as an honest and dependable person of high moral character.”

At LSU, Peterson is involved in the school’s CHAMPS Life skills program and the annual Day For Kids pro- gram.

LSU will receive $1,000 for its general scholarship fund in recognition of Peterson’s achievement.

Other players nominated for the Player of the Week were Jeron Johnson of Boise State, Alex Wujciak of Mary-

land, Brian Duncan of Texas Tech, Wyatt Middleton of Navy, Akeem Ayers of UCLA and Sam Acho of Texas.

Named after Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott, the trophy is awarded to college football’s Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year. Now in its sixth year, the Lott is the first college football award to equally recognize athletic performance and the personal character attributes of the player.

Sponsored by The Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation in Newport Beach, the award is given to the player who exhibits the same characteristics Lott embodied during his distinguished career: Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community and Tenacity.

Past winners of The Lott IMPACT® Trophy: 2004 – David Pollack, Georgia 2005 – DeMeco Ryans, Alabama 2006 – Dante Hughes, California

2007 – Glenn Dorsey, LSU 2008 – James Laurinaitis, Ohio State 2009 – Jerry Hughes, TCU

In six years, the Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation has donated more than $750,000 to various charities, in- cluding $25,000 to each of the winners’ universities.

Voters for the award include selected members of the national media, previous finalists, the Board of Directors of the IMPACT Foundation, the IMPACT Foundation Board of Advisors comprised of retired NFL players and the Legends Coaches, a distinguished group of former college head coaches.