Dorsey, Flynn give LSU a healthy glow for BCS title game
LSU was able to win the Southeastern Conference title game, edging Tennessee 21-14 without their best quarterback, Matt Flynn, and with only about half of their best player, Glenn Dorsey.
But if the Tigers are to win a national championship, they'll do it with a healthy Matt Flynn and a healthy Dorsey.
At least that's what Matt Flynn and Dorsey are saying.
The questions keep coming, though, to Flynn, the senior signal-caller who missed the SEC title game with a separated right shoulder, and Dorsey, the senior defensive tackle who won the Lombardi Award, the Outland Trophy, the Nagurski Award and the Lott Award despite playing the last five games with a knee injury that slowed him down.
"I'm healthy, absolutely, 100%," Flynn says.
Dorsey says, "My body is ready to roll."
In the SEC title game, Dorsey started but couldn't answer the second-half bell. Five weeks later, the 6-2, 303-pounder who is expected to be a high pick in the next NFL draft seems especially eager to put the pads on one more time.
"I'm feeling real good," he says. He says he tried to "gut it out" in the SEC title game but "couldn't even move. I had to step down."
Dorsey says the five weeks off before tonight's game were just what he needed to fully recuperate from his injury, suffered when he was chop-blocked by an Auburn offensive lineman Oct. 20.
"I just needed time to heal," he says. "I knew the injury wasn't serious, but I needed a few weeks to get healthy and I didn't have a few weeks. We were right in the heart of our season."
Now that he's at the climax of the season and of his remarkable career, he says he couldn't feel more ready or more motivated.
"This is the most important game of my life," he says. "It's about my family, my team. This is what I came back for (to play his senior year, instead of going pro after last season). When you're a little kid, playing Pop Warner, this is what you dream about playing for.
"We're proud of those banners for the national championship teams in 1958 and 2003. For us to be known as one of those great teams, that means a lot to us."
Even when injured, Dorsey never second-guessed his decision to return for his senior season.
"Never, ever," he says. "When I got hurt, it just let me know that all this can be taken away any second. So I'm not taking anything for granted, and I'm trying to really enjoy the moment."
He usually enjoys the moment more than anyone who lines up against him. As a starting tackle the past two seasons, he has recorded 128 tackles, 20 tackles for losses and nine sacks. At full strength, he will likely require double-teams if the Buckeyes are to get their offense going.
As for the LSU offense, it will again be in the hands of Flynn, the 6-3, 227-pound fifth-year senior who had to wait on the bench patiently for two years as the backup to JaMarcus Russell, the top pick in last year's NFL draft.
Flynn has had something of a roller coaster season. He has been pushed hard by talented sophomore backup Ryan Perrilloux. Twice, he has missed games with injuries: Middle Tennessee State (ankle) and the SEC title game.
Perrilloux subbed brilliantly in both, winning MVP honors in the SEC title game after completing 20 of 30 passes for 243 yards and a touchdown.
But Flynn has proved productive in the clutch, engineering come-from-behind victories against Florida, Auburn and Alabama. Overall, he's completed 183 of 332 passes for 2,233 yards, with 17 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions.
Watching from the sidelines as LSU beat Tennessee in a victory that put the Tigers on the verge of a national title was difficult for him.
"I've been a backup, standing on the sidelines, a lot in my career," he says. "Then we get to the SEC title game, and I wanted to play so bad. Not to play was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do."
Matt Flynn will take the opening snap tonight, though, with his sport's ultimate goal up for grabs.
"I've had a lot of fun," he says. "It's been an incredible year. I've just been happy to be a part of this great team and be with all these great guys this year and have the success we've had. I really truly wouldn't give up this year for four years starting anywhere else."
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