Tide’s Saban is still a Tiger tale

Lingering at Louisiana State’s end of the field, Alabama Coach Nick Saban wanted to have a sentimental conversation with Tigers players he once recruited. He wanted to hug them, perhaps console them, maybe just say hello.

It also appeared Saban was going to head to the wrong locker room after the Crimson Tide’s 27-21 victory over the 15th-ranked Tigers on Saturday.

But then he ran toward the Alabama locker room -- with a dozen troopers struggling to keep up.

Saban had protection for a reason. He led LSU to the Bowl Championship Series title in 2003, then left the Tigers a year later for the NFL’s Miami Dolphins. Then, after only two seasons, Saban returned to major college football with a $4-million-a-year contract offer to coach Alabama, an LSU rival from the Southeastern Conference West, drawing criticism as a traitor. Les Miles is now the LSU coach.

Saban says he holds no bitterness. “We have special memories of this place,” Saban said of Tiger Stadium. “We always will, and no one will ever tarnish those no matter what they do.”

But some LSU fans reminded him of his past. And it wasn’t nostalgic.

Saban got a rude reception from a record crowd of 93,039, some holding up signs, such as “Miles over $aban.”

“My emotions for this place are positive, not negative,” Saban said. “I didn’t leave LSU to go to Alabama. I left LSU to go to Miami. Myself and my family learned that we didn’t like professional football as much as we liked college. So we had the best opportunity to return to college football at the University of Alabama. There is nothing personal in that for me.”

‘I need to grow up’

So much for unity and racial progress.

It apparently hasn’t reached everywhere.

Buck Burnette, a backup center for Texas, made news last week -- and got himself kicked off the team -- by writing this on his Facebook page after Barack Obama’s victory: “All the hunters gather up. We have a . . . in the White House.”

After realizing anyone’s status page on Facebook is for public consumption, Burnette wrote this apology: “Clearly I have made a mistake and apologized for it and will pay for it. I received it as a text message from an acquaintance and immaturely put it up on Facebook in the light of the election. I’m not racist and apologize for offending you.

“I grew up on a ranch in a small town where that was a real thing and I need to grow up. I sincerely am sorry for being ignorant in thinking that it would be OK to write that publicly and apologize. . . . I have to be more mature than to put the reputation of my team at stake and to spread that kind of hate, which I don’t even believe in. Once again, I sincerely apologize.”

Happy birthday

Nearly 80,000 fans sang “Happy Birthday” to Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden after the Seminoles defeated Clemson, 41-27, but son Tommy wasn’t there to witness it. Tommy resigned as Clemson’s coach last month after a 3-3 start.

“I like it that Tommy wasn’t there,” said Bobby, who turned 79 on Saturday. “It’s not like I had vengeance or anything like that. I’ve learned not to do that.”

Bowden’s sons were all involved with coaching at one point or another. Jeff was Bowden’s offensive coordinator for five years before stepping down amid criticism after the 2006 season. Terry led Auburn to a 47-17-1 record in five-plus seasons before leaving in 1998. He’s now a radio commentator and a college football columnist for Yahoo! sports.

Bobby didn’t bask in his 380th victory, which is second all-time among major-college coaches -- one behind Penn State’s Joe Paterno.

“I was kinda hoping he’d win the national championship this year,” Bowden said. “That would be kinda tough now.”

Taking the high road

Were the Ohio State Buckeyes being poor sports by scoring on a fake punt in the fourth quarter and again with seven seconds left in a 45-10 victory over Northwestern?

“I’ve got nothing to say about that,” Northwestern Coach Pat Fitzgerald said. “We need to go out and play better for us to win, and we didn’t do that.”

National apology

Penn State quarterback Daryll Clark will have trouble forgetting about his interception that eventually set up Iowa’s game-winning field goal in a 24-23 upset of the No. 3 Nittany Lions. He understands Penn State fans will have trouble forgetting the play, too, considering PSU’s national title dreams are all but destroyed.

“I want to apologize to the whole Penn State nation for my game play today,” said Clark, who completed nine of 23 passes for 86 yards. “I just keep having that turnover recurring in my head over and over. I can’t get it out of my mind.”

Records, streaks

Washington State eclipsed a Pacific 10 Conference record for total points allowed in a season. The 59 the Cougars gave up against Arizona on Saturday increased the total to 502. Oregon State previously held the record at 469 points in 1981. . . .

Chase Clement of Rice threw his 87th career touchdown pass -- a Conference USA record -- in a 38-31 victory over Army. Houston’s Kevin Kolb previously held the mark. . . .

Brigham Young’s 41-12 win over San Diego State gave the Cougars a school-record 18 home victories in a row. BYU wide receiver Austin Collie hauled in two touchdowns and recorded his eighth straight 100-yard receiving game. . . .

Air Force improved to 5-0 under freshman quarterback Tim Jefferson, who completed six of eight passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns in a 38-17 victory over Colorado State. . . .

Cyrus Gray scored on a 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and set an Texas A&M; record with 261 kick return yards in a 66-28 loss to Oklahoma. Aggies quarterback Jerrod Johnson had his first pass intercepted in 213 throws -- tying the Big 12 Conference record -- when Oklahoma linebacker Keenan Clayton picked off a pass in the third quarter. . . .

With Baylor’s 45-21 loss to No. 5 Texas, the Bears have lost 17 straight games against ranked teams over the last five seasons -- and by an average margin of four touchdowns.

Boston College avoided a three-game losing streak and qualified for a bowl game for the 10th year in a row, thanks to a 17-0 victory over Notre Dame -- its sixth straight victory over the Fighting Irish.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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mark.medina@latimes.com