LSU Does Just Enough to Win, 10-7

Kevin Faulk scored on a three-yard run, Wade Richey kicked a 22-yard field goal and Louisiana State’s defense barely made it hold up for a 10-7 victory over Clemson in the Peach Bowl on Saturday night.

Aaron Adams blocked Matt Padgett’s 52-yard field goal with 1:10 left to save the second consecutive bowl victory for LSU (10-2). But that’s what seems to happen in the Georgia Dome, where the last five Peach Bowls have been decided by 19 points.

“I felt on the sidelines the score should have been different. If we had lost this game it would have bothered me,” said Coach Gerry DiNardo, who in two seasons has rebuilt a program that at one time was ranked among the best in the country.

The Tigers’ 10-victory season was only the fifth in school history and first in nine years. It’s also the first time since LSU beat Florida State, 31-27, in the 1968 Peach Bowl that the team won consecutive bowl games.

Clemson (7-5) drove into LSU territory with 1:26 to go, but Padgett didn’t get his kick past the line before Adams blocked it. Padgett missed a 37-yard field-goal try on the last play of Clemson’s 34-31 loss to South Carolina on Nov. 23.

“Sometimes, things don’t go the way you want them to,” Padgett said.

Raymond Priester ran for 151 yards and became Clemson’s career rushing leader. But the Tigers couldn’t get inside the LSU 30 after the opening period.